Author Archives: Amrit Hallan

About Amrit Hallan

Amrit Hallan is a professional content writer who helps businesses improve their conversion rate through credible and compelling content writing. His main strength lies in writing search engine optimized content without compromizing quality and meaningfulness.

How come targeted content improves your search engine rankings?

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If you ask me SEO content is actually targeted content, and if you are wondering what is targeted content it is content specifically generated for a particular audience using particular keywords (and that’s what makes it SEO content). Purely SEO content doesn’t do you much good because even if it generates lots of traffic it doesn’t generate much business because it doesn’t move your visitors. Targeted content on the other hand not only draws qualified traffic from various search engines it also improves your conversion rate.

A couple of weeks ago I removed a package that I had started offering from my website. I had collaborated with a writer (a content provider, actually, who hires writers to generate bulk content) to provide low-cost, average-quality content that could help clients improve their search engine rankings. I started offering this package because I was getting lots of queries from India and I also got contacted by a few writers who were ready to generate lots of content at very low rates. This worked for a while but then I felt it was counterproductive for my clients and also for my own business.

I am not a very well-known copywriter on the Internet but over the past five years I have managed to eke out a presence through providing quality content persistently. Since there are very few people who understand the difference between cost and value a majority of clients confused that package with the overall content writing services that I provide.

They somehow got themselves into believing that they could pay dirt cheap and still they should be able to use that content as primary business content.

Content purely written for SEO rarely performs well as primary business content and if you want primary business content then you must pay accordingly. Anyway, it is very difficult to explain to clients once they have seen the rates. Instead of wasting my time again and again trying to explain the difference between quality content and low-cost SEO your content I stopped offering that package altogether.

Instead, I insist — even if they have to pay a bit more — that they should aim at producing highly targeted content. They may end up with less content than what they could have gotten by paying a lower rate, performance wise this content is much better.

But how does targeted content improve your search engine rankings?

In order to produce targeted content you need to be clear about two things, in fact three things:

  • What exactly you want to convey
  • To whom you want to convey
  • What words you want to use

Once you have sorted out these questions you are more than halfway through producing high-quality SEO content that can also be used as your primary business content. When you write content keeping your audience in mind you are careful about what you’re writing and how you are writing. When you know what you want to convey you stick to the topic and stay away from ambivalence. The words that you want to use while creating your content are your keywords and the search terms you want to target.

Although you should arrange your content so that it is more convenient for the search engine crawlers to go through it and assess it, your primary focus must always be your visitors, your readers. Search engines are not going to do business with you but people will.

Are you setting goals for your content marketing campaigns?

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Without goals we have no direction and this can be applied to content marketing too. When you set up goals — whether big or small — you have a direction and when you have a direction you know exactly what you have to do and what you should avoid doing.

How does setting goals make your content marketing more effective? Let us suppose in the next four months you want to increase your search engine traffic and you don’t just want any traffic you want traffic that converts, that generates business, revenue for you. Once you have decided that, you figure out what sort of traffic from search engines would have a better conversion rate? Obviously the sort of traffic that is looking for what you have to offer. So write down somewhere what exactly you offer.

In my case I offer online copywriting and content writing services. Very good! Incidentally there are thousands of online copywriters and content writers on the Internet and there might be 10-20 content writers and online copywriters whose links appear before my link on the search engine result pages for appropriate keywords and search terms. In such a case scenario I can do three things (through by content publishing efforts)

  1. Beat my competitors in the search optimization game and make my rankings better than theirs
  2. Target those keywords that are less competitive but that can get me a fair amount of business
  3. Generate content that significantly improves my conversion rate

The first option is obviously good but it may take a very long time and I don’t want to spend lots of money. The second option on the other hand is quite achievable. It won’t take much time and it will give me enough breathing space: I can get business and along with that I can also keep improving my website content for more competitive keywords and search terms.

Having a good conversion rate would also be very important for me because as much traffic as I get I would like to generate enough business from it. Since right now I won’t be able to attract thousands of visitors everyday to my website I would prefer that my content has a higher conversion rate. For me this would be my goal and I would generate all my content keeping this fact in my mind.

You may have another goal. Your goal may be getting lots of exposure on social media and networking websites and you may generate content accordingly. For this you will need to know what sort of content creates buzz and goes viral on social media and networking circles. This way you have a direction.

Simply dumping content on your website or blog doesn’t help you much. You must set clearly-defined goals for your content marketing strategy.

Is it true that an online copywriter shouldn’t charge according to the time he or she spends on the project?

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I recently read on another blog post (by a relatively well-known copywriter) that online copywriters commit a fraud by charging or quoting their clients according to the time they are going to spend on the projects. I think it depends on the situation and the kind of project you are working on. I mean you cannot impose your own way of working on other people and if they refuse to toe the line you label them as frauds.

Of course a well-established copywriter charges less for the amount of writing he or she does and more for the value he or she brings to the table. But not every copywriter or content writer is in that position and neither does every client understand this concept. They simply want their writing jobs done. This is not an ideal situation but then we don’t live in an ideal world.

Clients come to you either through reference or directly. If they know you and if they are aware of your reputation (and your rates) they consciously make a decision whether they want to work with you or not. In such a situation when they are paying you they are actually paying for your work. They want you to deliver them what you’re known to deliver to other clients. They are not paying you for the time you’re spending on their projects, they are paying you for your experience and reputation. In such a case it doesn’t make sense to talk in terms of an hourly rate.

On the other hand if your clients come to you by simply looking for a copywriter or a content writer you both have to quantify the work in terms of number of pages and number of hours and there is nothing wrong in that. The clients aren’t bothered what a big shot copywriter you are; they just want a couple of pages written and if you don’t write them they can easily get them written by that guy in China or Pakistan, all said and done.

Does it mean in terms of your career you put yourself in a vulnerable position? Certainly and I don’t advise you to get in a position where you can be easily replaced. But hey, even if you are currently in such a position the main point is getting as much work as you can and delivering quality to your clients even if you have to work on a single page.

Then gradually you build your brand and people begin to recognize you. Once they know what value you can deliver you can charge for the value instead of the effort you’re putting in.

Does your content address the pain points?

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I just now received a flyer from a prospective client. The client is wondering why neither there is a response from the fliers he is sending nor from his website. I have gone through the flyer again and again and I have also gone through the website and still I have no idea what he is trying to sell. All he does is mention the name of the products and the companies he represents. Of course I have got nothing to do with the field he might be working in (sensors, industrial compressors, etc.) but nowhere does he mention what sort of problems he can solve.

When we’re hiring a service or buying a product we do it for the solution it provides, unless of course we are not spending money on a fad like the iPhone or the iPad. Even if it is a niche market we need to be specifically told what exactly is the benefit of going for that particular product or service.

Every organization has some pain points that it needs addressed. If your content does not address those pain points it is not going to sell no matter how narrow your market is. Tell your reader how he or she is going to benefit from choosing you rather than somebody else. Even if you’re providing sensors and industrial compressors do not forget to mention in what way they can help the reader (and consequently the prospect).

Why cheap content mostly harms your business

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Cheap content harms your business

Just stumbled upon this blog post titled “pay peanuts, get monkeys” that basically means if you publish cheap content on your business website your conversion rate falls down drastically.

I would like to state at the outset that I have been offering low-cost content writing services from my website (although, I’m gradually toning down) and I was mostly outsourcing this work to writers who can produce lots of “passable” content at extremely low rates. I would also like to tell you that I started providing low-cost content after having provided content writing services at normal international rates for more than 4 years (I still do) primarily because of 2 reasons:

  • There is high demand for cheap content
  • Writers are actually willing to provide such content

So I thought if there is a demand and if there is a supply and if I can earn money out of it then why not? I started offering a “package” and I also got some clients and some steady work for my writers. I mostly provide this content for SEO boost — it helps my clients increase their keyword density. But it stops there.

Cheap content is a vicious loop of failure

The image describes the vicious loop of cheap content

Vicious loop of cheap content

The problem comes when some of the clients want very cheap content and then want to use this content as their primary content and when the quality doesn’t meet their expectations they complain.

It’s like, desiring to drive a car while paying for a cheap bicycle.

This is exactly where the expression “pay peanuts, get monkeys” applies.

Cheap content isn’t always bad and surprisingly there are a few writers who really write well without charging much.

How do they do that?

When I asked around for most of them writing is just a side activity carried out either during office hours or after office hours.

They have the skill but they don’t have the expertise and providing professional content writing and online copywriting service is not their primary activity.

This means they neither invest in resources nor in improving their skills.

They are simply comfortable with the language, they can quickly search on the Internet and find the relevant information and then rewrite it very fast.

Nothing is unique and individual voice is always lacking.

This is where the clients pay the casualty.

Whereas cheap content written around your keywords can certainly give you an SEO boost it doesn’t help you when it actually comes to selling.

You may increase your search engine traffic but it will just remain traffic; you’re going to generate very little revenue.

This is because your inferior content is never going to convince them into doing business with you.

Your content needs to inculcate a sense of trust and authority.

If you sound like a teenager it isn’t going to do you much good if your target market mostly consists of grown-ups who are very conscious about making purchase-decisions.

Content writing is like any other service: it takes effort and experience to give you content that gets you business.

There is a reason why bigger businesses eagerly pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars to experienced copywriters and content writers; they perfectly know what harm cheap content can cause.

But I hear some of you saying, “What makes you think that people who charge less cannot provide quality content?”

I have a Chinese Blackberry phone that almost looks like the real thing.

So if you can purchase really cheap versions of a Blackberry or an iPhone, why do you spend so much money on the real devices?

Well, this may seem rhetorical so let us see the practical aspect.

Let us say a content writer agrees to charge you just $5 for a business webpage — a professional content writer may charge you anywhere between $40-$100 for the same webpage, and I’m not talking about a well-known and reputed content writer or copywriter.

How much time do you want your content writer to spend on your particular webpage?

One hour? Two hours?

Keep in mind that your business depends on this page and that is why you are getting it written.

When people read it they will make their purchase decision.

So you would like your content writer to spend ample amount of time while preparing your page.

You would want him or her to properly understand your business and your market and you would also want him or her to visit your competitors’ websites to check out how they express themselves.

To sound convincing you would want your content writer to properly understand your concept and its impact on the target audience.

After all this, you would want him or her to come up with convincing copy.

Do you actually want someone working on your business page who is desperate enough to provide a skill for just $5 per hour or worse $2.5 per hour?

How much time can that person actually devote to your content?

He or she will certainly devise ways to make up for the meager payment.

On the other hand if you pay standard rates (rates that enable your content writer to make contemporary income per hour) then you make sure that your content writer eagerly spends sufficient time on your project without having to worry about how to make up.

He or she doesn’t have to come up with “n” number of words in the given time.

He or she can actually focus on the quality of your content.

So what is the solution if you don’t have a big budget?

Quality always works better than quantity.

Well-written 10 articles are far better than poorly-written 100 articles.

The same goes for your web pages. If you don’t have budget for 20 pages just stick to 10 pages but get some writer who can really write them well.

And what if you also need SEO content?

Then you need to strike up a balance.

You can publish low-quality content in as much quantity as possible but also make provisions for well-written content that actually does business for you.

You need to balance between content that generates you search engine traffic and content that converts that traffic into paying customers and clients.