Running an online business is not easy; it takes some effort to make money online. There must be hundreds of millions of webpages out there struggling to be noticed by search engines and by their target audiences. If you are a website publisher who's eager to get your brand or service in front of the right readers, it would take more than just a good logo or business concept to get them flocking to and trusting your site. To grab people's attention and increase website traffic, you must provide something extra, something unique, something they may not find elsewhere. But the problem is, you may have so much on your plate as it is that you can't possibly provide grade-A content 100% of the time. Even great webmasters and website publishers need a little help sometimes. If you think about it, no amount of black hat SEO or link wizardry will get you the long-term results you are really shooting for. High-quality content is what your target customers want. Skillful linkbuilding may build a lot of short- to mid-term traffic but classic content lasts a long long time. To make serious money online, you have to give your clients this content. Many website owners invest their time and money in web design and online promotions without even considering the importance of original content. Do you really want to look just like your direct competitor -- providing a mirror-image of their services to your readers and potential clients? High-quality content, as opposed to knock-off imitations and readily available templates, is crucial to a website's success. What you need are highly capable content producers who will drive qualified traffic to your website and give it some distinction. This is what competent and effective website copywriters are all about -- producing quality content for your website and help you make money online. But before you hire, you must ask yourself what exactly you are looking for in a website copywriter. The following guidelines will certainly help you pick the best website copywriter to help you increase your online profits: 1. Can they produce quantity as well as quality? This is extremely important; high quality content is imperative, and so is quantity. A constant and steady amount of high-quality material is an essential ingredient for successful online marketing campaigns. A website copywriter has to be able to deliver both quantity and quality to make you money. With this in mind, you must ask them for a guaranteed daily quota. You may want an unrealistically high amount of work done in a short span of time, but you can't possibly expect high quality with that mindset. When you ask for too high a quota you will probably be sacrificing quality. Somewhere around 2000 words a day is average. 2. Will they be able to produce original content? Duplicate content will harm your search engine rankings. Plagiarized content can also land you in legal trouble. There are a lot of ways to ensure that your content is purely original. Ask the website copywriter for a guarantee that all written materials will be checked explicitly for duplicate content. Ask for sources with each delivery. To avoid plagiarism and other copyright issues, they must run their work through originality checkers such as webmasterlabor.com/tools/checker and copyscape.com, or other reliable duplicate content checkers available to them. Your content plays a very important role in search engine optimization. Passing off content that you can easily find in thousands of other sites won't help your SE marketing efforts. 3. Does the website copywriter have a back-up? When you retain the services of a ghost writer for a long period of time (to produce blocks of content, for example), you must make sure that there are contingencies in place -- just in case they become unavailable all of a sudden. Having a back-up will ensure your deliverables. Moreover, you have to ask if the back-up is just as, if not more, capable than the original writer. You wouldn't want your content quality to nosedive whenever your leased writer is temporarily unavailable. Using a copywriting company, as opposed to a single freelancer, is your best choice if delivery and quality consistency are important to you. 4. Does the website copywriter have an editor? Some website copywriters for hire could very well be their own editors. But wouldn't it be better if they had someone to help them with errors they could overlook themselves? Editors play a key role in this process because they make sure that the writer's work is delivered on time, every time. They check for grammatical errors, inconsistencies in flow, compliance with your instructions, and overall quality of the writer's work. Also, they function as project managers; they inform the writer of the topical and stylistic guidelines that the client requires. 5. Do they follow a quality assurance process? How can you be sure that you are getting materials that live up to your own standards? Would it cost you extra to send some materials back to the writer for revisions? Website copywriters should follow protocol as far as quality-assurance is concerned. First, they must submit a block sample of their work to the client. Second, they make necessary revisions after receiving client feedback. This process continues until the client gets what they want. Meanwhile, the website copywriter shoulders all costs incurred during these revisions. Quality assurance like this will only guarantee the best results in output and client satisfaction. 6. Will the writer surrender full rights of the materials produced to the client? All materials produced by a website copywriter must be on a purely work-for-hire basis. Ideally, the client assumes all rights to the materials obtained from the writers during the length of their employment or contract. Under the work-for-hire system, copyright ownership falls on the client and not the writer. 7. Can you, as the client, set the tone or style for the articles? You can, as the hiring party, ask the website copywriter to follow certain parameters -- specifying demographics, for instance. As the client, you must also welcome the writer's preferences in tone and style for the job. To be able to work efficiently, you must allow them to make any suggestion that they think would cater to your audience better. 8. Will they accommodate your format requirements? Ask for an OS platform-neutral delivery format so your text can be published correctly. These are usually in the form of .txt or .html files. Use the guidelines above to find the right website copywriter for your particular needs. You need to select a person or firm that can provide you with a business relationship which is result-oriented, stable, and consistent. With the right copywriter working for you, you can sit back, relax, and leave the "heavy lifting" to them for a change. ** This material was produced by a leased website copywriter. Contact webmasterlabor.com today and reserve your writer. (c) 2007 Webmasterlabor.Com Feel free to syndicate or publish in your own sites as long as you link back to http://www.webmasterlabor.com
WTH?! This article is all wrong. When you ask for too high a quota you will probably be sacrificing quality. Somewhere around 2000 words a day is average. This "statistic" is very interesting. I notice alot of webmasters trying to get away with charging $.01/word and sometimes even less. According to your statistic and what I've seen around DP/GAF/elance/etc. web writers are earning an average of $20 a day, $5,200 a year. That's grossly below poverty level and more proof that webmasters should be paying their writers more. Will they be able to produce original content? I'm tired of webmasters thinking it's ok to ask professional writers to run their work through copyscape before turning it in. We're not high school students writing research papers. When you ask a writer to copyspace their work before turning it in you're saying, "I don't trust you and I think you could possibly plagiarize from other sources." That's an insult. If you plan on insulting your writer, don't expect to get quality writing. Or at least properly compensate them for the attack on their integrity. Having a back-up will ensure your deliverables. No, having a contract will ensure your deliverables. The webmaster and the client should agree to a contract with a specific date by which the content/copy should be delivered. You don't have the authority to tell a writer how to run his/her business. It's up to the writer to decide how they will meet deadlines, not the client. Does the website copywriter have an editor? Are you paying your copywriter enough to have their work edited? At $20/day, the answer is no. The writer can't afford to have their work edited. And once again, you're telling the writer how to run their business. I notice you didn't say a single thing about price, which is one of the major areas that webmasters take advantage of writers. When you're paying $10/article and less, you don't get to ask the writer if they have back-up, if they have an editor, will they meet a certain quota, can they ensure quality, none of that. At that rate, you're lucky to even get some writing done. If someone who was only willing to pay $10 or $20 per article asked me these questions, I'd turn the job down plain and simple.
I agreed with with everything you said except for that part. This is the internet, there is no gaurantee that the people you work with are trustworthy and will create their own material. Cases where freelance writers that copy and paste their work happens frequently. It is not unusual for a client to doubt someone who he has never met before. But yeah serious, we need to get paid more.
What makes webmasters think that writers who are dishonest enough to plagiarize are honest enough to run their work through Copyscape before turning it in? That logic just doesn't make sense to me.
Completely agree with latoya, it makes no sense to ask plagiator to honestly check their works in copyscape. The employer should check it himself .
Don't bash me for this comparison, but I thought it was the best fit in this context. Why do people think all nigerians are scammers, even though many are not ? It's because they have either been burned before or have had someone they know get burned before from them. In a similar state, you can hear sob stories of many webmasters who paid for their job and received content which was a direct rip-off of other commonly available articles. And yes, this does happen with some of the 'elite' writers as well. This leaves open a possibility of misdeed in the deal and hence webmasters prefer to have their content copyscaped before delivery.
But, if a person or company is planning on delivering ripped-off content, then what's to stop them from saying "yes, we Copyscaped the articles" when they really didn't? Seems like asking a writer to Copyscape prior to delivery would turn off the good writers who would never dream of plagiarism and attract the plagiarizers because they can simply state that they Copyscaped the articles without doing so. Keep in mind that if someone finds their content on your site, it won't matter that the writer you hired was supposed to Copyscape the content. That responsibility ultimately rests with the person who purchased the content and displayed it on their site. It's your host that will get complaints about you, not the writer, so it's in your best interest to do the Copyscaping yourself.
Wow... this is looking more like a tutorial on "how to scam a writer." But first.... Zero sympathy. If they want to pay a few bucks per article, they get what they pay for, and sometimes get what they deserve. Too bad. Don't like it? Pay for a "real" writer. And no, it doesn't happen much with "elite" writers, unless your idea of an elite writer is someone who charges $20-50 / article. If someone classified as "elite," they'd have had to prove themselves for quite a while. Anyway, back to the article.... Can they produce quantity as well as quality? The two very rarely go hand-in-hand. If you want 10+ articles per day, you'll either get a single writer who more than likely ends up rewording and rehashing generic Web research, or you'll hire an article mill that often results in the same thing. Don't like it? Pay for a professional in the niche. It'll cost more, but if they're writing from their own expertise, they can turn out more (and more original) content than someone researching from other ripped articles online. Will they be able to produce original content? A lot of webmasters wouldn't know "original" content if it bit them on the ass quite frankly. Original content does NOT mean it passes a tool like Copyscape. Original content is content that is written from original thoughts and phrasing... not rewritten content from someone else that doesn't cite its sources for factual information, but still passes the unique content tests. Content in that group is very often illegal, and you risk getting yourself sued (and as the publisher you're liable if you don't check it thoroughly yourself). Don't like it? Well, then take a legal risk. But watch who you're ripping, because some of us have no problem spending our free time going after bottom-feeders who steal our content. And on the note of Copyscape, don't bring it up if you're hiring an even remotely professional writer. If you start off saying you don't trust them, you won't get their best work. Hell, if a client mentions it to me, I tell them to get lost. I don't tolerate disrespect from anyone I work with, and no writer (or other professional should). You're running a business. Getting screwed on stolen content is a risk you take, especially if you're buying cheap work. That's life. Don't like it? Then either increase your budget, get out of the business if you can't handle the risk, or learn to deal with it after the fact. Does the website copywriter have a back-up? Ummmm, do you have a backup??? That's the real question. It's not your contractor's responsibility to be at your beckon call and to have someone available to pick up the slack if their schedule fills up. If their time is in demand and they can't drop everything to do a project for you, good for them. If you want more of their time, pay to put them on retainer. Otherwise, it's your responsibility as a business / site owner to have a backup in mind who can handle your projects. If you can't deal with the basic aspects of being in business like this, you probably shouldn't be. Does the website copywriter have an editor? Are you paying for one? I'll bet not. If you hire a real professional, they won't need an editor on call. Here's a reality check: if you make excessive demands on time or manpower, you'd better be prepared to pay for it. Does the website copywriter have an editor? What they hell were you smoking when you decided that writers should have to provide unlimited revisions, and shoulder all costs?? Writers set their own revision standard. Clients don't have the right to expect the world. If you give an assignment with poor instructions, don't expect to get exactly what you want. Most writers will offer revisions. But if you change your project description, you'd better be prepared to pay again for your lack of vision. Again, that's a part of being in business. If you can't articulate what you want, you won't get it, and it's no one's fault but your own. Should you get a rewrite if an article is complete crap? Sure. Should you get to be fussy about every little detail if you want to pay a few dollars? Ummm, no. Accept responsibility for your own side of the equation, and you won't run into those problems of needing rewrites often. Will the writer surrender full rights of the materials produced to the client? Again, what the hell were you smoking when you wrote this??? Why would you say that all Web writers must work on a work-for-hire basis? Are you paying enough to justify it? I'll bet not. All most webmasters need is exclusive Web rights to the work; not the copyright. Understand what rights are available, and buy what you need. Professional writers won't just hand all of their rights over for peanuts. Of course, this article seems to be directed towards those looking to hire amateurs who don't really know any better.... you get what you pay for. Most of these Web writers who offer full rights at low prices give rewritten content on some level or another. What that means is that they have no legal right to claim copyright or transfer it to begin with. So go ahead and demand it... it doesn't mean you'll really have it. In the end, you get what you pay for... simple as that.
Jenn, good points... except for this one: I totally disagree with this comment. Why? Simple. While I agree that those who pay little should expect little, I don't think that they should get stolen goods... and plagiarized work is stolen goods. The bottom line is if you (as a webmaster or someone looking for services) request services for $xx, even if it's WAY under fair market value, are not forcing anyone to do the work. So you are not ripping anyone off. The writer who accepts such a grossly underpaid gig is ripping themselves off. If someone offered me peanuts for a job (any job) I'd simply refuse, but never rip them off by delivering stolen/copied goods. That being said, Good quality is NOT CHEAP, never has been and never will be. Whoever wants good work had better be prepared to pay for it. People who want it on the cheap better just be happy they're getting something (even if half of it has to go directly to the trash bin). My2c. Pete.
People who fall prey to the Nigerian scam are trying to get something for nothing. Webmasters who get ripped-off content are also trying to get something for nothing. Reputable publications pay $75 - $thousands for a single article, so what kind of writing do you expect to get for $10? Let's put this into perspective... What kind of service would you expect from an attorney who charges $25/hour? Or a plumber who charges $10/hour? Or a computer that costs $75? Writing is not a commodity, people. If everyone could write, then you webmasters would be creating your own content, not hiring someone else to do it for you. If you're trying to profit from your website, then you need to take the time to find a writer that will produce quality content and pay them accordingly. Success is not cheap and it is not free. If you're not putting in a valuable amount of both, then don't sob about getting ripped off. Take some time and figure out what quality content really is. Read through reputable websites. Pay attention to how the sentences are phrased, how the paragraphs flow, the tone of the work. If you can't do it on your own, build a trusting relationship with someone else and pay them to do it for you. Do some due diligence on the writers you hire. Ask for links to content or past clients who can be a reference or both. Don't let "hey. i can writ 20 artilces for $5 usd" be your sole deciding factor for hiring someone.
You're free to disagree. But as far as I'm concerned, people who pay scraps and expect the moon are morons, and they really have no business being in business. They'll more than likely fail miserably, and that's fine. Most do. You know damn well when you see someone advertising writing services at less than a penny per word that there's a very good chance at least a part of that content is stolen in one way or another. If you know how to look, you'll find it almost every time. If that's a risk you choose to take, then it's usually a poor business decision, and you deserve what you get. You know you'll likely get ripped off, so you lose all right to bitch and moan about it later. Instead, like Latoya said, put that time in earlier instead and actually find a reputable writer. It all comes down to whether or not people have any business sense. Long story short... if you choose to get into a content-based business model you better either A) be able to write, or B) have the budget to afford quality, original, and legal work. So again... I have zero sympathy for anyone in this situation. It's like buying a pirated DVD off a street corner paying a few bucks for it, and then whining that you didn't know or it's not your fault if you get caught. You make decisions. If you make bad ones knowing the risk, then you deserve whatever you get out of it. And the reality is that yes, webmasters rip off writers constantly (some because they honestly don't know any better). It's not a case of simply saying that writers offer the services, so they should be honest and not plagiarize. The ones who do plagiarize set those low rates specifically because that's what they're doing. Otherwise, they couldn't justify the time for the money (even globally in most cases). What you have is a market (webmasters) who are demanding something beyond unrealistic - high quality unique content well-written in English, for next to no compensation. That's what the demand is. These same webmasters constantly tell beginning writers what going rates are like they have any clue, so new writers think slave wages are the norm (they're not). They create the demand for the scammed content, because it's often the only way the demand for quantity and such can be met. Webmasters have created a viable business model for scammers that more legitimate writers can't fill; nor would they want to. You can't help to create a demand for the scam, knowingly enter into business relationships where you know it's a high probability of problems, and then complain about it later. Well you can... it's just pointless.
I agree totally with all of what you say, except I just can't bring myself to think it's ok that someone get ripped off because they're cheap. I do think that those who pay scraps should expect that in return but not copied work. I still think that if someone isn't happy writing (or coding or designing, etc.) for a certain amount of money that they should simply ignore the offer all together. I also happen to agree that people who pay little should be aware that they will be receiving copied work, I just don't think it's right. THIS is the real problem. Why don't the legit writers on this forum (I know there are a lot) make an effort to get together and set some basic pricing? It would certainly help the rest of us know what it takes to get someone with credibility to do the work... and that will open the eyes of a lot of people. Pete.
Although that isn't the real problem, something like that already exists...http://writersmarket.com/assets/pdf/How_Much_Should_I_Charge.pdf
"Reputable publications pay $75 - $thousands for a single article, so what kind of writing do you expect to get for $10?" - $10 in developing countries would buy food for a small family that would last an entire day and a half; - there's no difference between a well educated second language speaker and an educated native speaker when it comes to writing with the exception of second language speakers being even more technically well versed in the second language since formal education has implanted this to them as opposed to educated native speakers because the educational language curriculum of the native speaker's nation is not focused on the technical aspects of the native language (the same is true for the second language speaker's nation when it comes to its native language educational curriculum); - an uneducated writer living in an industrialized country would perceive $10 as nothing, and a well educated second language writer living in a developing country would see $10 as something substantial, but the quality of their work does not even come short of being similar; - an uneducated native speaker living as a loser in an industrialized nation would speak the language well, but the equation breaks down when you ask this person to write in his own language; - and if I were living in the US with the same education and experience that I currently have, I would spend two hours of my time writing a $10 article for the purpose of sending the money each day to randomly-selected poverty-stricken families living in developing countries since I would charge rates based on the cost of living standards imposed by the ecomnomy of the industrialized country, and what I earn for 6 hours worth of hard work would be enough because a higher educational attainment together with substantial experience and above average logical as well as innovative skills would land me a lucrative job in any of these industrialized countries, so the 2 hours I will spend creating a $10 500+-word article would be worth my free time. Well educated people living in developing countries are taking jobs out of the hands of uneducated to educated people living in industrialized countries, hence the ensuing argument that roots from uneducated to educated native speakers being better writers than well educated second language speakers. The argument can be mistaken for ignoarance of the globalized perspective handed down by a global workforce community due to the growth of outsourcing trends, but I'd straight up call it downright stupidity. Large business institutions, medium-scale companies, and small homebased entrepreneurs all running their businesses in industrialized countries are tapping inexpensive yet similar to above average quality skills from the workforce resources of developing countries. Why above average quality skills in my prior statement? Simple - if $10 would be more than the wages being offered by local publications to well educated writers, then paying $20 for a 500+-word article would elicit 8 hours of work from these professional writers for the production of a single 500+-word article. Similarly educated writers living in industrialized countries will find this virtually unacceptable since $20 would just buy them a couple of burgers and some fries perhaps, which would not be worth 8 hours of their time.
It's been talked about quite a bit actually (standardized pricing), especially after the freelance writing manifesto came out several months ago. It was actually something we covered on the SixFigureWriters blog a bit at the time with some debate: Standardizing Freelance Writing Rates As for the seemingly neverending discussion of a global market for writers... it's just not as applicable as you'd like to think. Are there some non-native English speakers that can write exceptionally well? Yes. But the majority of the ones that fit into that category don't charge the same ridiculously low rates as the ones with poor English skills living in the same places. Why? Because it would be a stupid business decision. They can make several times more than they "need" while still undercutting prices of US / UK / etc. writers, and that's what the good ones do... it's simply smart business. There's no way you can make a legitimate case stating that most non-native English speakers are quality English writers. They're not. The writing is often poor and choppy or overly formal and inappropriate for the vast majority of Web publications. Hiring off-shore writers has another major issue... they're not necessarily governed by the same, or even similar, laws. That equates to less protection for the client (and more for the writer in many cases) if the writer chooses to plagiarize content. It simply makes it easier for them to get away with it, and the legal burden then falls predominantly on the backs of the buyers (where it definitely belongs at least in part). Does that mean all non-native English writers are scammers? Not by a long shot. Does it make it a bigger risk? Definitely.
ZeroInfinity, good points. However, it's not always technically correct articles that people want. Like it or not, native speakers (any language) understand the nuances, trends and slang of their native language and that has a major influence on their writing style. This is what people pay for... maybe not always but in most cases. You can write technically perfect but boring articles that won't command a premium price. On the other hand if you can write with a style that people enjoy reading (even if there are a few mistakes) that will always have more value. You're right about the value of money... a dollar isn't the same to all people.
"It's been talked about quite a bit actually (standardized pricing), especially after the freelance writing manifesto came out several months ago. It was actually something we covered on the SixFigureWriters blog a bit at the time with some debate: Standardizing Freelance Writing Rates" This would do good for proficient writers living in developing nations. But unfortunately, writers in developing countries will just take the rates down in order to gain more demand - back to square one. "As for the seemingly neverending discussion of a global market for writers... it's just not as applicable as you'd like to think. Are there some non-native English speakers that can write exceptionally well? Yes. But the majority of the ones that fit into that category don't charge the same ridiculously low rates as the ones with poor English skills living in the same places. Why? Because it would be a stupid business decision. They can make several times more than they "need" while still undercutting prices of US / UK / etc. writers, and that's what the good ones do... it's simply smart business." Smart business would be to charge more than what the government of your country together with its economy superimpose on the wages offered by local businesses operating within the confines of the country, but a smarter business move would be to charge a bit more than the local rates and a lot less than the international rates since this would bring in more volume of work. "There's no way you can make a legitimate case stating that most non-native English speakers are quality English writers. They're not. The writing is often poor and choppy or overly formal and inappropriate for the vast majority of Web publications. Hiring off-shore writers has another major issue... they're not necessarily governed by the same, or even similar, laws. That equates to less protection for the client (and more for the writer in many cases) if the writer chooses to plagiarize content. It simply makes it easier for them to get away with it, and the legal burden then falls predominantly on the backs of the buyers (where it definitely belongs at least in part). Does that mean all non-native English writers are scammers? Not by a long shot. Does it make it a bigger risk? Definitely." Second language speakers that write well are usually living in countries where the culture is predominantly of Western origins, and the best non-native English speaking writers can probably be found in nations with Western culture up to this day. When it comes to legal issues, contracts always need to be created in such a way where loopholes would be nonexistent. "ZeroInfinity, good points. However, it's not always technically correct articles that people want. Like it or not, native speakers (any language) understand the nuances, trends and slang of their native language and that has a major influence on their writing style. This is what people pay for... maybe not always but in most cases. You can write technically perfect but boring articles that won't command a premium price. On the other hand if you can write with a style that people enjoy reading (even if there are a few mistakes) that will always have more value." This is the main reason why buyers of content should initially make impositions in order to set things straight. Countries where Western cultures are still practiced up to this day can morph their writing approach into the subcultural variations of such Western cultures. Talk to a Filipino telemarketer and you won't even notice the difference, or send in a project and I'll show you what I mean when it comes to literary proficiency. "You're right about the value of money... a dollar isn't the same to all people." Believe me - it makes a whole lotta difference.
One key factor that needs focus in this current discussion is that webmasters and website publishers need differing types of content. Pricing, as well as the other factors mentioned above, will differ based on the type of content they require. For example: keyword-based page 'stuffing' would (should) be priced lower than highly researched entries for a blog that focuses on a very specific industry. The same goes with rewriting PLR materials versus writing articles for submission purposes. The danger in this discussion is to assume that all web content needs are uniform. They are not and they require differing levels of writing expertise. There is room in this market for price segmentation based on specification. There's a price niche for every player in the content market.
Whether a piece is keyword-rich or not should have no bearing on pricing if the webmaster is still demanding completely original content of reasonable quality, and demanding full rights to boot. It still takes a writer time. And considering the fact that those types are the pieces that A) are probably the most likely to be ripped work due to the nature of rewriting to get them and B) are used in a business model that relies all or mostly on the content to earn income (through search engine traffic), buyers of that type of content should be more concerned with paying for legitimate writers; not less. When it comes to buyers looking for content for authority sites, that's simply a given, because if they have any sense they hire industry experts and not general "writers" to begin with. It doesn't matter what the content needs are in a variety of these points... if you want to avoid legal issues, you have to pay enough to justify your demands and the time / effort it takes to create what you're asking for, on top of accounting for the level of rights you're going to need. The fact remains that the bulk of the problems with legal issues of copying content appear in the cheaper markets. When you demand something that can't be supplied through legitimate means (like these people wanting 20 articles per day, all with perfect English grammar, thoroughly researched, and 100% original), and you want it for $5 per piece or less, you just won't be able to get it all. That's when writers turn to copying (and frankly a lot of the things that pass Copyscape and similar tests are still illegally rewritten and uncited content).