Category Archives: Copywriting and Content Writing Tips

Taking up assignments that are not in my field

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Of late – for the past 5 odd months – I have been taking assignments that I haven’t mentioned on this website, for instance designing and developing websites and setting up content management systems such as Joomla and PHPNuke. These assignments are so not content writing. But they earn me some good money, some quick money. The amount of money that I make writing content for say, 5 projects, I can make the same amount with just one project of designing a website. You might wonder then why the hell do I write content instead of making websites?

I used to make websites a few years ago and in fact only those people approach me for web designing and development work who somehow know that I used to make websites. I wrapped up my web design and development business because my soul was not into it; I wanted to write. That is why I started providing content writing services to various clients. Back then I needed to heavily advertise using AdWords because very few people were looking for content writers and online copywriters. I don’t know why I never stopped learning the new web design and development techniques. So when people started creating CSS based layouts I also learned how to do that and when people started incorporating Ajax functionalities into their applications I also used them while working for one of my permanent clients. Maybe that is the reason; I have always been in touch with web design and development and I never work on a project half-heartedly even though my primary business is content writing.

There is another reason why I often get this work. When new clients approach me many times they are just starting a new website. So they ask me by any chance do I know a good web designer. I often reply that I don’t know any web designer but there are a few websites that I have designed and if they like those designs and if they are ready to pay what I am asking for maybe I can give it a try. This is how everything begins.

Especially these days I try to do as much work as I can because one is never sure of the prevalent economic conditions. Although I don’t prefer designing websites if they get me some good money in little time and I have to do something that I already know it becomes difficult for me to refuse. Does this mean I am ignoring my core business? I don’t know, maybe. On second thought, I think earning money and creating a backup is also essential for my content writing business. With enough money I don’t have to take up “desperate projects” and I can be choosy. I am still thinking about it.

My thoughts on SEO Content Writing

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Recently a client approached me with a requirement of hundred articles for his various products and he needed me to write a small sample to help him make up his mind. Generally I don’t send samples because there are enough samples on my website but sometimes the requirement is unique enough to warrant a sample and in such cases I don’t mind providing it. He liked the sample a lot and then asked me whether I could provide him SEO content. I told him that the sample article that I had sent him was in fact an optimized article and he should get some good traffic for the chosen keyword. He was quite amused and happy that I had sent him an “SEO article” even when he hadn’t asked for one.

Although elsewhere I have explained the difference between normal content and SEO content if you ask me, frankly every well-written article is a search engine optimized article. Still, there is some difference when the relevant keywords come in focus. Clients often ask for a percentage density for the keywords of their choice. For instance many clients want the density of the keywords to be around 3% to 4%; this means of the total number of words existing on a page the keyword should take up 3% to 4% of the total number. Does it matter?

Nobody is sure. What matters is the relevance. Using the right words you need to explain the right thing. For instance if I want to talk about SEO content and if I want people to find my page that talks about SEO content then I should use this phrase at least a few times on that page. This has to be done till the semantics used in search engine ranking algorithms become highly intelligent. They have already improved a lot but you still have to use the exact keywords. Here I would quickly like to add that sometimes when you are looking for a writer Google also shows the results that contain the word “writing”.

So how do you create SEO content?

  • Use the keywords: If you want to be found for a particular keyword then you have to use the keyword on the webpage but you shouldn’t overdo it because that proves counter-productive. Instead organize your content in such a manner that your important keywords get highlighted naturally.
  • Organize your content logically and highlight important portions: This is very important especially when you are writing for web pages. The reading on your webpage should be as seamless as possible. Highlight the most important portions of your content using headings, subheadings and bullets. Use your keywords in headings, subheadings and bullets. Repeat your important key phrases and keywords at least once or twice in the first paragraph and definitely include your keywords in the title of your page.
  • Stay away from creating abstract text: Being a writer I love literary experiments but not at the cost of my clients. When you are writing copy, SEO content, use precise phrases and use the exact words. Straightaway say what you mean to say and never leave scope for confusion. Why is it necessary to stay away from abstract style of writing? Straight writing is friendlier towards both your human readers and search engine crawlers; they can easily make out what you’re trying to sell and what you’re trying to promote.
  • Research your keywords: It is very important to know for what keywords you want a particular webpage or the entire website to be found on the search engines. For instance if I want my website to be found for the term online copywriter then I must optimize my content for this particular phrase. But then I need to be sure whether people looking for me use this expression or not; maybe they are using something totally different that I am not aware of. So I have to find the keywords and key phrases that are actually being used and shouldn’t optimize my content for the keywords that I think people must be using. In fact researching your keywords should be the first step you should take before starting to generate optimized content for your website or blog.