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The plan is that after being indexed by google thus ensuring originality,to post them to around 5 of the top article directories.

Sorry, doesn't make sense. The instant you post them to article farms, you can delete 'originality' and write 'duplicate content'; and the the ones on your site as just as likely to disappear as the ones on the article farms.

Google (and other SEs) care deeply about duplicate results - it makes them look silly - and they will do their best to eliminate it.

What you propose is most unlikely to help your site, and could seriously undermine it.

If you have original content, there is no better place for it than on your own site; on most article farms, you will get zero benefit, on the others, negligible to small, at best.

Who gets most out of Christmas, the turkey or the turkey farmer?

We always create new articles for the article directories. It's a pain, but its the only way to avoid the duplicate content issue.

Both the options are relevant. But I think, the second option is more pertinent, as because with your articles you can offer your valuable suggestions to the browsers and at the same time market your services/products by linking them to another subpage with the same relevant keywords.

Actually, you can either write articles and post them in popular directories, or if you have website, you can include your articles in your website and submit the website.

Regards
Monalisa