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Finding reliable, and genuine, UK based content writers is a challenge. Uniqueness of content is the key. Well written, original content can have a dramatic effect on the success of your affiliate site. Where content is interesting, readable and, most of all, relevant to your product or service, visitors will be encouraged to explore. A good content writer will get the message across.
Of course anyone can write, however finding and indeed retaining the right content provider or providers is a tricky business. But rest assured, the right person is out there, and the following advice should help you find them, and make them an invaluable part of your affiliate marketing activities.
It is a useful skill to be able to recognise effective content. Key characteristics of quality content writing may include, for example, the use of short, content rich sentences. These should be contained within well balanced paragraphs, which as a rule should contain no more than five sentences. In general, articles of between 300 – 1000 words work best.
The use of simple, commonly searched words and phrases, will ensure content appeals to the widest audience possible. It is a poor content writer who uses a complicated word where a simple one would suffice. In addition, the most useful information should, where possible, be concentrated in the earlier sections of the article. The ability to recognise these characteristics is a vital tool in selecting the best writers for an online business.
As ever, a positive relationship with your employees goes a long way. Good writers will deliver work on time, and within a reasonable time frame – 48 hours from delivery of brief descriptions in some cases. Guarantees on work, and voluntary rewriting of incomplete or inappropriate content, are indicators of a good writer.
So where to begin the search? First of all, establish the expectations and requirements of the business. The decision of whether your needs would be best suited by a specialist in the field, or perhaps a writer who can cover a variety of subjects, is fundamental. This rests largely on the nature of the business, and is the difference between an expert and a one-size-fits-all ghost writer who is likely to suppliment your own marketing efforts, but offer little in the way of unique insight.
Inevitably, the funds you have available for your content creation will be one deciding factor. Take the time to shop around, viewing writers’ sample content. This is a competitive market, so do not assume that the first providers you come across will be the most suitable. As ever, personal recommendations are a good place to start. An agency providing SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) services may allow you greater flexibility, particularly where tight deadlines are the norm. Many freelance writers may charge you an additional fee for high-priority work.
Once you have found the writer for your program, it makes sense to keep them with you for as long as possible. Their knowledge of your requirements will improve, as will your relationship (assuming they get results of course). Incentivise them with bonuses for successful campaigns, and make sure they feel valued as part of your team. Be realistic in what you expect to gain from freelance content writers – they are not a solution in themselves but one part of a greater marketing push.
It is important to check content on a regular basis before it is put into place. Plagiarised material is ineffective, and clearly raises moral questions which do not reflect well on your business. The responsibility for content featured does not lie ultimately with the writer, but ensuring your content provider is reliable and genuine will minimise the risk. Copyscape, an online tool for identifying plagiarism, is a great way of checking your content. Provided by Indigo Stream Technologies, and built on top of the Google Search API, the service has been used in a number of high profile plagiarism cases. Using algorithms to highlight plagiarised content, Copyscape can identify content even after it has been modified.
There are a wealth of resources available to those starting up affiliate marketing businesses, and many are free so do not feel that you must pay for advice and software in the early stages. Choose content writers carefully and with relatively little investment, of either time or money, the increase in both quality and quantity of traffic visiting an online business can be immediate.
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What content writer wrote this content about content writers
It was the content writer who is content to write about content writers
Hi John,
Do you have any resources you recommend for finding content writers? I know about the usual’s such as ContentNow, SitePoint, and Digital point but was wondering if you or anybody else had any other recomendations.
I have found people before from WiredFlame but the quality has varied drastically. I have paid between $0.02 and $0.05 per word with OK results..
Thanks.
Hi Andrew,
As you know, I use these guys for most of my content, but I’ve also had some from these guys, who were cheap as chips, but that was reflected in the service – the articles were slow to be delivered, and not particularly great quality.
I think with content, you very much get what you pay for. It’s fine to use cheapo writers on your throwaway sites, but I’d go for better quality content-writers on your showcase sites.
Thanks John,
I will check them out.
I think using a number of content writers initially can help you gain content and the content you want, a copywriter may not be up to your standard, also having a different copywriter for onsite to offsite works really well for me.
I’ve used many writers for relatively low cost articles.
Below a certain level ($0.02 per word) I camnnot say you get what you pay for. I’ve had some articles written that were excellent – good grammar, well structured meaningful sentences and I’ve had others that were totally incomprehensible.
I usually work on the basis that the first order (less than $20) is potentially money wasted. For every 10 writers I work with in this segment of the market I would say one third are very poor (not written by someone with English as their first language), one third are OK but only just, and one third are really good.
Of the ones that are really good I then find they do work for a while and then either lose interest or move elsewhere – the excuses I get as to why articles are late are many and varied!
I’m not sure what the secret to successful economical writing is but I believe it’s an ongoing process of finding and introducing new writers to work with.
As a professional content writer I would like to add my own take on this if I may. There is an ongoing debate within the content writing world as to what one should charge for their services and it seems many freelancers don’t wish to disclose this information whilst others have no problems listing their rates on their websites. I do believe that the influx of foreign writers over the past couple of years has resulted in the dramatic decrease in the quality of content that is being delivered on many of the bidding websites, this too has also resulted in a dramtic decrease in writing rates. Many foreign writers are charging much less than UK or US writers because they are able to. This does not mean to say that what you get will help your business and as CherryBlossomBottom stated 1/3 of these writers are very poor.
In order to build a good relationship with a writer it is important to discuss your business with them and what you hope to achieve with their content. If your writer knows that you want to build quality links with your content, or you want to encourage people to click onto your sales page, etc., it can really help.
It is also nice to let your writer know how well the content is doing.
As with everything word of mouth is always very powerful so if someone you know recommends a writer then you know you are on to a good thing. Be prepared to pay that little bit extra for top quality too. Getting a 500 word article for $10 may seem like a great deal but the results really will speak for themselves in the long run.