Why Was My Article Rejected

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 1st, 2010

Article marketing has become a huge trend in Internet marketing today. Many marketers are using articles as their primary, and even sole, form of traffic generation and search engine optimization. However some marketers lament that article marketing doesn't seem to work for them, especially as their article submissions are often rejected.

I own and maintain three article directories. One is a general directory and two are niche directories. Every day I receive hundreds of article submissions and every day I reject dozens. When I first started I would carefully include a specific reason for each rejection but now submissions are so high it is all I can do to keep my head above water. Frankly, I feel it is more important to try to turn articles around in as timely a fashion as possible so I am all about speed now (and am still weeks behind with my general directory).

However I can share these tips in an open letter to article marketers who do not understand why their articles are rejected by my directories -- and likely other article directories as well.

The primary reasons articles are rejected by me include:

Reason 1: Active links in the body of the article. The only place I want to see an active link is the author resource box. This is fairly standard with most article directories.

Reason 2: The article does not belong in this directory. Usually this is true of a large percentage of my niche directory rejections. If the directory is about Internet promotion don't submit your articles about breast augmentation!

Reason 3: The article was not submitted to the right category. If I'm in a nice mood or I'm really interested in the article then I might recategorize it. If I recognize an author who regularly delivers quality content I might recategorize it. If it is in the right broad category I might move it to a more specific subcategory. However if it was submitted with no apparent thought or effort then I will most likely reject it. If the author can't be bothered to select the right category then why should I take the time?

Reason 4: Substandard English. If there are typos or poor grammar in the headline or summary then I am not impressed and will most likely reject the submission.

Reason 5: Subject spamming. If I receive a number of articles on the same subject and by the same author with similar titles and summaries then I will suspect article spamming. Rather than sort out which articles might offer quality unique content I simply reject them all.

Reason 6: Obscure topics. If I don't think that your article about New Jersey Divorce Lawyers will really add anything to my directory then I might just choose to reject it. Similarly if I can't tell what your article is about from the title, summary, or first paragraphs then I'm not going to read any further.

Reason 7: Blatant advertising. These are article directories so I don't want press releases or straight advertisements. Articles should include information about something other than whatever business you are trying to promote.

The simple fact is that these are my directories so I use my own editorial judgment about the appropriate content. I use the feeds and articles from my directories on my web sites and in my blogs, and my bottom line is that the article should offer interesting and/or appealing information to the target audience. If it isn't an article I want to see on my site then I choose to reject it.