Greetings! I'm new around here but this looks to be a goldmine as far as information goes. Long story short - I am a former Newspaper Editor (Sports/ Outdoors) who has been out of the game for a while pursuing some other things. As you all know, the writing bug is something that seems to never let go once you get bitten and I've found myself looking for a way to get back into writing, at least at a part time level. At this point in my life, with all that is going on, going back to the newspaper business really isn't an option so I think that looking online is far better for me. My clip books are long gone and I have not done much web writing at all. How would you suggest getting into writing freelance on the web? What is the best way? Start my own blog? Take some really cheap jobs to build a portfolio? Is there a better site that gets into all of these things? Any suggestions would be fantastic!
Yes. No. Yes. Here are several: www.WebWritersGuide.com (my site, but specific to what you're asking for) www.AllFreelanceWriting.com (also mine - we talk a lot about things like blogging and e-books here) www.AboutFreelanceWriting.com (Anne Wayman's blog) www.FreelanceWritingGigs.com (Deb Ng's blog network) www.FabWebWriter.com (Angela Booth's blog)
Read. Read good websites, read bad websites. Read big corporate sites, and small business sites. Make note of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Writing for the web is very different than writing for print publications. Web marketing is also different from print marketing. Doing a Google search will help you find many blogs on the topic, but you should also read forums (like this one) to familiarize yourself with SEO and other strategies that webmasters will want you to employ. Most of all, good luck! The web is a friendlier networking tool for writers than person 2 person, so I'm sure you'll find no end to the support.
If I may, a comment from one who is not a writer but knows what he likes. I like to develop mostly informational niche sites and it is a constant battle to get content at prices I can justify. <RANT> Very often samples look nice but the ordered product is usually in the totally unusable to guess it is ok for the price area. I can't stand the keyword rich (stuffing) content. IMHO well written content would automatically contain relevant keywords without having to 'force' the issue. I have been told that I am to particular and they may be right but am to old to change now. </RANT> Please don't let your clients ruin an otherwise good article for the sake of SEO. I am one of the few who feel that good content will win in the long run. One may get quick traffic from SEO but without a good experience that traffic is likely a time visit. A quality visitor experience will hopefully result in return visits which is what we are all looking for. Oh yes, I am learning a lot from lurking and seeing writers talk about this business and have decided I don't need copywriting (as such) and for sure don't want the search engine targeted articles. I can't remember who but on a blog someone used the term 'authority' content which seems about right.
I agree with you harkster. Authority content pretty much always does better in the long run (speaking from experience writing for several very large authority sites, none of which require extensive SEO work and all of which rank very well in search engines regardless). It's the same approach I take to my own sites, and it's never failed me. While content writers should understand the basics of SEO, they should also understand what strategies are outdated (and there are a lot that far too many people still talk about), and they should understand the importance of authority content when it comes to not only readers but natural link-building (which is one of the most important SEO concepts anyway).
Content is king, always. Well written pages will generally have some organic SEO within them- without the writer having to consciously stuff keywords into 3%-5% of the content. When I first started freelance writing, I was surprised by how many requests I received for content with X, Y, Z keywords appearing in 5% of the text. I struggled to try and achieve this ratio without sounding like an idiot. I worked diligently to make misspelled keywords (client's request) or weird tenses fit the piece (one client wanted the keyword always to be written in past tense). I began to think that the decade of experience I had writing print materials for businesses gave me almost no preparation for this, until I realized that the branding process of print work can tie into the SEO process in a very natural way. When you are trying to brand a new product or company, you mention the name of the product/ company frequently in the marketing materials. Not so frequently that it sounds like a child wrote it, but enough to ensure your reader doesn't forget it. I finally got the balls to explain to clients how much better the results were when this method was employed, and it has done nothing but good for my business. Rather than each client being a one project client, 90% keep coming back and requesting more. I just wish I had grown a pair sooner I have noticed that the lower paying the client, the more pedantic they are about forced SEO. It's short-sighted of them- buy low price, uninteresting, poorly written content and stuff it with key words. I can only imagine their bounce rate.
Having a web presence (blog or website) is a good idea but not necessary. The first thing I would do is familiarize your self with search engine copy writing. You don't have to be an expert but at least get the basics down. Don't worry, it's not rocket science and there are a lot of places on-line to get free info. If you want to invest a little money I would suggest buying the e-book "How to Increase Keyword Saturation Without Destroying the Flow of Copy" by Karon Thackston. I would get together a group of 10 500 word sample articles. Write them on popular niche subjects such as weight loss, forex/stock market, health care...etc. Have these ready to send to any potential clients. To find clients spend time in Internet Marketing and Webmaster forums. Let people know what you have to offer. Forum members are always looking for good quality writers. Make sure you set a decent price for your work and stick to it. Let people know they're getting quality and reliability. Following these simple steps should get you started.
Indeed. What is the point of getting people to your website if they don't stay. I have seen my share of keyword stuffed sites. Sometimes it's a bunch of keywords dumped near the footer which is somewhat tolerable. But when you see things like "Online money making is simple and it's easy to make money online and become an online money maker" in an "informative article"
My suggestions: What is the best way? The best way I think is to pursue the kind of writing that you do best. Find a niche where you are an expert. With your experience, I think it won't be difficult for you to find your market. Start my own blog? A lot of writers do this. One of the things that it can do is show your expertise in a particular field of writing. But if you want to take a piece of the blogging pie, here are my suggestions: 1. Learn SEO copywriting. This article at copyblogger.com is a very helpful primer. 2. Read other people's blogs and find out what new things or ideas you can share. 3. Realize that it takes a lot of time, persistence and discipline if you want to be serious about blogging. Be ready to invest several years of your life into this. Take some really cheap jobs to build a portfolio? It would be a bad idea. With your experience, I think you have a good amount of work that you can use to build your preliminary portfolio. Add more stuff as you go. I also suggest that you put up a site where you can tell people about the kind of work that you do and show them your portfolio. By the way, you should also explore other writing gigs outside of the net. Cold contact companies in your area who might have a need for your expertise. A good number of them might not need your services now, but there's a chance that they would need you in the future. Good luck!
Getting into Web content writing, like others have pointed out, requires that you understand SEO, especially keywords. Determine what words or phrases you want to be found for and be sure to optimize your pages/articles with them.