I’m assuming you’re reading this review because you are interested in Jon Leger’s latest tool ArticleBuilder.net. I’m not going to into detail here about how the tool works, as you can click here to watch the free video on the landing page. It fully explains how the whole process works.
Instead, I’m going to focus on whether or not Article Builder is worth the money. I was one of the first 500 people who got in when the price was $197 per year. The current price is now $297 per year. That still works out to less than $1 per day. Not really that much if you plan on using the tool over the next 12 months.
I should also mention, based on my observations, that many people focus too much on price when it comes to building and promoting web based businesses. The key is not how much you spend, but whether or not it is good value. If I sold you a $100 bill for $90, that’s a good deal. $90 is a lot of money for many people, but the value of the $100 bill is greater.
With the idea of value in mind, let’s look at the good and bad of Article Builder. We’ll start with the bad as there are some limitations with the software, then look and the good and finally look at how I use it personally.
The Bad:
First of all ArticleBuilder.net is not perfect. I’m guessing the number one concern of most people reading this is, how original are the articles?
Originality
The biggest weakness of the program, in my opinion, is that of article originality. Each article is original, in the sense that paragraphs are arranged in a unique order. However, the paragraphs themselves are created using a database of snippets. The database is huge, but finite, so you will eventually be using paragraphs that can be found on other websites.
Update October, 27: Jon has now added the ability to create versions of the article with synonyms from The Best Spinner. This significantly reduces originality issues and is something I was doing anyway. Please keep that in mind for the rest of this review.
One way Jon has attempted to solve the problem is through an ‘encode output’ option. Basically, it turns some of the text into encoded HTML characters to make the article seem more unique. I think this works well if you’re not trying to SEO the content itself, as this may make it more difficult for Google to read (I may be wrong on this point).
I think a better method (and the one which I use), is to take the article itself and pass it through a spinner. I personally use The Best Spinner, as I think it lives up to it’s name. Note you can now get a spin ready version of your article using The Best Spinner synonymys for free inside of Article Builder.
I still recommend having a look at The Best Spinner, but it is no longer required. Buying it does add somewhat to the cost. Still it makes the articles unique, and drastically reduces the issue of article originality. I explain below in greater detail exactly what I do.
Number of Topics and Niches Listed
The other major concern people are likely to have with Article Builder is that their website topic or niche is not on the list of ones that are covered. Jon has done a good job of including a wide basket of topics, but it can’t include everything. Since joining Article Builder, it seems as though there has been about a 50% increase in the number of topics included.
More importantly, there is a ‘Request Topics’ button where you can submit which topics you’d like included. Jon himself has said that he is trying to include more topics, but obviously there is no guarantee yours will be included if it is not already there. If it is a major niche, chances are it will eventually be added, but really small or local ones probably won’t.
Number of Users
A service like ArticleBuilder.net is more useful the fewer users there are. However because Jon is trying to constantly grow the database of snippets, he needs a significant number of paying users to do so. Currently membership is capped at 500 people, but sometime around November 1, another 500 will be let in.
More users, will mean more content snippets being produced and a wider number of topics included. Yet it will also mean more people using those same snippets. Overall, I think the technique I use (explained below) works well to balance these two competing factors. Still, I hope there will be hard cap at some time.
The Good:
Alright now that I’ve addressed some of the problems with the program and what Jon’s done to address them, let’s look at the things I like about Article Builder.
Article Quality
I have outsourced a lot of writing over the years to both Indian and Philippines based workers. I would say that 95% of the articles I get back from ArticleBuilder.net, exceed the quality of those done by outsourced workers. I know a major concern many people have is article quality, but from what I’ve seen I’ve been very impressed.
New Snippets constantly being added
The second thing I really like about Article Builder is that there are always new pieces of content being added for each of the existing niches. You can also request more get included easily from the site. This explains why ArticleBuilder.net costs what it does. Adding new content is expensive, especially when it is of relatively high quality.
New Topics constantly being added
Related to the point above, I also really like how new topics are added on a regular basis. I have websites in many niches and already I have seen many of them being added, without me even requesting them (I assume other users are in the same niches).
So overall, there are many good points to Article Builder. But I’m sure you’d really like to know is how I use it, and whether or not it represents good value.
How I Use It
Before I begin, I should just note that there are many ways to use ArticleBuilder.net, this is just the way I choose to use it. I have not even mentioned the ‘inject content’ feature that is available, but I can see how it would be extremely valuable.
My process is very simple really, just 1-2-3.
1. First I go to ArticleBuilder.net and create ten new articles for the niche I want to promote. Article length can be between 300 and 1000 words minimum. I usually mix it up to have articles of varying length.
2. I go to The Best Spinner and put each of the 10 articles into it. I then use the ‘Everyone’s Favorites’ option and spin on good quality mode. I’ll do a quick manual check to make sure there are no glaring errors and to make sure all words that can be spun, have been. – Now Optional
Step 2 is really important if you are worried about originality and duplicate content issues. However, it can now be done automatically from within Article Builder itself
3. I copy each spun formatted article into Article Marketing Automation (AMA). This is a service that distributes a new unique spun version of your article to various sites in their network. You can include up to 3 links per article and they can point wherever you want. You can also submit as many articles as you want and have them distributed an unlimited number of times. Generally speaking the average number of times an article gets distributed is between 25 and 100, depending on your niche. It’s a good way to get more one way links to your website.
Jon Ledger has a somewhat similar service called 1WayLinks.net. It is cheaper, but limits you to distributing your articles to 750 sites per month. I have not used the service myself, but if the claims from both AMA and 1WayLinks.net are to be believed, his network is several times larger.
Overall Verdict
Remember at the start how I talked about value, and how a $100 bill sold for $90 is good value? I’m sure you do, so how does Article Builder stack up in terms of value. Well to answer that question we have to do some basic math (it’s simple don’t worry).
Let’s look at how much it costs per month to use ArticleBuilder.net the way I do:
1 month ArticleBuilder.net = $24.75 ($297/12)
1 month The Best Spinner = $6.41 ($77/12) (Now Optional, since the basic features are now included in ArticleBuilder.net)
1 month Article Marketing Automation = $67
Total monthly cost = $98.16
Now what do I get for my $98.16? Well if I were to create 10 articles a day (you can of course use ArticleBuilder.net, The Best Spinner, and AMA to create and distribute as many as you want), I would create and distribute 300 articles in a month. These 300 articles would likely be published on average to at least 30 websites each. So:
300 articles X 30 websites = 9,000 articles distributed
9,000 articles distributed X 3 links per article = 27,000 links
$98.16/27,000 links = 0.36 cents per link ($0.0036)
So personally, I think being able to get links at 0.36 cents each is a pretty good deal. However, others may feel different. All I can say is that ArticleBuilder.net provides good value for me, because I have found a good way to use it. I do use other tools to increase it’s value to me.
I would not would recommend using ArticleBuilder.net without The Best Spinner, as you can now use the basic functions of The Best Spinner in Article Builder without paying for it. I still think The Spinner is worth the price, but you now no longer need it to get a fully functioning, very powerful way to create unique articles. The only limit to how you use them is your own creativity.
Disclaimer: I am making no income claims whatsoever. Your mileage with any of the programs listed above may vary. I have purchased and use all the tools mentioned above. I have not been paid for this review. However, be aware that all links above are affiliate links and will generate a commission for me if you purchase any of the products. I honestly believe in all three products, but this remains my opinion take it or leave it.