Search engine rankings are really important to getting clicks and traffic. We all know that (or should!) But what do articles have to do with search engine rankings? I contend that articles have a lot to do with improving search engine rankings.

Here?s the theory:

You write an article related to the topic in your web site. You include a link back to your web site. You submit this article to a number of online article directories. The article directories make your articles available for ezine and online newsletters to use as content. Some of the article directories use RSS feeds to get your article out to as many web sites as possible.

What happens next? Your link is being virally propagated throughout the web world. As that happens, the search engines begin to give your web site a higher ranking based on your link popularity.

Does this happen like that in the real world?

Only effective testing and tracking for these types of things can give you that answer. The best testing is the testing you do yourself.

So how to do it?

Perform the following test:

1) Write 10 articles.

2) Put a keyword-linked ?live link? in the bio for each of your articles. For example, the keyword phrase for the ?live link? in this article is ?search engine rankings?.

3) For this test, use a search phrase that has at least 3 words in it. (This will make it easier to see fast results; the principle is the same for looser word phrases with fewer words, it just takes many more links and articles to see results)

4) Use Google and Yahoo search to find article titles that are being used by no one else. To do this, type your proposed article title ?in quotes? into both search engines and alter it until you come up with a title that the search engines will give you a no results return to your search.

5) Send your article to at least twenty of the biggest article directories. (I cannot include the list in this article due to article directory requirements, but if you access me via the live link and send me an email asking for my top 50 or so, I will gladly send it to you)

6) After about a week, look up the article title, again in quotes, in Google and Yahoo. Do it again every week for a month. Look up your keyword phrase. Count how many times one of your articles is listed in the search results for the top 10, top 30, and top 100. This is certainly not a scientific test of any sort, but I think you will be surprised at the results. Let me know!

I?d love to send you a complimentary copy of my online guide to getting started online: ?15 Steps to Internet Success?. To access it immediately, click here: Search Engine Rankings Sean Mize is a successful offline and online entrepreneur and marketer, and is currently writing his third book.