If you want to attract visitors to your website while giving them a good idea of what your website is about, then article writing and distribution can help you achieve both of these goals.

An article directory is a website that hosts thousands of articles covering multiple topics. Articles are written and submitted by their authors in hope of webmasters finding them and displaying them on related sites.

It is important to provide quality articles to help the webmasters choose the best content for their websites. Articles need to be informative and free from sales pitches. After a reader decides if an article is useful, they may visit the website you listed in the article in search of more information.

Webmasters go to article directories to shop for content they feel will meet the needs of their readers. Submitting articles to directories will therefore increase the exposure of your website. The key is to submit quality content to give webmasters what they are looking for.

When writing articles, take a few things into consideration. Be sure the writing is done in an easy to understand format. The articles should provide good information and leave the reader wanting to learn more. Also, try to use a friendly and informal tone.

A few things to take into consideration while choosing which directories to submit to are the Alexa page rank, which indicates how popular the directory is, the Google page rank, will give an indication of the quality of the links the directory will attract for your site, and the comments and reviews found after doing a general search about the article directory. Reading other users comments will help in choosing which directories are worthwhile.

Here are a few article directories that are highly ranked are Ezinearticles.com, Articlesbase.com, Buzzle.com, Goarticles.com and Helium.com. These directories are the top 5 in rankings on both Alexa and Google page ranks.

Article writing and distribution quickly spreads your business or blog to thousands of readers within a short time. While it is a fast and easy way to do local internet marketing, it largely depends on the quality of work that you submit.