Top 10 Best Article Directories

This Top 10 Best Article Directories list will give you some amazing places to get some high quality do follow backlinks to your own websites, and maybe earn a few dollars in the process!

As an Internet Marketer looking for the best article directories to build high quality backlinks can often be a challenge.  Over the years I have found some great article directories, and recently I started one of my own, so that my backlinking efforts really can be as rewarding as possible for the work I put in to them.

In my top 10 best article directories list I will be showing you my top 10 article directories, and why I like each one!

While it is important to focus your backlinking efforts on the highest quality link sources, you do have to remember that diversification is a good thing.  Stretching your link portfolio means that you have more domains linking abck to you, and this factor really will help.

In the meantime though you should try and get as many backlinks as possible by submitting some of your work to the best article directories listed below!

Before I start giving you the best article directories, I really need to tell you what an article directory is. Think of an article directory as a newspaper. Some directories are more focused on specific niches, some are much more broad. All article directories however store your article and allow others to view it.

Different article directories give you different benefits. Affiliate links allowed, revenue share, and do follow links are all things you should look out for, and some of the best article directories give you all three!

Some article directories allow syndication, as of 2011 Google is devaluing sites with duplicate content, that means getting a backlink from a site that uses syndicated content will be worth much less than a site where your content is unique. For this reason I suggest focusing more on article directories which do not allow syndication.

So without further ado, here are the top 10 article directories, giving you the very best in high quality earnings, backlinks, exposure and more!

Triond is a moderately high quality article directory, that simply never made it in to the big leagues. Despite this it is still a great place to make a little extra and earn some backlinks. Triond pays you directly based on 50% of earnings from your pages earnings. What makes Triond stand out to me is that your article may be published on a partner site instead of triond.com, which means greater exposure and more varied backlinks to your own sites!

The problem with Triond simply is that they do take a hefty 50% cut of your page earnings. Until the authority of Triond and it's partners improves I will find it hard to focus my efforts on their site.

Benefits

• Do Follow Backlinks
• Revenue Share (only 50% though)
• Article may be published on a partner site instead of Triond.com
  

Downsides

• Low Search Engine Visibility

Sign up at Triond.com

Wizzley is a new start up article directory that appeared recently with the goal of replacing some of the frustrations felt recently by Hubpages and Squidoo users.

Wizzley allows do follow backlinks and has several sweet advertising options that allow you to monetize your work.

Benefits

• 50% to 60% Revenue share
• Do Follow Backlinks
• Varied Advertising Options

Downsides

• Their div layer layouts are not quite as pretty as tools such as Hubpages
• Still young

Sign up now at Wizzley

Info Barrel is a fairly good site, and one of the best article directories, and while it has grown a lot in recent years, it has a fairly open door policy. This does mean that the site might appear a little low quality, since anyone can join and write whatever they want. However with the infobarrel revenue share starting at 70% and leading to a possible 90%, the site is generous with it's earnings, and it allows do-follow links!

Benefits

• High Revenue Share
• Do Follow Links
  

Downsides

• The site could do with a stricter editorial process.
  

You can sign up at infobarrel.com

Not that long ago you could submit an article to eZine articles and have it syndicated across thousands of high quality domains, with your backlinks attached. Nowadays however the only people syndicating eZine articles have poor quality websites, and many of them remove your link.

eZine articles doesn't pay, but they do give do follow backlinks, that may be spread accross several sites. The big downside of eZine articles is that they do not police how the articles are used, or where they go, so you get very little benefit. Even worse, with Google promising to crack down on duplicate content, syndication, the foundation of eZine articles is now dead.

eZine articles is still in my top 10 best article directories list because the one good redeeming feature is that you can often get a fairly nice backlink from the article you place on their website. It sucks that this is the only benefit, but it can be a high quality link, and many people find it helps rank their site.

Benefits

• Site is fairly high quality itself
• Do Follow Backlink
  

Downsides

• No Revenue Share
• Content is spam duplicated across the Internet.
  

You can sign up at eZinearticles.com

Suite 101 pays it's writers a share of the site revenue based on their traffic statistics. The actual percentage they pay remains undisclosed, however it is assumed to be reasonable. Suite 101 comes down hard on self promotion, so it is a little hard to create a decent amount of backlinks on this site..

The good thing about Suite101 is it's quality, and Google recognises that. Suite 101 has a good editorial presence to make sure the site content stays high, which means good Google rankings for you!

Benefits

• High Quality Site
• Moderate Revenue Share

Downsides

• Revenue Share Percentage is not Displayed
• Hard to Get Backlinks

Sign up to Suite101.com

DevHub is one of my favorites on my top 10 article directories list. DevHub is a lot more than just an article directory, it allows you to create highly customizable blogs, landing pages, and simple articles. One feature that makes DevHub even more unique is that it turns article creation and blog management in to a game. You build up your very own 'city' with buildings which can grow or diminish based on their quality.

DevHub also comes with a wide range of earning options, with modules for all kinds of affiliate programs from hotels to Amazon. DevHub will give you a percentage of earnings from this, although again, they do not disclose the actual revenue sharing percentage. DevHub is a great place to build backlinks and earn some cash, but you definitely need to invest some time in setting up a decent network of sites there. The range of options available in terms of converting visitors to cash is what get this simple idea in to my best article directories list!

Benefits

• Plenty of advertising options
• Do follow backlinks
• Different styles of page/blog
• Unique 'game' system
  

Negatives

• Do not disclose revenue share percentage
• Can be a little overwhelming
  

You can sign up at DevHub.com

This is Freelance is my own personal article directory. Unlike most of the best article directories on this list, This is Freelance requires you to provide examples of your work. This helps maintain a higher standard quality of writing on this site, which means more valuable backlinks, and higher earnings for us all!

This is Freelance shares 60% of advertising impressions and gives it's authors do follow backlinks to promoto their own sites. Unfortunately This is Freelance is still a relatively new website, so it's overall authority is still pretty low. The upside of this is that there are plenty of great article titles available!

Benefits

• 60% Revenue Sharing
• Do follow backlinks
• High Quality
• SEO terms still available as article titles
  

Downsides

• Site is still very young

You can sign up at ThisIsFreelance.com

Google Knol is Google's very own article directory. It is a great source of high quality links, even though it is no-follow. Even better, it has real 100% adsense revenue sharing! Knol is packed with features including several article licencing options, and even collaboration tools.

Benefits

• High Quality
• Revenue sharing
• Various publishing options

Downsides

• Stringent rules
• Limited advertising options
• No Follow

You can sign up at knol.google.com

I have a love hate relationship with Squidoo, I don't really like the interface and it is a hassle to sift through the various modules, however many people earn a lot with the Squidoo article directory. It is also a great way to build some nice do follow backlinks, although the trust of the site is far from as high quality as that of Google Knol.

Squidoo does let you build some nice articles though with its simple layout, where things really get complex however is it's revenue sharing structure, which is far too complicated for me to go in to here.

Benefits

• Revenue Sharing
• Do follow backlinks
• Some useful modules
  

Downsides

• Can be a little overwhelming
• There is quite a lot of spam and duplicate content on there
  

You can sign up at squidoo.com

The very best article directory in my opinion is the one you are reading from right now. Whether you found this article through the wonderful Hubpages community, or through a search engine, Hubpages is a high quality do follow site that has a fantastic 60% revenue sharing program.

Hubpages easily makes it in to the number one spot of my top 10 article directories list. The reason I think they really captured my attention was because they have the quickest, most effective modular layout system than any other site in the best article directories list!

Benefits

• Friendly, knowledgeable community
• 60% Revenue Share
• Easy ad-friendly page layouts
• Do follow backlinks
• Very High Quality
• High Search Engine Visibility
  

Downsides

• None!
  

You can sign up at Hubages.com