One consequence of the latest Google algorithm changes is the diminishing returns from article marketing. Google Panda hit a lot of the article directories, including some of the really big ones, very hard. Then came Google Penguin, which targeted unnatural link profiles with too much of the same anchor text (among other things). Such a mistake was very easy to make if you used article marketing heavily.
That said, I think it's still worth writing and submitting a few articles, particularly to quality directories. But you must make sure that they are really good, unique articles of a decent length (at least 500 words). Don't make them a rehash of other stuff you have submitted elsewhere.
And don't keep using the same or similar anchor text in your author bio-box links. Vary it, while ensuring that it still relates to your site and the article content. Also, avoid generic keyword anchor text that is reminiscent of spam-laden niches like "make money online".
Using your website title or brand keywords in the anchor text is fine. That's clearly not an attempt to manipulate the rankings. And it's a good idea to occasionally not use any anchor text at all.
And make sure that most, or all, of the links to your site aren't coming back from such articles. It's important to have a nice spread of different locations for them.
If you do these things you'll have a much more natural link profile. And that's very important for SEO these days.
That said, I think it's still worth writing and submitting a few articles, particularly to quality directories. But you must make sure that they are really good, unique articles of a decent length (at least 500 words). Don't make them a rehash of other stuff you have submitted elsewhere.
And don't keep using the same or similar anchor text in your author bio-box links. Vary it, while ensuring that it still relates to your site and the article content. Also, avoid generic keyword anchor text that is reminiscent of spam-laden niches like "make money online".
Using your website title or brand keywords in the anchor text is fine. That's clearly not an attempt to manipulate the rankings. And it's a good idea to occasionally not use any anchor text at all.
And make sure that most, or all, of the links to your site aren't coming back from such articles. It's important to have a nice spread of different locations for them.
If you do these things you'll have a much more natural link profile. And that's very important for SEO these days.
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