Cath, Things are great here – how have you been? Your comment brings up a good (and somewhat ironic) point. What you’re saying is, articles are OK – as long as nobody reads them. My thoughts exactly.

It was so tempting to bang out a heap of second rate articles, which doesn’t do a lot for your reputation. And a good article seemed like such a waste on somewhere like Ezine articles, when I could have published it on one of my own blogs or websites.
.-= Cath Lawson’s last blog ..I’m Back But I Forgot An Important Lesson =-.

Unfortunately, it is true that quality often suffers on free article sites, which can sometimes subject an author to guilt by association – even when s/he provides top-notch work. The main point here, though, is that companies that choose to use these sites make sure not to be lax in the area of quality – even if the main reason for using them is SEO – because many readers will be evaluating their content in light of the kind of work they usually see on these sites. If their work is the cream of the crop, it will certainly rise to the top.

That said, I do agree that blogs should be the real focus of a company’s efforts, whether or not it also uses article sites. A blog can be a great home base – even more so than a website can – because it’s so much more interactive and immediate.