Ok, let's start off with "What is an article directory"? An article directory is basically a website where the webmaster has defined a list of categories. Users come along and signup (usually free, but there are paid services). Then, they choose a category and write an article for this category. The webmaster reads the article, approves or declines it. In a nutshell, it's an information portal with many articles in it.

There are many different types of directories. From niche directories dealing only with specific topics to the general which have articles about almost anything all sorted into various categories.

Why, do you ask, would someone just write an article for nothing? No pay, nada? Well, it's not completely for nothing. Search engines rank the importance of your website based on how many websites link to it. So, if I write an article and submit it to 500 different article directories, that's 500 inbound links. Pushing my site up the rankings and giving it a better chance to be displayed at the top pages.

There are also some sites that pay for articles. On the other side there are sites that you pay to distribute your articles, but we'll cover that another time.

How, then, does the article directory make money? Well, by placing advertisements all over the place inside and around the article.

That sounds too simple. But, yes, that's the way it is.

Well, there's quite a lot of work to be done to setup and maintain a decent, money making website. First off, you need the right software.

One of my favourite software for article directories is ArticleTrader's ArticleMS. Why? Well, it's easy to use, has a lot of bells and whistle features and (most importantly) has a "automatic submission" service, through which you can automatically get articles posted to your site! Yes, it means you put it up and market it and they fill it with content for you!

OK, there are some drawbacks to this. Having duplicate content (in relation to other sites on the internet) can get you penalised, but it won't take long for people to find your site and start submitting unique content to it.

Other nice feature I like with ArticleMS is that it's "opensource". So, you can change the way it works.

Then there's the big software. ArticleDashboard. Probably the biggest (usage wise) article directory software around. It has all the bells and whistles, too, except it's not Opensource. The drawback of this is that you have to write exorbitant workarounds to add any new features. But, as an out of the box setup system, it's pretty easy to use and administer.

Both sites have large, dedicated community forums through which you can easily get help to do almost anything.

One "drawback" and how the developers of the software make their sites go up in the search engine rankings is by placing a non-removable link at the bottom of your page back to theirs. You can remove it, but that is against the usage policy of the software, so rather don't. Give credit where credit is due.

If you've got any questions, pop me a mail and I'll get back to you.

Here are two reference sites:

Articles@ITPiMP [In case you're wondering... yup, it doesn't exist anymore. It's been replaced with our ITPiMP.Network - Amy]
This is a customised installation with modifications of the ArticleDashboard script

Articles@ITPiMP.Network
This site is a basic installation of ArticleMS without any modifications

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