Should Articles Have Links In Them?
One question that often comes up is, “Should I put links in my articles.” Well, you can. But there are some reasons why you shouldn’t. Some article directories have very strict policies that prohibit certain kinds of links within articles. But every article directory is different. They all have their own policies.
I have found that the article directories with the strictest policies regarding links within articles are the best ones. They concern is with quality. Many article directories will accept anything, so the quality of articles you’ll find in them are not that good. You’ll find a lot of spam or blatant advertising messages and those articles tend to have the lowest distribution. But not all links within articles are bad.
The most important consideration for any article you publish in article directories is quality. Will your potential readers benefit from the article? That should be your first priority in every article that you write. With that in mind, you should carefully consider whether to include links within your articles and what types of links to include if you do.
I’d say stay away from self-serving links. Any article directory that would allow you to include self-serving links within your articles is probably not a very good article directory. There may be exceptions, but that has been my experience. That’s not to say all links within articles are bad.
Self-serving links are better left for your author resource box. If you do include links within articles, you’d be better off including links to third-party sources, sources that you have no direct connection with. I have done this several times even at article directories with the strictest policies. Those links should provide some value to your readers just as the rest of your article does. Otherwise, if the link doesn’t provide added value to an article, I’d say don’t include it. The bottom line is, you want the people reading your article to get benefit from it.
