The quest for high search engine rankings (and the traffic that comes along with them) has spawned some new search engine optimization techniques of late, two of them being article submission and hosted marketing pages. Although these techniques are similar in appearance, each has advantages and disadvantages. Before we delve into the heart of the issue, a couple of definitions are in order for newcomers to the internet marketing realm.

Submitting articles requires quite a bit of unpleasant work. First you have to be an expert about your chosen subject (or have the ability to fool others into believing you're an expert). Next you must be able to write about your subject in at least a coherent manner. Then you must find article directories in which to submit your work, giving them and any possible viewers the authority to freely copy and distribute your creation.

A hosted marketing page is a cross between purchasing a one way link from a website and submitting an article to a directory. The website in question allows you to purchase a complete page from their site along with a professionally written article that has multiple one-way links to your site.

The main advantages to both techniques are the SEO-friendly links. Whether you submit your article to a directory or purchase a hosted marketing page, you will get one-way links pointing to your site. Because search engines love one-way links, your website will undoubtedly receive a boost in your search engine ranking. But, the biggest boost will come from links using keywords relevant to your site coming from pages written about a subject relevant to your site.

Here's something you should remember. In most cases, a hosted marketing page text link from a relevant, high PR website will be much more important to the search engines than a text link from a posted article in a directory. But, if you're a talented enough author to have your writing approved, it may show up in several directories as well as multiple authority sites. This influx of links could potentially outweigh the few links from a single hosted marketing page.

The disadvantages are pretty obvious. Writing and submitting articles, although free, can consume a considerable amount of time, especially if you are not comfortable writing professionally. On the other hand, purchasing a professionally written hosted marketing page can be very expensive. You should be prepared to shell out anywhere from fifty dollars to several hundred dollars per month, depending on the popularity of the site.

Here's the bottom line. If you have little time, little writing skill, and a large marketing budget, hosting marketing pages would be most beneficial to you. However, if you have some free time, some copywriting experience, and little to no advertising dollars, writing and submitting articles to article directories would be most beneficial to you.