One of the best link building tactics – and the favorite of many affiliate marketers today – is submitting articles authored or owned by you to article directories.

When experts on SEO advise new site owners to acquire natural incoming links, look to article directories to give you those first links easily. But first, let’s look at how and why article directories may be the easiest way to build some natural incoming links fast…

Links are one-way.
Many experts believe that search engines discount or downplay reciprocal links in their SERP (Search Engine Results Page) calculations. While reciprocal links can still be valuable, they don’t count as much as one-way links to your site. Article directories give you a one-way link.

Links are guaranteed.
If you’ve never asked a webmaster for a link before, it can feel a bit intimidating. But when you submit articles to directories, you know you won’t get turned down. Seeing those backlinks show up in the SERPs is a nice confidence booster, especially if your site is brand new. As long as your articles are of good quality, they will also send you targeted visitors for a long time to come.

Links per page are fewer.
This is a little known, but valuable benefit. Experts say the higher the number of links per page, the less SEO value each link will have. But the link back to your site in an article is often only one of a few links on the page.

Backlinks soon multiply.
Article sites exist for a reason – to provide other webmasters with access to free, quality content. So just one article, in just one directory, can actually turn into hundreds of links, as webmaster after webmaster finds your article and uses it.

Speed is important.
You want to build traffic and page rank as rapidly as possible. Submitting requests to other sites for reciprocal links, listing in link directories, and other methods are excellent long term SEO tactics, but they can take ages. But your article can appear very quickly, getting your name and links out there right away. So if you need to start building traffic today, articles can do the job in record time.

Your time is valuable, too.
You write an article and submit. Usually, that’s the end of your involvement! You can move on to one of the thousand other things on your list – and while you do them, that article is sending traffic to your site without any additional work on your part.

Sometimes it’s the only game in town.
Many site owners will not enter into reciprocal link relationships. Sometimes they don’t perceive the requester as offering them sufficient value. Maybe they simply don’t have time to respond to requests. Or it could be that their spam filters catch those requests – and delete them – before the requestor can make a case for a link.

But most article directories want all the articles they can get. So when all else fails, you can turn to article directories. Even when other webmasters say they can’t add even one more link, article directories will be actively seeking submissions.

Content for you.
The more content you write and submit to article directories, the more content you’ve got to use on your own site. Just make sure you tweak the articles so you don’t incur a possible duplicate content penalty. All it usually takes is a brief introduction or summary of the article to freshen up the content.

Articles send PEOPLE, not just spiders, to your site.

The incoming links are not the only benefits of articles. Beyond search engines, there are human elements at work.

Qualified traffic.
Individuals who read and enjoy your articles will often send traffic your way, via reviews or creating links you didn’t need to ask for. Those are targeted visitors pre-disposed to consider your products and services.

Reputation.
Well researched, well written articles make you look like the expert you became. That draws traffic that’s interested in what you have to say and sell.

Word-of-mouth.
Articles help get the word out about what you offer, and a well-written piece pre-disposes them to like it. To help mitigate that dilemma, if you have the funds, you can outsource some or all of the article writing chores.

But be careful. Writing well takes expertise and skill. It’s still your name and site that goes on the final article. Put your best foot forward. If you don’t, your articles may get you some links, but they won’t attract real visitors or help you convert them into buyers.