articles from other authers on my site

[rlugo29]

Is it OK to use articles that have been written by other authors on my site?

[GregK]

Yes. And No. If you have permission, then yes it is ok. There are some places where you can get content, like on ezinearticles that you can post to your site as long as you keep them intact. If you pay someone, of course you can use the article, because then it is yours. If however you don't have any sort of permission, sometimes it is ok to quote them and cite the source with a link, but it is never ok to just copy content and use it as yours. You can have your site removed from the internet for that, so it is best to not even push the limits.

[rlugo29]

Well, I would always get permission. As a matter of fact I already have asked and received permission to post pics of other peoples aquariums but I have to make sure every one knows where they came from

[HomeComputerGames]

If you use articles from article sites you need to be aware that you may be including duplicate content as others may have the same articles on their sites.
I and many others write articles and submit to these types of sites for others to use. This gives backlinks to our sites.

Some of the big suppliers may supply you with unique articles if you allow them to link out from the articles with their keywords. I have seen this before in several different niches. This would insure unique content. Most likely you would want to have a bit of traffic coming to your site before approaching them about such a thing. But you never have anything to loose by trying and some companies have writers just for this purpose..

The barter system works well on the Internet also. I have exchanged my talents with others for their talents in the past. So you go out and post blog comments with their site's URL for a writer in exchange for a unique article from them.
If you haven't read much about the entire "Get tons of links to your site" thing, you soon will.

I would rather write an article for someone and them go out link gathering for me than for me to gather links. It is the god awfullest most boring thing in the world to me.

[rlugo29]

After thinking about it, I would rather write all my own articles. The information that is contained in my articles might be the same as an other sites, but it would be from my point of view. I only asked because I thought it would be a fast way to fill my site with content, but I think I'll be OK.

[GregK]

Like HCG siad, duplicate content is one of the biggest issues that comes up if you want to use someone elses content but also to rank well. I think you will be well off writing your own articles. If you ever want a review for style and conversion purposes, post one somewhere and I'll have a look.

[rlugo29]

As I reed more about SEO, I see the importance of writing my own. However, one of my concerns is my writing skills. I'm not the best at punctuation and what not.

[HomeComputerGames]

If you use your passion in your writing it will show through. And that is something that hiring someone can not do for you.

Writing is like most things, the more that you work at it the better you get.
Have family and friends look over your articles to point out mistakes. Most people are happy to give their 2 cents.

[GregK]

Just like design or coding, you can't get better unless you try. Here is a great place with some tips on writing that you can reference. A Guide to Writing Well :: Fire and Knowledge

[rlugo29]

Tanks for the tips.