Why you should outsource your content writing services needs

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Because I provide content writing services? Although this is a perfectly valid reason I am sure you’re going to look upon it with a tinge of cynicism and I can perfectly understand. It has to be some other, solid reason, the reason that affects you directly, or in the long run.

OK, let’s talk about this from your angle: why should you outsource your content writing services needs? You don’t write content as a profession, right? I mean, you might be providing IT services, real estate consulting services, dentistry, or selling a wide array of products and services, but you’re not offering content writing services (if you are, it would seem a bit awkward if I advised you to outsource your content writing and content marketing needs). Even if you can write quite well there is a big difference between “able to write well” and actually coming up with professionally written content that can fetch you business or increase your search engine rankings. This is more so difficult if you require repetitive content: you can either focus on your business or work on creating newer, fresh content for your website or blog.

Of course you can hire an in-house content writer and there is no problem in that. It’s just that, hiring an employee can increase your operational costs and it might be a bit difficult and sensitive to replace him or her in case he or she does not deliver. You might end up spending money on hiring the content writer, arranging space for him or her, availing resources like computer and software and furniture and then chucking him or her out and hiring another one in case things don’t work out.

Outsourcing your writing and content marketing job to an independent content writer (yours truly, for instance) is comparatively much cheaper and less risky, contrary to popular perception. You pay for only what you get. If you just need, say, 20 web pages written, there is no use hiring an in-house content writer or a copywriter. Even if you need regular content think how much you can save by not hiring an in-house content writer. You don’t need to pay the agency that sends the content writer to you. You don’t need to arrange separate computer and software. You are not using your office space or space at your home. You don’t need extra furniture to accommodate a new employee. You don’t need to worry about payroll and taxes. And you can easily replace your content writer in case you’re not happy with the content writer to whom you are currently outsourcing your content writing needs.

Above all, if you’re slightly careful about selecting your content writer you suddenly come across an experienced person who must have written for hundreds of clients prior to writing for you. Let us cut to the chase and talk about my content writing services. I have been providing professional content and copywriting services since 2003. You can easily imagine for how many clients I must have worked and on how many topics I must have written or worked with my writers. You cannot get this range of experience and exposure from a person whom you hire exclusively for yourself. I have been doing business on the Internet since early 2002 (I was providing web design and development services) so when you work with me you don’t just get writing services you also get the benefit of my experience and knowledge that I have gained throughout these years.

And I’m not saying that only I have this kind of advantage. There are many independent content writers earning a very decent living on the Internet through their websites, and in fact, many are quite good at attracting tons of traffic to their websites through their content.

So do outsource your content writing and content marketing needs whenever they arise because it makes business sense. But spend some time trying to find a good content writing service because otherwise — as it can happen with any other service — you may end up having a bad experience and this will leave a lasting negative experience upon your psyche and you will discourage others too from outsourcing services. I have seen this happening.

Multiply your conversion rate immediately with compelling headlines

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Your headline is the first thing a visitor sees when he or she lands on your website or blog. A headline is not just the title of your page. It is not something that you need in bold and enlarged typeface just because straightaway starting with a paragraph doesn’t seem good. A headline presents the most compelling reason to go through the following text.

You must be wondering sometimes why there is so much hype around creating headlines when they just seem like the titles of the articles or blog posts proceeding them?

You must have often come across the expression “screaming headlines”. What are they? These are the headlines that often make you pick up a newspaper (I know, I know, not many people these days pick up the newspaper) or a magazine from a news stand. The entire newspaper and tabloid industry survives or thrives (as long as it lasts) on the ability of the headlines to draw people towards them.

The same happens on your website or when people come across your link on search engine result pages, other websites, and social media and networking websites. It is your headline that draws people to the actual page. If the headline is not compelling enough they are not going to click the link.

So how do we create compelling headlines?

When you are walking through a local market you often come across signboards on top of the doors of the shops. Every shop tries to attract you through the signboard and the words present on it. They may simply mention the service or product they are offering. They may also highlight the most special offer they have got for you. If they are offering a discount or there is a sale going on there is 100% chance they will have a banner proclaiming the irresistible bargain of the day. They even sometimes have moving advertisements or banners and posters at various prominent locations from where they can be easily viewed. But mere words don’t attract you towards them. It is the offer that catches your eye.

The same psychology applies to your website or blog headlines. Whatever you are writing, draw from it the most exciting reason why people should go through your content and formulate the headline from that reason. For instance if you are going through this blog post you want to know how you can increase your conversion rate tremendously by creating compelling headlines. This may not sound like a very exciting headline but there are many people who are quite desperate to improve their conversion rates and they will definitely want to check what I am trying to say here even if they are not very much impressed.

Address the main pain point in your headline

When I look at your headline I should be immediately able to know what you’re trying to offer. Of course you cannot tell me everything in a single sentence but this will definitely want me to read further. Suppose I am suffering from an old backpain. If your headline goes something like — “this revolutionary technique will definitely cure your backpain no matter how old it is” — I am definitely going to read this. Similarly, if you are looking for an effective content writer “content writing service that actually boosts your sales” may catch your attention more compared to “best content writing services on the Internet”.

Include the most important keywords or key phrases in your headline

This works well both in terms of getting targeted search engine traffic and influencing your visitors in a positive manner. All major search engines take headlines very seriously; in fact for them they are so important that they use your headlines as anchor text when they show your link on the search engine result page. It has been established beyond doubt that there is a greater probability of search engine users clicking links that actually contain the search term they have just used. This shows them that your link contains information about the exact phrase you are looking for. So using your primary key words and key phrases within your headlines definitely increases your search engine rankings.

Using keywords within your headline also increases the overall conversion rate of your copy because people immediately want to read the finer text if the headline uses the same language that they have been using in order to arrive at your page.

Create buzz on social media and networking websites with your headlines

The social media and networking scene is similar to a crowded marketplace: everybody is shouting and there is lots of noise and jostling. Everybody you are following or befriending has interesting stuff to post and whatever you post may fast scroll down the timeline. If you create a headline that cannot be bypassed it increases your chances of getting more traffic from websites like Facebook and Twitter.

Considering the importance of headlines I often spend and ample amount of time trying to come up with headlines when I’m working for my clients. OK, I also try to create decent headlines when I’m writing for my own website.

With what frequency should you publish your blog

Benefits of publishing regularly

There are many benefits of publishing blog posts regularly:

You build keyword-rich content faster

The more you write the more keywords and key phrases you cover with your content. As you keep on adding new blog posts to your blog the search engines gather and organize your links and then rank them according to their keyword relevance. Blogging everyday is the fastest way of getting good search engine rankings.

Better social media and networking exposure

Social media and networking is about rampant activity. Something is always going on and everybody is vying for attention, whether organizations or individuals. Hence it is very easy to forget names and brands. If you post every day it gives new fodder to your followers and friends. You encourage them to reach out to you and share their opinion. You constantly engage them and give them a reason to visit your blog daily.

It establishes you as an expert and an authority

I don’t mean to say that if you publish everyday and even if you’re publishing trash you become an authority in your field — no it doesn’t work this way. But it helps if you’re content is of high-value and frequent. Visit Seth Godin’s blog and you will notice that he gives remarkable advise without missing even a single day. Although I haven’t personally checked it people say that he posts even on Christmas. He is known for his great advice and he is also known in the blogging world for not missing even a single day of posting. Besides, sharing knowledge makes you more knowledgeable too as each time you publish something related to your profession you need to study and come up with valuable, usable information.

Aside from these benefits, again, it depends on what you are trying to gain through your blog. More than frequency what matters is quality. Even if you publish one blog post every month make sure that it is high-quality because eventually that is what gets you recognition from people as well as search engines.

Communicating convincingly by writing a case study

What comes first, content writing or social media?

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Social media marketing these days in an integral part of business development: it is just a matter of who realize it and who don’t. Some online marketers even compare the indecision about investing in social media marketing to that initial phase when people were not sure whether they should get a telephone connection for their business or not.

But what exactly is social media marketing? It is constant interaction with your present and prospective customers and clients (on websites like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr) and not only your customers and clients but with all those people who are interested in your brand and your philosophy while not being interested in doing business with you. Why bother with people who don’t want to do business with you? Word-of-mouth marketing: they may not want to do business with you but they may know somebody who would and they would like to recommend you due to the level of familiarity you have sustained through your social media marketing effort.

Aside from regular interaction you need to post lots of content on social media and networking websites. It doesn’t do much good to your brand identity and reputation if you simply get content from other websites and blogs and keep posting it under your profile. Then you become just another user who simply wants to spend some time on Facebook and Twitter sharing “interesting stuff”. People begin to respect your opinion only when you have your own content on your website/blog. This is because expressing your thoughts and sharing your knowledge shows that you are confident and knowledgeable enough to articulate your opinions and experience openly and be open to scrutiny. This is how true interaction begins: you post links to your own content and then your friends and followers either forward that content to their own friends and followers or they expressive opinion.

So should you write content first or launch your social media campaign first? You can do one of them or you can do them together, simultaneously, it depends what approach you want to follow. My personal preference would be to maintain a balance. Both the activities take time and effort, and also expense, if you’re going to hire people to write your content and manage your social media profiles. Companies and individuals that build their presence based upon their opinions and knowledge need to have lots of content in order to have a solid social media presence. You also need content if you intend to spread awareness regarding your product or service. You don’t need content much if your audience is not the reading types.