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Why I charge what I charge as a content writer

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Why I charge what I charge for my content writing services

Why I charge what I charge for my content writing services.

The clients often tell me, “We are a small business, we have a tight budget, so we cannot spend much. But we need good content that is well researched.”

Just imagine, saying the same thing in a restaurant or when you are buying a fridge or a TV.

Anyway, I’m writing this to quickly explain why one shouldn’t hesitate from paying a good writer, especially when you want someone hard-working writer creating content for your website or blog.

Let’s first lay it on the table what you want and what you don’t want.

You want

  • Well-written content to impress, influence and engage your visitors.
  • You want your visitors to get convinced after reading your content so that they become your paying customers and clients.
  • You want authoritative information and data from trusted sources with the links to those sources.
  • You want completely unique content – no copying from other websites and blogs.
  • You want your content to boost your search engine rankings so that your traffic increases and consequently, your business.
  • Delivery based on a schedule.

You don’t want

  • Content written in a sloppy manner.
  • Unoriginal content that is simply a rehashing of content existing on other blogs and websites.
  • Big claims not backed up by authoritative sources.
  • Writing that is full of spelling and grammar mistakes.
  • Google penalizing you for overusing the keywords.

I’m not saying these are unjustified expectations, but just to make it clear, you should know that what you want, what you are paying for, and what you don’t want when you are hiring a content writer.

Now, to get some perspective, kindly perform the following activities:

  1. Start a timer.
  2. Open your email and go to the message/messages where you have explained your content writing requirement.
  3. If there have been multiple communications between you and your content writer, go through the thread.
  4. Open a Word document or go to Google Docs and open a Google Docs document.
  5. Go to Google and do a search on the first search term that comes to your mind in order to find information about what needs to be written.
  6. Open the links in a few tabs.
  7. Start going through the links and make note of things you can use and things you can ignore.
  8. Remember that even to find out what is useful and what is not useful, you must read the whole thing.
  9. Based on all the information you have compiled, start preparing the outline.
  10. Stop the timer.

Please keep in mind that you are in this industry.

For example, if you want me to write content on real estate, you are from real estate and it can be safely assumed that for you, researching information related to your field must be easier.

Also, you can make out what is useful and what is not useful faster compared to a content writer who is not into real estate.

How much time does it take going through email messages, opening a blank document, beginning to research, going to individual links, finding out what to use and what to ignore, compiling the information and creating an outline?

This is assuming you want well-written professional content for your website or blog.

20 minutes? 30 minutes? Even more?

If it has taken you 20 minutes to just go through email messages and preparing the outline based on the links you can quickly find on Google, you can multiply the time by at 3 to get an idea of how much time it is going to take to prepare the first draft of roughly 1000 words.

80 minutes. And this is the minimum amount of time I’m assuming.

So, even if I work very fast, without factoring in revisions and exchanges with the client, on an average, 1000 words take 80 minutes to write.

I’m not factoring in the inherent value that a talented and experienced content writer delivers. It is conveniently assumed to be present. Try working with different writers.

For good writing you need a flow. You cannot be watching the clock all the time. To write well, you must get into the zone.

Clients who have burned their fingers with other writers, who know the value of good content, can understand what I’m saying. Those who haven’t worked with many content writers, won’t understand easily.

As a professional content writer, when I’m delivering you 1000 words, it is not just those 1000 words.

A lot goes into those 1000 words.

If it was just about those 1000 words, any content writer would have delivered them. Many can even deliver them for free.

What is included in these 1000 words?

  1. Years of experience writing for the web as well as search engines.
  2. The talent of a writer who knows how to express and communicate with words.
  3. The ability to write flawlessly.
  4. The ability to organize thoughts in a logical flow – from a beginning to a conclusion.
  5. The ability to write 100% unique content that is optimized for search engines.
  6. Overall, written content your business deserves and you can use to get more business.

Whether you want to accept it or not, it is your written content that gives you a noticeable presence on the web.

Your written content is your voice. It represents you when people visit your website or blog. It convinces people. It tells them why it is worth doing business with you.

They are not just 1000 words.

They are not a mere commodity.

They are the foundation of your business.

This is what you are paying for.

Do you really want me to do a patch-up job?

Finding the right content writer is key to your success

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Finding the right content writer is critical to your online success

Finding the right content writer is critical to your online success.

I have previously written on how to find the right content writer for your content writing needs.

In fact, multiple times. This topic is close to my heart. After all, if you are looking for a content writer, you should be able to find me on the web whether it is Google, LinkedIn or any other place.

I was going through my content writing and content marketing aggregation feed and I came across a blog post on another blog on the topic of what to look for when you are looking for a content writer for your business. I was about to start working on a client’s project but then I thought I will quickly post this small update.

Why do I say that finding the right content writer is key to your success?

One, I personally believe in that, and two, many clients who have been working with me for years, believe that without high quality content, they cannot possibly do business on the web.

Whether people find you through Google or they are already on your website, it is the writing that talks to them.

You have higher search engine rankings because of your content – both quality and quantity. You need to be publishing every second day to remain in the SEO reckoning.

You must have high quality content because without high quality content, at least now, after zillions of algorithm updates, you cannot hope to improve your search engine rankings or SEO.

A decade and a half ago you could get away with randomly using keywords and search terms and even use one of those article spinning services to enjoy higher search engine rankings, but not anymore.

Why finding the right content writer is critical?

You need regularity and you need quality. For this you need a dependable, experienced, and of course, proficient content writer.

Hence, a need to find such a writer.

The above-linked blog post makes some suggestions regarding how to find the right content writer. I have already written about the topic multiple times.

My experience with my clients tells me that using freelancing services rarely works. They have burned their fingertips. They have burned their hands. Some have also burned their businesses.

Even doing some research, my experience tells me, helps you little. In fact, there is no foolproof way of finding the right content writer for your needs. It is sheer luck. Yes.

The thing is, lots of factors collectively play a part in deciding who is right and who is wrong. It is not only about being able to write well. You can get thousands of writers who have an awesome writing style.

Professional content writing is about

  1. Understanding your needs.
  2. Understanding the needs of your target audience and writing accordingly.
  3. Being well versed with the technologies involved.
  4. Writing high quality content.
  5. Writing high quality content consistently – if you need to publish 15 blog posts every month, then you MUST publish 15 blog posts every month.
  6. Writing search engine optimized content that is acceptable both to search engines and humans.

This combination is difficult to find. Especially, dependability.

I may be biased towards my disposition, irrespective of whether you work with me or with someone else, instead of working with a content writer through a freelancing website, collaborate with a writer who either has his or her own content writing business (like yours truly) or is employed at a content writing service.

This is because a person who is employed or who runs his or her own business, has higher stakes. He or she has a system because his or her business depends on your level of satisfaction.

Sure, even on freelancing websites there is a rating system and content writers need to gather reviews and feedback from the clients they have worked for, the stakes are much lower when someone solely gets work from freelancing websites.

On the other hand, if someone works on his or her own website and runs the entire business through the website, he or she has a greater stake in maintaining quality, regularity and accountability. Professionalism.

Why you should pay for quality content writing

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Why you shouldn't mind paying for quality content

Why you shouldn’t mind paying for quality content

One of the biggest problems faced by good content writers is that most of the clients undervalue quality content.

I have expanded my presence on the Internet enough to attract clients of different dimensions.

Hence, if there are some clients who are not comfortable with paying the rates that I request, there are many other clients who are ready to pay my rates and in fact, many believe that I should be charging more.

There was a time when I never had conversations with clients who had problems with my rates. I would simply tell them to look for another content writer.

With age I have become more patient. I try to have conversations with those clients.

I try to explain to them that when they are spending money on a quality content writer, they shouldn’t worry about needlessly spending that money because writing on their website is the most important aspect of their presence on the Internet.

Read: Why quality content writing matters and how to maintain quality

Some understand. Some don’t. Some understand but don’t want to accept that they have understood.

For an average person or entrepreneur, it is difficult to recognize the uniqueness of business content because writing is everywhere.

You go to any website, writing is just there, by default.

You notice the header. You notice the logo. You notice the animation. You notice the images. You notice the color scheme. You notice the layout. You notice even the font type.

But writing?

Writing is just there.

You will rarely say, “wow, what a writing!”

You come across writing on the blogs. You come across writing in newspapers and magazines. You come across writing on social media websites. It is everywhere. Everyone writes.

So, I can understand if you don’t feel like paying your content writer what he or she deserves.

With so much writing, people forget that casual writing and sharing your thoughts is different from writing for business.

I will give you a small example.

You use free services on the Internet without giving them even a second thought.

You use free email. You use free social networking tools. You use free blogging platforms. You use free video hosting services. You use free cloud storage space.

But the moment someone asks for money, you start thinking about the pros and cons of using the same service that you have been using for years.

Even if tomorrow Google starts charging for Gmail, you won’t pay eagerly.

You will quickly start looking for other “free” email services even if they are not as good as Gmail.

You will pay for Gmail only if you cannot do without its features.

So, if you’re not ready to pay to Google for a service that you have been using for years, for free, how do you expect people to spend money on your website especially when countless other alternatives are available on the Internet?

The Internet gives you unprecedented opportunities, but it also gives you an unprecedented level of competition.

If you sell something, there are hundreds of people selling the same thing and people are already buying from them.

If you offer a service, there are hundreds of people offering the same service and people are already using that service.

Even your website layout and template may look the same as someone else’s because you have probably bought a template that is being used by many other businesses.

One thing you can be totally unique at is your writing and hence, whether people realize it or not, it is your writing that is a deciding factor.

For example, this blog post that I am writing is completely unique.

Even if someone has already written about the issue that I’m writing about (why you must pay for quality content writing), the way that person has written is totally different from what I’m writing here.

Whether you realize it or not, your entire business is based on what you have written on your website.

Deciding to buy something is an emotional decision.

Emotions are controlled by words. Written words.

People don’t decide to do business with you because of the image, or the logo or the animation or the layout of the website.

People decide to do business with you after reading what you have written on your website.

Not wanting to pay for quality content writing is like not wanting to clean the air you breathe because the current state of the air, though polluted, isn’t killing you, yet.

Most of the websites have lousy writing on them because the content on them is not written by professional and trained content writers.

Importance of quality writing for SEO

Quality content writing is more so important when you want to improve your SEO.

Read: 5 Reasons Why Content Writing Is Important for SEO

Long gone are the days when your SEO depended on the way you used your keywords.

Keywords still matter, but what matters more is the way people interact with your writing.

If your writing is not relevant, if it is not engaging, you begin to lose your search engine rankings.

More than 97% of your search traffic comes from Google.

Google is spending millions of dollars every month to make sure that irrelevant and useless content doesn’t show up in the search results or at least doesn’t show up in the top search result pages.

More than 300 maths PhDs are constantly modifying ranking algorithms at Google to enable the crawlers crawl and rank high value content.

If you want to compete with these 300 maths PhDs, it’s your choice, but an easier option is to give Google the type of content it is looking to rank higher – quality content.

Why paying for quality content isn’t a waste of money?

The writing on your website is an asset.

Although, on your blog you are constantly publishing your content, the content that you publish on your main, business website, remains there for months, and sometimes even for years.

This means, for months and for years, this content will make people do business with you.

The writing on your website is a business-generating machine.

It is a high-value asset.

People are going to form an impression of your business by reading what you have written or published on your website.

They will decide whether they want to do business with you or not, after reading your information.

If your writing is not compelling, if it is not engaging, if it is not conversational, people are going to leave your website to explore and evaluate another website.

Small businesses are always personality-based.

If someone goes to a Google website or an IBM website or a Microsoft website, he or she is ready to put up with small annoyances and even lousy writing.

But if the same person goes to the website of a small business, he or she is going to become all judgmental.

Even a tiny uninspiring sentence or word will send him or her away.

It’s because, whereas Google, IBM and Microsoft don’t have much competition, a small business has lots of competition.

Going to another website is as simple as going to another link or doing another search on Google.

If I’m looking for a mobile app developer and I’m not convinced with the information you have presented on your website, all it takes is a couple of seconds to go to another mobile app development website.

Aside from these, here are a few reasons why quality content is important for your website.

People want to share high-quality content

Sharing gives you brand visibility.

Content shared by people is more valuable than content distributed through advertising.

The more people share your content on their social media timelines, the better are your search engine rankings.

Not just sharing, even when people “Like” your content, it gives indications to Google that people are appreciating your content.

Every instance of sharing your content, liking your content or any other reaction to your content (someone leaving a comment), sends out signals to Google which are then used to decide your search engine rankings.

Quality content establishes your authority

If personal branding matters to your business, then you must establish yourself as an authority.

When people respect you for your knowledge, wisdom and your hold over your subject, they want to do business with you because they know that they are dealing with an expert.

They will also eagerly pay you higher compared to your competitors.

In my content writing and online copywriting business too, since I’m constantly sharing my thoughts, my expertise and my knowledge, people are eagerly ready to pay my rates even when sometimes they feel they’re having to pay higher than they would pay to another content writer.

Good quality content helps people remember you

Good quality content on your website renders a unique personality to your presence.

When you work with a professional content writer, he or she also brings a unique personality.

Many of my clients want me to write for them because of my writing style. They want the same writing style for their website and blog.

Retention is very important on the Internet.

If people cannot distinguish you from your competitors, it is difficult for them to develop a sense of loyalty for your business. They get distracted easily. They switch easily.

So, the next time, if you are wondering why you should pay for high-quality content writing, remember these points and you will enjoy greater clarity.

Just hired a professional content writing service? How to benefit the most

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How to benefit from the content writing service you have hired?

How to benefit from the content writing service you have hired?in the taken

Have you just hired a professional content writer and wondering how to benefit from his or her content writing service?

Deciding to hire a professional content writing service is a good decision for your business. Your content quality is going to improve remarkably. You will be able to publish high-quality content regularly.

You may like to read: 5 reasons you need to hire a content writing service.

Just because you have hired a professional content writing service does not mean your job is over.

Remember that the content writer writing for you, no matter how good he or she is, does not have the sort of business experience that you have in your field.

After all, why do you want to publish content on your website or blog?

Why do you want to publish content?

Why do you want to publish content?

An unabashedly simple answer would be to improve your SEO.

Nothing wrong in that, but simply improving your SEO doesn’t get you business.

Providing quality content to your prospective customers and clients does.

Hence, you don’t want content just to improve your SEO, you also need content to constantly engage your audience.

You want to share your knowledge with them.

You want to tell them that you are capable of delivering what you are promising.

You have to showcase your successes.

You have to explain how you deal with challenges.

You know how you can deliver your promises.

You know what your successes have been.

You know what challenges you have overcome.

You need to share all this with your content writer.

Listed below are a few steps you can take to derive full benefit from your professional content writing service:

Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve through the content writing service you have hired

Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your content writing projects

Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your content writing projects

This is very important.

Again, of course, you want to improve your search engine rankings, and who doesn’t?

But this is not the only reason why you have hired a professional content writing service.

Content writing and content publishing is all about creating a formidable brand presence.

When people visit your website or blog, they should get an impression that yes, this is a serious business website I’m visiting.

Businesses and individuals want to partner with thought leaders who have an authority over their field.

I have explained in this blog post how to build thought leadership with authoritative content writing.

Take your own case: assuming you’re looking for quality content that can help you establish yourself as a leader in your field; would you go with an inexperienced, unknown content writer or someone who is known for a unique writing style and has made a name for himself or herself as someone who can deliver results?

If you want someone to hire you, do you really feel that you deserve to be hired?

If the answer is an emphatic yes, this should reflect through your writing.

Hence, have a clear roadmap.

Why do you want content?

Do you want to improve your conversion rate?

Do you want to create an engaging presence on social media?

Do you want to run a successful email marketing campaign?

Do you want people to download your case studies?

Do you want to improve your search engine rankings for relevant keywords and search terms but at the same time, also improve your conversion rate?

Get actively involved in the process of content writing

Get involved in the process of content writing

Get involved in the process of content writing

The content for your website is not a commodity.

It is not a product.

It is not something that you pay for, get it, and publish it, assuming that your content writer is going to write exactly what you’re looking for.

In many cases, clients send me just a list of the web pages they want.

They are so disinterested that even for the main website content – homepage, services page, about us page – they want me to come up with good, convincing content.

Disinterested in the sense that they simply want to fill up “impressive” content without wanting to say something unique.

They think that since I’m a good content writer who can incorporate important keywords and key phrases and at the same time keep my writing professional, all they need is just to tell me what pages they want, and I can handle the rest.

Also, since they have internalized the notion that they are not offering something unique and hence, what needs to be written for their website can be picked from other, similar websites, their own input is not needed.

Sure, if I have experience in a field, for example web design, Internet marketing, digital marketing, software development, mobile app development, and even content marketing, I don’t need much help and I can come up with convincing content on my own, but if you want something unique, something that helps you stand out, then you must get involved.

You must present your unique perspective.

You must help me render a unique voice to your website content.

How can you do that?

Tell me what makes you special.

Don’t use general expressions.

What’s so special about you?

What defines you?

What motivates you?

What sort of team members do you have?

What types of projects you have worked on so far?

What are the tools – digital, physical and intellectual – that you have but your competitors don’t?

These are important bits of information.

Have faith in your content writer once you have hired a professional content writing service

Have faith in your content writer

Have faith in your content writer

You may say that this runs contrary to the concept of getting involved with your content writer or your content writing service, but it is not.

Sure, your input is needed.

But an experienced content writer knows what works and what doesn’t.

This is why he or she is a professional content writer and you have hired him or her.

In case you have hired a content writer just so that he or she writes what you feel he or she should write, you need a steno, not a writer, and especially not a professional content writer.

If you’re going to control how the content must be arranged, how the sentences must flow, and what words to use (aside from industry-specific words and phrases), you just need a driver, you don’t need a guide.

You need a mason, not an architect or engineer.

An experienced content writer knows how to write for different industries.

He or she knows what works and what puts people off.

He or she also knows what is good for your SEO, but at the same time, is also good for your conversion rate.

The point is, trust your content writer.

Focus on providing value rather than simply filling up your website with content

Provide true value through content writing

Provide true value through content writing

You will be wasting the skills of your content writer if you simply want to fill up your website or blog with “SEO friendly” content.

When people visit your website, every word counts, every sentence counts and so does every paragraph.

Even when they’re not consciously doing it, people are constantly evaluating the way you talk to them.

Also, when they come across your links on search engines (maybe even at 53rd position) they expect you to give them what you have promised in your listings.

For example, if you have found this particular link on Google when you have searched for “how to make best use of the content writing service you are working with”, or something like that, you should be able to learn exactly that.

You shouldn’t feel cheated.

You must feel well served by the link.

This is the entire purpose.

When people come to your website, they should have a sense of respect for you.

They must value your knowledge and your wisdom.

They must feel that you have their good in your heart.

This can only be achieved when you deliver value through your content writing.

When do you know your business needs a professional content writer?

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When you need a professional content writer

When do you decide that your business needs a professional content writer? Considering the cost involved, it is a tough decision to make especially when writing doesn’t seem like a specialty worth paying for, at least at the outset.

Everyone can write and you are absolutely right about this. People these days are writing like they have never written before.

Just look at the number of Facebook posts, Twitter updates and WhatsApp messages and to your pleasant surprise, people you thought could never write a single straight sentence, are often quoting Pulitzer prize-winning writers.

Hence, writing seems easy.

Yup, writing seems easy when you don’t intend to generate business with your writing, and this is when most of the businesses decide to work with a professional content writer.

They don’t want to take chances.

They want their content professional, error-free, accurate and above all, convincing.

When you are writing on Facebook or Twitter, you are just trying to put across a point. You want to share with your followers what is in your mind. If you’re angry or disgusted or happy about something, you want to express your thoughts. How people react to your updates, doesn’t actually matter.

Of course, you don’t want to offend anyone, but still, it hardly matters if someone takes offence and decides to disagree with you.

In casual writing people don’t mind spelling mistakes (blame the auto correct), they ignore grammar oversights (focus on the message, not how it is expressed, et cetera) and they are cool about you using even the wrong words and expressions because after all, it’s social media.

When it comes to a business website, you can’t afford to piss of people.

When people come to your website, you want them to feel good about what you have published over there.

You want to inform them. You want to convince them. You want to engage them. You want your writing to talk to them. Eventually, you want them to spend money on your website – the hardest thing to do.

There are primarily 2 reasons why you need to hire a professional content writer for your business

These 2 reasons are:

  1. Higher conversion
  2. Consistency

When it comes to writing content for your business website you cannot leave things on chance. You want to convert maximum number of people who come to your website.

You may like to read How to improve website conversion rate with content writing.

If you don’t want to visit the above-mentioned link, conversion rate means the ratio of people coming to your website and those who do something that you want them to do, for example, fill up your contact form or download your e-book or subscribe to your newsletter or click advertisements.

Conversion doesn’t happen if your content writing is not of good quality.

If your writing is not good, people assume that your business too is not good. Your product or service may be exceptionally good, but if you’re writing cannot convince people, they’re not going to buy from you.

So, how come a professional content writer can improve your conversion rate and not you yourself or someone who can write decently but doesn’t have the required experience as a web writer or a copywriter?

Exceptions are always there. Whatever I’m writing here, may not directly apply to you, but it may be applicable to many.

When someone comes to your website – whether from a search engine or your link on another website or through your PPC campaign – he or she begins a journey. First, he or she reads your title, the first sentence of your first paragraph, the first paragraph, then the second paragraph, and so on.

How do you make sure that the person doesn’t leave midway?

Are you still reading? It means I have kept you hooked till now.

You write in an engaging manner. You know how to formulate your sentences. You know when to use smaller expressions and when you can get away with a bit longer, a bit more complex sentence structure. You know what information to reveal immediately and when to hold back and build suspense. You know when to use call to action.

Simply put, you know how to hold the attention of the reader. If you can do that and on top of that, if you can deliver an effective message, you are a good writer and you may not have to hire a professional content writer. Otherwise, you need to.

Now, about consistency.

Are you a writer by profession? Can you write consistently?

Suppose you are to publish two blog posts every week; can you stick to the schedule? A professional content writer will.

In fact, most of the clients who claim that they can write on their own, but they are contacting me because they don’t have enough time, give me this reason – they cannot write consistently.

You can write a few webpages and blog posts on your own, but if you need to do it consistently, it takes practice and effort. You need to use the muscle of your mind that you don’t often use.

A professional content writer on the other hand is used to writing all the time.

I am writing all the time. I’m writing for my clients and when I’m not writing for my clients I’m writing for my blog and when I am not writing for my blog, I’m doing journalistic writing. I don’t need to make an effort. Writing comes naturally to me just like accounting comes naturally to you if you are an accountant or painting comes naturally to you if you are a painter. In fact, I’m writing even when I’m not being paid for it because I like writing.

Anyway, you need to hire a professional content writer if you want professional writing for your business website, and you need it on an ongoing basis.

This is, when I’m assuming that you’re comfortable with the language and you can write sentences without spelling and grammar mistakes. There are numerous people who find it difficult to write. For them, hiring a professional content writer is not an option but a necessity.