The reason being, if you’re really writing to acquire new readers, then by writing the best and most complete articles that you possibly can you will improve your chances of ezine and newsletter publishers using your article in their publications, which is where the real value often is.

For example, lets say that you have a site about bird cages, and you’re writing articles about bird care. You can reach a lot of people online by publishing a fair article here and on other article directories, BUT–you can reach a whole lot more targeted people if someone who publishes a monthly newsletter about Pet Birds is impressed with your article and decides to include it (with your resource box) in their next monthly issue.

It’s very hard to write a great, impressive article that will get reused like that though if you’re focused on a specific word count or trying to optimize for a specific keyword.

The best way to get the most value out of your article marketing efforts is to simply write great articles that are focused and all encompassing on a topic that your targeted readers care about.