You may have wondered if it is appropriate to write articles covering current news events or to write online article submissions that are about specific dated events such as conferences, classes, etc.

There are two elements to time sensitive articles:

1 - These are articles that are about an event that is coming up in the future, such as a conference or a class. It is imperative that the online content be distributed by a certain date in order to be worthwhile.

2 - These are articles that are about something significant that has happened in the news. It is "fresh" information today, but in a few days, weeks or months, it will be dated and thus decrease in value.

If you have an item that falls under either of these two categories (especially the first one) then it would probably be a better idea to submit a press release rather than an online article submission.

What is the difference between a press release and an online article submission?

Press releases are usually time sensitive. You submit them and they receive the greatest amount of attention directly after they are distributed. The power of a press release is in the initial publication and re-publications. The older a press release is, the less likely that it will be republished.

Articles are preferably evergreen, meaning that their value is not tied to any time frame. Articles should be less news oriented and more educational. Articles tend to be republished more the longer that they are around. A well-written evergreen article should maintain its value over the long term, being attractive to publishers for years after the original publication date.

Here are some tips for writing evergreen articles:

1 - Write an article that teaches your reader how to do something.

2 - Do not include dates in your articles. If you are writing an article about how to keep New Year's resolutions, it would be fine to mention New Years, but steer clear of mentioning the year.

3 - Do not use your articles to announce upcoming events—that type of content is better suited to a press release.

The power behind article marketing is in republication—you would like for your articles to be republished as many times as possible. You would also like for your articles to be republished for years and years to come.

The way to accomplish this is to create articles that are timeless and that maintain their value. If you put a date on your article, you are automatically giving it a shorter shelf life.