One of the best link building tactics - and the favorite of many affiliate marketers today - is submitting articles with information on a particular niche to article directories. This is the first "tool" SEO experts advise new site owners to use to acquire natural incoming links (also called backlinks). The process is simple.

(1) Create an original article.

(2) Develop an Author Reference Box that includes your website's URL.

(3) Submit the work to Article Directories for easy backlinks.

The benefits of using article directories in your marketing strategy should not be taken lightly. They include, but are not limited to, the following:

=> 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 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.

=> Links are guaranteed. If you've ever 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.

So why do article sites even exist? One reason - to provide other webmasters with access to free, quality content. This is why article backlinks have the ability to quickly multiply. Just one article, in just one directory, can actually turn into hundreds of links, as webmaster after webmaster finds your article and places it on their web. Every site needs content, and these directories provide a valuable service for all parties.

They give webmasters content that is appropriate to their site (and saves them time because they didn't have to write it). They allow other webmasters and writers to submit content that others can use for free, as long as all of the links remain in tact.

Getting backlinks by asking individual webmasters for them is a slow (and almost painful) process. Many site owners will not even 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.

Most web owners do not have time to spare. They want to build traffic and page rank as rapidly as possible to keep ahead of the competition. Don't get me wrong, 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.

With the Directory strategy, 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.