Are you wondering where to publish your articles? Read on for a frequently overlooked issue, why you should care, and how to check up on directories.

Let's say your article directory candidate has the readers and the Google page rank you want. Is it right for you? Maybe. There's one thing you should check though... There are a few directories out there that don't deliver on a very crucial score: customer service.

When will you need customer service?

1) When there's a mix-up

Sometimes, there's a problem. Maybe one of your assistants mixed up articles for different clients and suddenly, there's an article published under your name that is not actually yours. Ouch! You want to be able to get that fixed in a hurry.

2) When you wrote something that turns out to be wrong

Maybe you wrote something and a few days or weeks later, you wish you could edit it. Sure, you can't do much about articles that have been republished, but you might want to at least fix it in the actual directory.

3) Your links no longer work

Say you forgot to renew a domain name, and now your affiliate links no longer work. Wouldn't you want to fix them -- fast?

4) When there are other problems with your article submission and acceptance process

That's the one most people think of first. When the article gets rejected they might want to be able to ask questions. What was amiss? What do I have to get it accepted?

So what do you do?

Look for three things:

1) Ease of contacting the article directory

Is there an email address or a contact form? That's a good start.

2) Response time

How long does it take the support staff to get back to you?

Ideally, they should get back to you within a day or two. Some directories may take longer, at least until you have reached an upgraded level. However, if they don't get back to you within a week or so even then, watch out.

3) Helpfulness

Some article directories don't seem to have a sentient human monitoring the articles, judging by their utter lack of reaction to your inquiries. Some of them respond but you wonder if they read your question.

What to do?

Pick your favorite directories, based on number of readers and page rank, and then check how responsive they are to your inquiries. Come up with a question that makes sense and send an inquiry. Then make a note about how fast they get back to you. If you don't hear from them within a week or two, you may want to think twice about entrusting them with your articles.