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.