I wrote an article and published it in an article directory … now what? The first rule is not to publish in a single directory. Post to as many directories as you can. Remember that each of those directories are links to your site. There are services that will submit your article to multiple sites for you, saving you a lot of time and hassle. With that done, it’s time to keep track of your article and make sure everyone is linked to the resource or to you via the resource box.

In a perfect world, everyone would follow the posting guidelines and their links would remain intact. This is not a perfect world, and many will try to use your article as content for their sites and will stoop to tricks to avoid the exit link. It is up to you to keep an eye on this. You won’t be able to stop them all, but you can limit “content thieves”.

Step one: Go to Google, MSN and Yahoo, type your article title in the search box surrounded by quotation marks. Example: SEO Article Writing: Get Your Credit? . It’s best to wait about a week after your article is published to start with this and then repeat once every two to three days for about a month. You will see that the sites that use your article grow each time you check it out. Hurrah! Search engine optimization is working! Not so fast. Now is the time to keep them honest. Without the links, the article is useless as a search optimization tool for you.

Step Two: Use the cached link to view your article on the site that is being published. You don’t have to worry about article directories, they will be delivering. Check all the other sites to make sure they follow the posting guidelines. Is your resource box intact? Are your links clickable? Have other links been inserted into the body of the article? Has the content of the article changed? Click on your link and make sure you are not redirected. Advances with links to the article source are acceptable as they are increasing the popularity of your articles.

Step three: view the page source. You can do this in Firefox or IE by going to view -> view page source. A box will appear revealing all the html for that page. Check meta tags, make sure there is no index, don’t follow. description in the robots meta tag. Check the link to make sure no do-not-follow rules apply. You will see that most follow the rules, however you will find some that do not. Step Four: Get Site Compliant. Once you’ve spotted someone trying to trick you out of your well-deserved link, DO NOT send a mean, nasty email. You will send them an email politely and assertively, after taking a few other steps. Take a screenshot of the offense if possible. Record the date and time you are viewing the web page and the exact URL of that page.

Step Five: A professional, courteous, and assertive email. In most cases, this step will stop the offender. Very few will require you to take additional action. Your email should be specific, short, and require action to be taken. An example email might look like this:

Dear Sirs,

I would like to thank you for using my article titled “SEO Article Writing – Get Your Credit”. I really enjoy looking at websites and people who use my work. I am very happy to help provide content for you. and readers with information and entertainment.

However, I realized that you have made an oversight by posting my article at this URL: [http://www.thiersite/myarticle.html]. According to the EzineArticles.com posting guidelines listed here http://ezinearticles.com/terms-of-service.html, you have not {given the specific violation, that is, list my resource box, or have placed a no-follow rule in your meta tags, etc.}

I understand that we are in a rush sometimes and you may have overlooked this. I work hard to write these articles, and a link is a small price to pay to use them. Correct the problems or remove my article from your site. Once I comply, I do not need to expedite this matter for any legal action.

Thanks,

Your name.

Wait, they could delete my article! Well, if they don’t provide the links, they are essentially stealing your content, and without the links, it is of no benefit to you. Step Six: If after a day or two the article is still running, contact the article directory and let them know. For example, EzineArticles will also be happy to contact the site. Let them know that you have emailed the site administrator and what the results of that email are. Check back a week later to see if the site is still running your article and if they are, check to see if they fixed the problem.

If after this stage they still do not comply, contact the directory again and let them know. They will advise you on what other actions you can take and what other actions they will take. As to whether or not you will be able to take legal action, it will depend on many factors. I will address them in another article.