I know this is probably going to sound like a venting session but I've been downloading PLR articles from all over the web to use as content on my site. I began adding these articles sort of blindly but after performing a few searches online and seeing the same article listed hundreds (if not thousands) of times I decided to take a closer look at them. My initial analysis has found that most of these articles are downright awful. The grammer is incorrect, the content is thin, and they often don't say all that much. I'm not saying I am the best writer or an English major but really some of these things seem as if they were just cobbled together and published for the sake of being called an "article." So my question is, aside from generating my own original content (time consuming) or hiring a writer to create material for me (expensive and I could end up with the same results as the previously mentioned PLR articles) - is there an easier and more efficient way of doing this? I know I need content to make a successful site but does this mean hours on end of writing? I don't mind it but I want to make sure it's the best use of my time. Thanks!
I think it is a good use of your time. You don't need to write 10,000 word articles, 3 or 4 hundred works for me. I have a notebook with me where ever I go and jot things down to put together later. You can also use your cellphone to leave ideas on. I can usually get those out pretty quick. You are right about the PLR stuff. Most of it is awful and needs too much rewriting.
As a content writer and burgeoning PLR producer, I'd say that you want to look for PLR packs that don't include the Resell rights. If the pack includes Resell rights that means that the buyer can simply sell the articles without making changes (at least that's the best of my knowledge on the subject). Also, depending on the type of site you are wanting to build, you might not need a ton of articles. Remember, to really drive traffic you want content that is updated on a regular basis. Static content rarely turns "drive bys" into "regulars." If you like the subject and think you can write fairly well, why not produce the content yourself? A site that has original content on it is far more reputable than a site with regurgitated content
Snarke - why would you prefer regulars over "drive-bys" I mean I guess if your main focus is affiliate sales or if you are selling your own stuff be it software or ebooks or classes that might be the goal, but for adsense or even lead generation, you just want to draw the search engine traffic and then get that traffic to click a link and it doesn't matter if they ever return to your site. This could be said for affiliates to I suppose in fact one of my sites is built specifically for this. It has horribly dry content that is nothing but SE fodder. It is a mostly static site in a niche that gets a lot of searches per day, and some of the top sites are not even close to being SEO optimized - my site is, I get the traffic, send 'em to people selling stuff... To the OP, I think the value of content generation really depends on your goals and the type of traffic you're trying to draw. If I am struggling for new content, I usually do opinion pieces on popular news pieces - for instance, I have a travel related blog. When I am out of ideas but need new content, I just look at the front page of the travel section on Yahoo or google news, find an article that stirs up a reaction in me and write a few hundred words around that article.
If you want, I could write articles for you on website design and development. And my prices would be a lot cheaper than everyone else simply because writing seems natural to me and I will take money anyway I can get it. Well, it depends on if you are a natural writer or not. If you can write well, then go for it, otherwise it may not be the best thing. After analyzing your writing, I can tell it shouldn't be to hard for you. Good Luck, -Ryu
Try out a program called Jetsubmitter or Jetspinner. This is a program that turns one article into many different variations of the same article, but will be indexed by google as original content. It is still being worked on, and when I tried it I only got about halfway through the steps, but if you give the program time I did see how it could be effective.
Writing content it's not easy thing. There are always problems with updating content cause I don't know what to wrtite about. One guy gave me some tips... http://www.moneymakerboy.com/2008/06/10-easy-ways-to-get-an-idea-for-your-next-post.html
Private Label Rights - meaning you can claim the content as your own and you can do with it what you want.
Thank you all for your responses! My site is a community site that includes a forum and classified ads but since those areas aren't likely to produce income I have a section with articles that I'm trying to monetize. I then have an Adwords campaign going where I link visitors directly to the articles and drive them to see my advertisements and Adsense links. For these visitors I could care less whether they stay on the site or not although it would be nice if they participated elsewhere So my content could be static as I have forums that provide more up-to-date discussions. I think what I'll do is continue writing some more on my own...When I get sick of that I'll hire some outside writers to help supplement what I'm doing. I also need to optimize my Adwords campaigns but that's a whole new thread! Thanks again everyone!
Offering writers to have theircontant on your site which should be original is an idea. Only drawback is that the reward is that the writer wants their links in the article. Other then that I can't think of any way to get good valuable content that isn't writen with lots of typo's and grammar mistakes (like i write my english content )
For a site that wants to build a forum and a sense of community, regulars are a lot better than drive bys. Also, there are more types of site monetization out there besides Adsense Also, if your site content never changes then people, when searching for subjects in your niche, are not going to keep returning to your site to click on your ads. They'll simply see the url and say "yeah, I've seen that site" and move on to the next listing. If your site doesn't get enough click throughs on the search engines doesn't it start to fall in the ranks, even if your content is keyword rich?
Very good points! My plan is to keep content flowing in on a constant basis so that even regular visitors will find something new each time they log in. But for those visitors who are just "stopping by" the new content is probably not as important. Thanks for the comments.
I use PLR articles too, but I usually bought them just for reference purpose. I never and won't publish them before editing and adding my own views & content in them. And talking about article marketing, you can outsource the job, so, why waste your time writing your own articles when you can have people like me to write them? hehe Cheers, and all the best mate!
Well, if you can see thats they are bad and have bad grammer etc. Then surly your english is good enough to change those bit? wont take more than a few minutes to tart them up a bit really? Thats your best option.