If your business has a website, you're probably searching for ways to get people to visit. Search engine optimization is important, but there are many other simple things you can do yourself to help drive more traffic to your site.

I publish several online newsletters; my own as well as several for my clients. My clients write wonderful articles for their newsletters and most also have me archive the newsletters or articles on their website. There is also another way to get more mileage from the articles they've written, and that's to submit them to article directories, other web sites, and other online newsletters. The author's bio is listed after the article with a link back to their website.

Articles that provide the reader with great information and leave them wanting more will click on that link to find out more about the author and to see if he/she has even more great information on their web site.

Here is an example of an article that I submitted for my client, Mary Allen (www.LifeCoachMary.com). Self-Growth is a personal development website with lots of information and lots of web site traffic. The articles Mary writes for her eNewsletter, SoulFULLY Living is a perfect fit for this website. I submitted this article using their online submission form. I started submitting Mary's articles in December of 2003 and her articles are still there, driving traffic to her website. That's because at the end of the article is a bio with information about Mary and a link back to her web site.

Here is a list of a few sites that will accept article submissions. Please keep in mind that some websites have very specific themes and guidelines for submitting your articles so please make sure your article is appropriate for the site:

http://ezinearticles.com/

http://goarticles.com/index.html

http://www.articlecity.com/

http://www.authorconnection.com/

http://www.bpubs.com/cgi/add.cgi

http://www.ebooksnbytes.com/articles/submit.shtml

http://www.ideamarketers.com/

http://www.freesticky.com/stickyweb/submitarticle.asp

These are just a few sites out of dozens that I've gathered over the years. If you'd like to find more places to submit your articles to, simply do a search on the Internet for "article directories". Good luck with your article submissions!

Copyright ? 2002 - 2004, Jean Hanson, VA Office Solution(TM). Jean Hanson is a CPVA (Certified Professional Virtual Assistant). If you or someone you know is overwhelmed with the stresses that come from managing your business, it's time to bring joy and balance back into your life. Discover how partnering with a virtual assistant will give you more time to do the things you love to do! For more information about virtual assistance, visit Jean's website at http://www.VaOfficeSolution.com. Jean is also the author of the eBook, Virtualize Your Business - Secrets to Simplifying, Automating, Organizing, and Virtualizing Your Business. Over 1,200 links to resources that you can use right now! http://www.VirtualizeYourBiz.com.