Gunter Eibl writes:

Hi!

I thought a maximum of 3 words was allowed as anchor text. Did you change it back to 5 words now? Will 4 or 5 word anchor texts always get approved now or is it on the editor?

Gunter

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Rick Peden writes:

I’ve only used the new system. It seems good to me. No issues with it.

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Christopher M. Knight writes:

Gunter,

The maximum number of words allowed in anchored text links is 5.

3 was the recommendation and is the rule, but if your content blows us away with unique value, our editors can allow up to 5 words be linked up. If the article is filled with grammar/spelling errors or offers very little unique value, then 3 is the max allowed.

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Bob Sommers - Target Email Marketing Guru writes:

Thank you Chris:
This was a great idea getting this information out to the EzineArticles community. This post alone should improve the article acceptance rate by a factor of 1000%. Thank you.

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Don Monteith writes:

I’ve used the new system for the last 10 articles plus and find it very easy and quick to get it done.

Thanks a bunch.

Don

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Christopher M. Knight writes:

Glad to hear the feedback.

Some members sent in nasty-grams as if we were adding all kinds of new rules when in fact, we’re just trying to be more transparent as to how our submission form is trying to help members get their articles accepted faster. :)

That is the end-result we’re aiming for: Helping members get their articles accepted faster and on the 1st try.

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Bob Johnson writes:

Hey I like the attempt to communicate what is needed. Maybe folks will not see, will forget, but you at least tried to communicate so job well done.

I’ve tried when you first put in the new article submit program to use it and in at least couple of situations lost everything I had written so I went to the old tried and true which did not have the problems.

Hope this new form has all the bugs out of it now, if so, it’s much better than the old one.

thanks.

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Shannon writes:

Hi all. The bugs that I was experiencing (freezing up, taking a long time to clear spell check) seem to have all been fixed. I didn’t have any problems today or late Friday. I like the new submission form now and many thanks for listening to my suggestions. Shannon

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YourLawnAndGarden - The Place Where Successful Contractors Meet writes:

Chris, just ignore the Article-Nazis (nasty grams)! You will cop it from them just for the sake of it.

Good tips on Submissions, and I like the thing telling you that you need a minimum of 250 words even when you have just started writing the first 5 words. Oh, sorry I’m starting to sound like the Article-Nazis!

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Darcy John writes:

I don’t see much has changed. It’s all good straight down the line article-writing. However I do languish the lack of the use of images and video in articles. Why is that?

Darcy John

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Christopher M. Knight writes:

Darcy,

Sorry, we have no plans to allow images and video in articles this year.

Some day…perhaps. :) Just not yet.

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Krishnan writes:

Hi:

The keyword density check is really helpful. Now I don’t check keyword density using firefox for each article, it saves time for sure.

The frequently used article category is another feature that saves time. You don’t have to select from the drop down menu every time if you have already written an article in that category.

These two improvements allow you to move quickly through the submission process.

Krish

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James Spacey writes:

I think this is great. When I first started writing articles I got pulled up a lot because of not meeting guidlines and I would have loved to have been given the heads up before submitting rather than having to go back later and fix it. Also, I appreciate the list in this post. I’ve stuck it on my noticeboard as a check!

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Francisco writes:

Hi and brazilian Oi,
Great idea getting this information, I am starting to write article as a baby needing of care.
Thaks

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Lance Winslow writes:

Thanks for this breakdown. I like this new upload submit system.

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Shirley Bass writes:

I’m used to the new submit form and like it.

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Christopher M. Knight writes:

Lawn & Garden dude,

If you keep your cursor in the article body, the min. word watcher won’t warn you. It only warns when you leave the field… which means, if you put in 5 words and move on to another field, then it’ll notify you that you’re under the 250 word limit.

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Barry writes:

The new form has removed much of the fog on this topic but there still are those evil ‘general errors’ which remain shrouded in mystery.

Any efforts made to reduce the number of general errors will be greatly appreciated… as those by far and away are the most frustrating.

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Christopher M. Knight writes:

Barry,

We have an ambitious idea on how to solve those general errors; but the project is huge and it’s already in design phase. Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll have an answer to this issue.

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Jim writes:

Thank you for this information. I have been going round and round with the links and keywords allowed. If only one link is allowed, does that mean that link can have three keywords attached to it? I am still confused on this one. We use to be able to add three links for different keywords and apparently that is not the case now.

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Penny, Managing Editor writes:

Jim,

We allow a maximum of 2 self-serving links but only one of your self-serving links can be in the article body if it is near the end.

We also allow a maximum of 3-5 keywords in your anchor text link language. You can use anchor text in both of your self-serving links so long as you don’t exceed the maximum word count.

I hope this clears the confusion.

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Jess writes:

When I watched the videos I understood the self serving links had to be in the resource box. The above indicates one self serving link can be at the end of the body. This is new for me.

Re photo’s if one used a pen name it means one can’t really use a photo as you require it to be of the author & it would be counter productive to have ones own picture used for all the names one writes under. If branding is the reason you like a picture why not allow a purchased royalty free picture that could be used exclusively for each pen name?
Thanks.

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Jim writes:

Penny: My ten articles were denied because of two self serving links and a few for having two keyword links in the body. I have resubmitted with one keyword link in the body and only one anchor link. Every time I do articles, there seems to be a change in the editor’s guidelines.

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Penny, Managing Editor writes:

Jim,

We allow a maximum of 2 self-serving links. If you want to include one of those in the article body, you can however, you will want to keep it near the end of the article body so that it rolls naturally into your resource box language.

The rule on the maximum number of self-serving links changed in June 2008. Reading this blog will help you stay tuned to any changes that have been made or are going to be made.

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Tora Khondoker writes:

Hi all,

I just have started to walk in this awesome article writing path, enjoying to read all the comments You all have posted. So please wish me luck, and by the way, by reading your comments I am also gaining confidence about my writing.

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Jonathan Dunsky writes:

Hi Chris,

Was the rule about the anchor text length strengthened in the past week.

It seems like no discretion as to the anchor text length is being used.

There are cases in which it’s nearly impossible to create a sensible anchor text with 3 words. For instance, if a product under review has a name with 3 words, it’s highly unlikely that the word Review can’t be added to the anchor text following the product’s name.

And I believe that other writers must have more examples of their own.

I don’t believe that a 4 keyword anchor text is indicative to SEO misbehavior, just a normal way to use anchor text.

If the rules have been made more strict, it would be good to know.

Thanks,

Jonathan

p.s. I do believe that 5 words are enough in 90%+ of the cases so the overall guidelines as carried out to this day is something I totally support.

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Christopher M. Knight writes:

Rule was not strengthened.

It’s still up to 3 words allowed, and if your content blows us away in terms of being high quality/unique original…the Editor has the discretion to allow up to 5 words.

November 4, 2009 at 8:30 AM

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Jonathan Dunsky writes:

All I’m saying is that the editors have suddenly become much more zealous about this rule even when the anchor text isn’t unduly stuffing keywords for SEO purposes but fitting in with the overall message of the article.

November 4, 2009 at 10:59 AM

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