JL Forums

As someone who has tried advertising with this system, I agree with most of 7Driver's ideas.

I'd love to advertise more, but the incredible lag between paying for links and actually receiving links makes it all prohibitive (it's to a point where you become skeptical you'll ever receive those links).  Most of you guys just see the available links disappear because people "claim" them right quick.  Advertisers often don't see the actual links they paid for show up in the system for several weeks after they paid for them (if they show up at all).  Perhaps some directories really take a month to approve and publish an article.  Perhaps some of the people who claim a link are just slackers.  I don't know. 

SunGlynis

Thanks for your input.  I wonder did you know that there is a post about the time it takes to get an article approved,
http://jlforums.com/cash4links-com/article-directory-speed-of-submission/
To help all of us realize which directories to post to.

As for myself, I generally post to all the directories that I have logins to (a couple of them, for whatever reason, did not work for me).

Additionally, most of those links come from the same one or two directories (limiting their value to some extent) and most often they are completely unrelated.  I've been in SEO long enough to understand that from a pure link juice perspective relevance doesn't matter much, but it still makes these links at least somewhat less valuable in the long run.

I appreciate that some people are actually writing relevant articles and submitting them, but I can tell you from an advertiser's perspective, that is by far the minority.  Most people are just sticking the link in an unrelated article that is already published somewhere.

As far as I can see, on the advertisement page for C4L, it is stated that the links you pay for are not from articles with relevant content.  As far as I know, people who signed up for C4L as advertisers knew this, and signed up anyway.  Yes, indeed, relevant articles with advertiser links is ideal.  C4L not being set up for that, perhaps in the future, as is suggested.

And as far as

Having someone like HoneyJo getting paid $5 for putting significant time and effort into a link submission while someone else made 5 times as much as her with only 5 minutes of work by just adding links to existing unrelated articles... something just seems a bit off about that.

If it seems off about that, realize she is attempting to build an article writing business piggybacking from C4L contacts - and it sounds like is being moderately successful at it.  Just as there are others of us attempting to build a successful online business with our articles that we write pointing to our own websites, and also give links out for C4L websites as well.

Don't get me wrong - I, too, believe links for relative content is better -- but the price would be steeper as well.  Hiring someone to write articles for you to post is more expensive, as any outsourcing content writing site will prove.  And having them post the article to the article directories on your behalf, using their personal account login information -- the price should reflect accordingly.

So please continue to use C4L, believe it will get faster, and perhaps Jon will expand it to an article writing link service, who knows?  HoneyJo is branching out in that direction. 

Leona

'We got a full moon tonight here in the woods!  How is it on the West Coast of Canada?'

Joyce[/i][/color]

Joyce,
This morning it is warm already 15 degrees Celsius. 

And I am fighting a summer cold, my throat is scratchy and I am worn out tired. 
On the positive side, I LOVE chicken soup (after having drunk 2 litres of it yesterday)  BTW, litre is quart for you southerners  and I get to take my oldest granddaughter to a bouncy castle tomorrow morning, so I GOTTA feel better.  A 5 year old depends on GrannyD

Leona 

In general, the Internet has made a mess out of article writing as a profession. Many who don't write think it should be easy for someone who does write to knock out a high quality article for pennies on the word. It isn't. But because most "web masters" come ill-equipped to the task of creating worthwhile content they hope to buy it at bargain basement prices (ie: third-world)...

As for the time-lag.. imagine how much time it would take to get those links published if you went the route the search engines HOPED you went? SE want to... need to... index the best resources for the best users' experience. Without those links it might take you YEARS to reach any form of worthwhile ranking!

Tradeview,
I totally agree as to the comment about the mess out of article writing as a profession.  It does take time to write quality, and as I browse websites and see some of the non-English speaking content, it makes me shudder.  I don't deny, as well, that the blogs that use a plugin to draw content from yahoo answers, or article sites to get ranked in Google as well.  That's why I post my articles to those sites, with links, to get "picked up" by the automation that is out there.

My sites that get the best SE indexing are still the ones with good, regular, relevant, keyword rich content.  Nothing that takes a quickie 5 minute article.  Some that "borrow" from article directories via the plugin are fast indexed, but unless I add good content in the mix, they fall off page one pretty fast.

Just my 2 and a half cents Canadian opinion.
Leona 

I wonder if all the better article directories examining the article will change over time of the writers themselves submitting good content?
I know that eZine examines, yes, and as I move up the ladder from Basic to the top, my submission time for review gets less and less.
Leona 

P.S. Even with "fast" approval it can take a day or two to get an article approved. So with every link that dribbles out of C4L you have that much time before you can publish another link.. if you go that route.

Yes, eZine and other sites can take a day or two, but other sites are instant, so its all good, still able to get links and get some Cash4 them, too.
Leona