Ezine articles has been my favorite article directory on the web. Of course many have read about Google’s panda update and how that has affected rankings for sites such as Ezine. Ezine however is striking back in an effort to increase the quality of the content on their site. Ezine’s popularity as an article directory has over the years steadily increased, attached to that popularity is the negative fact that people (or should I say spammers) exploit that popularity for the purpose of gaining valuable backlinks. To this end Ezine became the hot spot article directory for spun content and authors who really don’t care about anything more than a backlink. As the duplicate, spun and shoddy content increased the eventual devaluation of a site such Ezine became inevitable.
Ezine Makes Changes Responding to Google’s Panda Update
Now Ezine is responding to insure that the quality of content they publish is top notch and offers value to people who are searching for it on the web. I have used Ezine articles successfully both prior to and after the Google Panda update. I will continue to use it as well, since writing comes naturally to me, I have found that Ezine has been (and will continue to be) a valuable directory for article marketing.
The lesson Ezine has learned is perhaps one many bloggers and website owners must learn. The pursuit of traffic to your site is a top priority, after all what is the point of publishing anything to the internet if no one is reading it? But at what expense do we pursue that traffic? Poorly written content gives readers the quick impression that you are either not in it to help them, or can’t help them, and they’re gone from your site, likely never to return. If the first five times you visited Ezine articles looking for some information and discovered articles that left you wanting, gave you nothing new, and were very poorly written, would you trust Ezine for information in the future? It’s doubtful. Google knows what has been happening with Ezine and their recent Panda update was designed in such a way that irrelevant, duplicate, and poor quality content would not rank high in the SERPs. It affected Ezine. Now Ezine is responding.
Quality Matters
Ezine first response has been to proudly declare that quality matters, to respond they’ve put five new protocols into action effective immediately.
- Doubling the editorial review time. Editors are focusing on format, grammar, spelling and consistency.
- Disabled the WordPress plugin and API
- Deadlinks are unlinked much quicker than before.
- Requiring harder work in a shorter time to achieve Platinum membership level.
- A new minimum 400 word count on articles.
There are additional details that go along with the above changes and you can read those over at Ezine’s blog here: quality matters.
Will Policy Changes help Ezine?
The ultimate question for Ezine is will these policy changes help them in the eyes of google? Will Ezine be able to recover from their loss of readership and the general perception that the quality of content on their site is lacking? Do you think these policy changes will help Ezine? Are they a good move in general? Your feedback sparks discussion and I always reply to comments here at info carnivore!
#1 by Justin Germino on April 20, 2011 - 6:46 am
Honestly, instead of investing time in writing articles for other sites you should be using those articles for your own blog and bringing that traffic and SERP listing to you. The only model where having content written for online directories is one where you outsource the articles to other writers so you can focus on your own site articles.
Justin Germino�´s last [type] ..Blogengage Sponsor Review- Kikolanicom
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#2 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:04 pm
I totally hear and agree with what you’re saying Justin, and I’ve primarily only used Ezine for promotion and backlinking for my niche sites. However I have found that develop a couple useful articles for Ezine helps build ones reputation as a writer. I’m very skeptical about outsourcing writing when it is attached to my name (unless I do it on web 2.0 properties anonymously), I want to build a solid reputation with my own writing style, so I would never outsource if my name is attached.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#3 by David Leonhardt on April 20, 2011 - 8:49 am
400 word minimum? Under 500 words, I would call a snippet, not an article.
Twitter: amabaie
#4 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:04 pm
Yeah isn’t that funny David. I agree, I write 500 words easy and am so surprised at low minimums on articles.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#5 by Lee Spaziano on May 5, 2011 - 6:33 pm
500 words is terrific once my Adderall kicks in. Until then, 400 words will do. If you can’t tell me what I need to know in a short concise article, I simply don’t have time for you.
Lee Spaziano�´s last [type] ..Gold and Silver Prices Stall with Bank Holiday
#6 by Daniel Snyder on May 6, 2011 - 7:41 am
Hey Lee, well a lot of people do think that way. They want it cut and dry, and get to the point. A lot of people use a lot of filler in the writing which is not pleasant either.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#7 by richard williams on June 3, 2011 - 4:28 pm
Minimum word count will do nothing to improve article quality, just make people write more passive badly constructed articles, take these examples:
Vegetarianism is a life choice many people make and is increasing in popularity (13 words)
Many people are now making the life of choice of becoming a vegetarian and it is, therefore, increasingly becoming common (20 words)
Same information 50% more words
Writing more words makes no difference to quality and in fact just makes articles passive and badly written.
Quality is about content and substance not word count.
#8 by Kristi Hines on April 20, 2011 - 10:03 am
Too bad they didn’t get the heads up like other article networks did. There is one in particular that went through a massive cleaning process, removing articles they considered spam and not even giving the authors a chance to do anything about it while making their guidelines tougher. This was a few months before the Panda update, and when the update hit, this particular article directory was not affected.
Kristi Hines�´s last [type] ..10 SEO & Design Mistakes That Could Get You in Trouble
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#9 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:05 pm
Interesting, I wonder what directory you are talking about? I think Ezine can recover nevertheless.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#10 by DiTesco on April 20, 2011 - 12:50 pm
It is a pity that eZine had not implemented these quality guidelines before. Makes as wonder if these recent changes are mere signs of “agreement” to Panda. All-in-all though I think that any move towards making the sphere a better place is hands down commendable and I do hope that these efforts would pay off for them in the future.
I do have some articles over there too, and it is maybe time for me to head over there and see how my account is going
Have not been there for a while now actually.
DiTesco�´s last [type] ..Free eMail Marketing For Small Businesses With Posterous- BackLinks Included
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#11 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:05 pm
Too true, but they’ve obviously learned something through this. Thanks for your visit man!
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#12 by Folarin Oyewole on April 20, 2011 - 12:56 pm
The new Google algorithm has affected ezine too. I have 32 articles submitted to EZA that were bringing like 40 organic traffic to my site, but about two weeks ago, it has reduced to 10 to 15. To improve on this traffic i was told to write excellent quality content which can make it to page one of Google.
Folarin Oyewole�´s last [type] ..Unique Massive Website Traffic Generator
Twitter: extraincomeguru
#13 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:06 pm
Interesting that you’ve noticed that drop in traffic, shows that it has been affected. Quality content must be your foundation, I agree!
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#14 by Chris on April 20, 2011 - 1:57 pm
I agree with Justin on this one. Put the content out on your own site and enjoy all the SERPs/pageviews/ad clicks that come with it.
Chris�´s last [type] ..Modern Restaurant Blog Theme
Twitter: toptenblogthemes
#15 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:07 pm
Yes, makes total sense what you’re saying. Saving your best content for your own site is a good idea. Article marketing does have value in some applications however (like I use for niche sites).
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#16 by Brankica on April 20, 2011 - 2:37 pm
I used EZA as a source of few links for my niche site and it worked perfectly. My best niche article was reposted a bunch of times and helped me rank some pages on the site pretty high.
None of my articles were affected and my traffic from them was the same.
Then again, when I entered it I was told by an experienced business people to treat my articles there as I am treating my website pages, write quality and submit only if I would publish it on my own site.
I guess that is the reason I had very nice results with EZA. As a matter of fact, I am going to continue using them and I am glad they are going to up the game a bit.
BrankicaÃ�´s last [type] ..The War Of Art – Three Lessons For Beginner Bloggers
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#17 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:08 pm
I am very specific as well about submitting only quality content to any article directories. If it’s pointing back to me, I want it to be good!
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#18 by Suresh Khanal@Bivori on April 20, 2011 - 4:40 pm
Hi Daniel,
Good discussion and the Panda Updates, as I go through some articles, has been good to users. This must be towards refining their search result that is best relevant to the user.
If Google is trying to improve its search results so that users get what they are really searching for, I wonder why EZA should improve its ranking?
EZA does not target to the general public looking for information. I suspect if anybody opens EZA for any specific purpose like Gmail for email. EZA slogan says ‘Submit your article and get traffic’, don’t you think its totally absurd for any common public?
Suresh Khanal@Bivori�´s last [type] ..Show Ads Where It Matters Most
Twitter: bivori
#19 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:09 pm
Hey Suresh, thanks for your comment man. I think their slogan is a bit off, but it shows that they know their directory is used primarily for article marketing as opposed to quality article content.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#20 by Nishadha on April 22, 2011 - 12:42 am
Ezine articles are a great way to build back links and if you posted a quality article there you have a good chance of getting republished, thus getting back links. Submitting articles just about matches there editorial criteria wont do you much good.
Nishadha�´s last [type] ..Email marketing in Sri Lanka- how to capture leads and build your mailing list
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#21 by Daniel Snyder on April 24, 2011 - 12:10 pm
I do value my Ezine backlinks, they are not hard to get with a little work. I’m writing an article about their frustrating editorial criteria though, should be out net week!
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#22 by A. Tatum Jr on April 26, 2011 - 9:36 pm
Nothing like a little change to improve the quality of something huh? Even with the Google update you would think they are so big it wouldn’t take long for them to workout the issues.
A. Tatum Jr�´s last [type] ..Get A Paid Android App Free Everyday
Twitter: maddencorner
#23 by Daniel Snyder on April 28, 2011 - 10:44 am
Too true. Change is good! (sometimes however, it takes me a while to adjust… for instance, was not a fan of the recent firefox upgrade, though I’m okay with it now… took me a while).
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#24 by Mariana on April 27, 2011 - 10:03 am
Good and interesting discussion indeed. Writing good content, informative and interesting is always important in the Internet, whether you do it for Ezine, a corporate site or your blog.
#25 by Adrienne on April 27, 2011 - 12:51 pm
Much needed changes I think Danny! I also love EZine Articles and was upset when this all happened because it hurt those who were already doing the right thing.
But I think this will all work out in the end because article marketing will never die.
Thanks for this update, appreciate it!
Adrienne
Adrienne�´s last [type] ..Have You Ever Had a Brain Meltdown
Twitter: adriennesmith40
#26 by Daniel Snyder on April 28, 2011 - 10:45 am
Hi Adrienne, I agree these changes should be for the best, and you’re right article marketing will never die! Thanks for your visit.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#27 by Mariana on April 28, 2011 - 7:25 am
I have read the new policies in EZINE and I think they have hitted right. I write articles for EZINE and their new policy requiring arts to have at least 400 words is perfectly fine and doable. Not many things can be said in less words!
#28 by Daniel Snyder on April 28, 2011 - 10:46 am
I agree. 400 words even still is quite low in my opinion, and a 500 word minimum would have been alright as well I think!
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#29 by Shivam Garg on May 1, 2011 - 11:00 am
Hi Daniel,
Nice article.Though harsh but i think this whole panda Update thing is really nice.It feel provide the end users a quality content.And Google knows pretty well what people like and want.
#30 by Daniel Snyder on May 3, 2011 - 7:36 am
Thanks Shivam for your comment and visit. Panda is a good thing in the end, and will reward those who take the time to work hard!
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#31 by Alex on May 3, 2011 - 3:29 pm
Strikes back or goes totally Nazi? I think there is a fine line that they have blurred. Just like your next article mentions
Heads up – your tweet plugin is not picking up the title ofyour posts, all I get is a shortened URL and your twitter handle. Better look into that my friend.
Great post,
PS: EzineArticles blows LOL
Alex�´s last [type] ..8 Completely Free Tools That Will Catapult Your Link Building Efforts
Twitter: buildrankprofit
#32 by Daniel Snyder on May 3, 2011 - 9:29 pm
Thanks for the heads up, not sure why… will have to ditch the twitter button and switch to tweet meme.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#33 by Terje Sannarnes on May 4, 2011 - 5:55 am
Analizing the current situation with Panda update I can make the folllowing conclusion. Article marketing remains to be effective link building method, but it is not effective way to attrat targeted traffic and potential clients to online business. I hope that the owners of popular article directories like Ezine articles will take the necessary actions and change the situation for the better in the nearest future.
Terje Sannarnes�´s last [type] ..Why an Online Entrepreneur Should Not Trust SEO Companies
#34 by Daniel Snyder on May 4, 2011 - 7:36 am
One really has to pick and choose when it comes to article directories. There is so many garbage sites out there. Check PR (among other factors), and don’t waste your time!
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#35 by Suzanne Delzio on May 4, 2011 - 2:25 pm
Please settle a disagreement: when bloggers put a post up on Ezine articles without changing the content, Google considers that “duplicate content.” Thanks!!
#36 by Daniel Snyder on May 5, 2011 - 8:40 am
Hi Suzanne. You may find this article I wrote helpful in settling your debate. Google Duplicate Content Penalty, is it real?
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#37 by kegel ball on May 4, 2011 - 7:10 pm
i really think about, who cares about writing for another website anyway if not to gain the backlink from that site… it is obvious that we write quality stuffs for own site and crap thing for other site to gain link… really u think about it, there are so many other article directories .. who care about ezinearticles.. the articles are plain tasteless.
kegel ball�´s last [type] ..Vaginal Problems
#38 by Lee Spaziano on May 5, 2011 - 6:41 pm
I disagree. Bottom line, garbage in, garbage out.
I try to write high quality articles to deliver quality to my readers. In exchange, I get quality back links and relevant visitors.
#39 by Lee Spaziano on May 5, 2011 - 6:43 pm
Daniel,
I’m feeling a bit lost. Quality articles with back links was my SEO ace in the hole. Now what should we do?
Lee
#40 by Daniel Snyder on May 6, 2011 - 7:42 am
I think backlinks from article directories is only one of many SEO options. Web 2.0 properties are much more effective in my opinion.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#41 by david brockman on May 9, 2011 - 4:36 pm
heh Daniel,
Thanks for the value. So with this new Panda update do you still think ezine articles is a good site to place a version of the article (the original on a blog) in order to get an authority backlink? ie my blog has no authority at the mo; but ezine still has right?
Also, do ezine articles still show up on page one if backlinked well (have google slapped ezine with this panda thing); and if not where else would you recommend placing them instead…(what are the best web 2.o sites to whack stuff up onto?)
keep up the good work..
cheers
David
david brockman�´s last [type] ..Online Marketing Tips for Musicans
#42 by honey on May 12, 2011 - 2:06 am
i think putting articles on ezine for some niches is more fruitful as compared to putting articles on your own site. previously and even now ezine articles get quickly indexed and come on top pages of google. for instance the following article submitted by our writer reached almost 80,000 reads: http://ezinearticles.com/?Shockwave-Flash-Crash—Learn-Easy-Fix-For-Shockwave-Flash-Crash-in-Your-Internet-Browser&id=3994780
#43 by Daniel Snyder on May 12, 2011 - 7:47 am
Good point, Ezine is good for that if you know how to make it work! Thanks.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#44 by Justin | Mazzastick on May 17, 2011 - 9:30 am
This is interesting to me because I was considering submitting a couple of articles to ezine.
A fellow blogger has just sent me a link to her article on ezine and I was wondering if this would be beneficial for her since the Panda update.
Your article has helped clarify this for me.
Justin | Mazzastick�´s last [type] ..Time Is Accelerating And We Must Change
Twitter: Mazzastick
#45 by Daniel Snyder on May 18, 2011 - 7:22 am
Hey Justin, glad the article was helpful! Thanks for visiting here, hope to see you again soon!
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#46 by Vernessa Taylor on May 25, 2011 - 11:44 am
Hi Daniel,
Nice take on the EzineArticles/Panda situation. EzineArticles already had some guidelines in place which were supposed to weed out the garbage and thinly-veiled promotional pieces.
I’ve written some solid content and had it picked up and used in some interesting blogs. But sad to say, more often than not, it’s grabbed by the content scrapers.
Really, if Ezine can up its criteria, so much the better. But I’ve encountered nitpicking editors who hold up publishing good content and somehow let this other mess get by.
Let’s hope this shuffle really makes it better for those it was meant to serve.
Vernessa Taylor�´s last [type] ..Obscure- Antiquated- and Unfair Do Directories Really Work
Twitter: CoachNotesBlog
#47 by Daniel Snyder on May 27, 2011 - 7:20 am
Hi Vernessa! Thank you for your compliment. I agree that Ezine changing criteria is ultimately a good thing. Some of these steps really should have been taken sooner.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#48 by George Super Boot Camps on May 25, 2011 - 3:39 pm
Thanks again for another great article Daniel,
I have a question though:
How different does an article need to be from the original for google to recognise sufficient difference?
Do you think there is a minimum word difference (Say 10%) that would qualify an article as ‘original’?
Thanks in advance,
George SuperBootCamps
George Super Boot Camps�´s last [type] ..Comment on eBook! by Exercise Motivation- Am I Lazy or Just Waiting SuperBootCampsBlog
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#49 by Daniel Snyder on May 27, 2011 - 7:26 am
George. I’ve wondered this myself and it’s a good question. I don’t think anyone really knows. If google was to share a detail like that it would only cause people to start modifying articles to a minimum acceptable standard. This is not what they are after at all, so they’ll be pretty hush hush on what variations qualify for an original article.
Twitter: danielsnyder1
#50 by Chaz @ Gear-Vault on May 31, 2011 - 6:28 pm
I was using the Ezine WordPress plugin and I think Google associated my content to Ezine, and destroyed my ranking. I lost over 50% since the Panda update. I am trying to get it back. Perhaps I should delete the 55 posts on my blog that was transfered to Ezine.. Anyone else get burned using the Ezine/Wordpress API?
Chaz @ Gear-Vault�´s last [type] ..Top Five Overdrive Pedals
#51 by Shaleen Sinha on June 17, 2011 - 10:38 am
Panda update is a boon for people who actually respect their own writing and do not put up fluff. This will even the field for the real writers who had to contend with spinning programs before. Kudos Google.
p.s. Nice article Daniel, as you know yourself, you fall under the category of good writers.
#52 by virtual server hosting on June 30, 2011 - 11:53 pm
The update helped Feel Free.co.. traffic is like +500% after the update.. Thanks to uncle Google
#53 by Simon on July 23, 2011 - 8:39 pm
It’s just a shame that so many people have spammed the article distribution network. I’m wonderng with Ezine will truly recover and have the same power in Google as it once had?
Twitter: itouchsolutions
#54 by Je Buzz on August 7, 2011 - 12:29 am
Google Panda is a nice thing. It will finely clean the bad article we find on the web. It will arrive in France in a few week I guess.
#55 by MarketSecretsBlogger on September 3, 2011 - 1:16 pm
I they should add a voting system on all articles as a guide to the quality of an article. And in order to prevent manipulation ok said voting system all voters must check off a lil ticker showing and proving that they are a living breathing being;)
MarketSecretsBlogger�´s last [type] ..Benefits of Posting On a No-Follow Site
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#56 by Adcuda on December 15, 2011 - 2:55 pm
It’s true about the quality content trumping all else in the eyes of the Panda update, but some of the dips in traffic were related to how unique the site itself was. Were advertisements prevalent on most of the individual pages or was the actual design of the site generic or copycat? Ezine has definitely changed the latter rule and made their site look fresh. Better regulations on the content coming in is just another plus. How much it helps Ezine get back to the mountaintop depends on whether they stick to the “Freshness update” and go even further into allowing only the best of the best articles.
AdcudaÃ�´s last [type] ..What NOT to do in your emails…
#57 by Panzer Kumar on December 19, 2011 - 12:53 am
Mr. Daniel Snyder, I have a doubt.
I am also an Ezine Author and i stopped after my first article on Ezine for my SEO friend told me that writing articles and earning reputation on Ezine is no longer worth so i just stopped writing on Ezine. And now i thank you for your clear and detailed information on this story. Now i think writing on Ezine is still adds value to a Professional Content writer. Thanks for your Great and clear Information.. I also have a few other doubts that i prefer to ask in person.. Kindly Provide me your Mail Id. My Id is [email protected]
#58 by Daniel Snyder on December 19, 2011 - 7:18 am
You can reach me through the contact page on this blog (Check the tabs at the top).
#59 by Richard Cummings on January 25, 2012 - 4:42 am
Ezine Articles was certainly the best article directory compared to all of the others. I am a platinum author on Ezine and many of my articles had achieved significant PR making the backlinks even more valuable. I do hope they recover but I have not yet seen my articles jump to page 1 immediately as they did in the past. Regards, Richard
Richard Cummings�´s last [type] ..Google Panda Update and Article Marketing