As I tour the web reading the various blogs on SEO, there seems to be this air of negativity. It started several months ago with rumours that article marketing was dead and no longer worth considering.
This air of negativity has spread. Now directory submissions are dead; link exchanging is dead; and lately, anchor text is dead. The question is, are they really dead?
On their own, they have never stood the test of time. Link building and SEO relies on what many have called a ‘blended’ approach.
There is still plenty of value in continuing this blended approach. Anchor text may or may not be important, but then it depends on which search engine you are talking about. Likewise for directory submissions, link exchanges and article marketing. I include link exchanges but only in the form related sites cross linking – not the previous link to anyone type link exchange.
None of these methods are dead – yet. They all still carry a little weight and are still worth pursuing. What is important now is to add the additional resources that are available. Social bookmarking, forum participation and blog commenting can add considerable value to the more traditional forms of link building.
Until we hear otherwise, from the search engines themselves, everyone of the above mentioned strategies are going to help your over rankings. Whilst some may have lost a lot of value in recent times, they have not lost all their value. Is article marketing dead – no it’s alive, it’s healthy and it’s worth getting to know – along with all the other avenues.
