Most marketers realize today that content is king and there is no faster vehicle to increase traffic and receive publicity than writing articles.

This is where the article directory comes into play. Writers are able to submit their articles to these online databases where content hungry webmasters, blogsters, and other internet marketers can find free content for their websites, newsletters, and ezines.

Article writers gain credibility as an expert in their field as well as gaining a link back to their website. Link popularity is increased with the added advantage that this can be achieved with a low advertising budget and very little effort.

Hence this marriage was made in heaven. Article directories are not only provided fresh content on a daily basis (thereby scoring high in the search engines), but are also given the opportunity to build considerable revenue from affiliate programs (such as Google, Clickbank, and others), as well as building an extensive opt-in email list of potential customers.

Another by-product of having an article directory is the chance to gain knowledge of subjects other than one's own interests. Articles on the arts, business, communications, computers, health, fashion, finance, food, home and family, politics, recreation, self-improvement, travel, vehicles, and writing are all available to read at one's leisure.

Meeting other writers, publishers, editors, and programmers can really expand your horizon. The ability to joint-venture with these parties can prove to be more than a bonus.

It's a win-win situation for both the article writer as well as the article directory owner that continues to grow exponentially each day.