Mentioned below is the list of qualifications necessary to apply as a content writer:

Those seeking to apply for the said job opening, please send us an email with your bio, links to published works, if any, and additional references.

Online Website optimization is a great idea. This is done employing the various strategies of SEO, Website promotion, marketing and so on. However, there is yet another dimension to promotion that is often neglected; that is offline Website optimization. An inbound link, which is also referred to as a backlink, works wonders for directing more users to your Website.

If someone, who maintains a Website with a similar niche as yours, were to speak about your business on his or her own site, it would act as an effective inbound link or backlink to your Website. The more and better quality the backlinks to your site, the higher will Google rank you.

Getting Backlinks to Your Site

The above being understood, how do you go about building those backlinks to your Website? Mentioned here are some methods whereby you can create more inbound links towards your online business:

Content plays a great role in bringing more visitors to your site. Your Website content needs to be of very high quality and also relevant to your readers, in order to engage them and encourage them to visit you more often. Quality content also helps you attract more links to your site.

Listing your business in online directories also helps you build the number of backlinks to your site. This ensures that you are targeting the right kind of traffic towards your site. You could even join a link exchange program, whereby you link to other businesses, which in turn link back to you. Of course, you need to be careful to see to it that you are dealing with genuine, good quality directories.

The other method of building backlinks is to hire professionals who are trained for this and other aspects of SEO. Before you go ahead to hire any such professional, do some research and also interview them regarding their methods of working. Ensure that they use only Google-approved methods of link building, else you run the risk of being discredited by Google.

The above are some of the most basic methods to build your business using inbound links. Can you think of other tips to create more backlinks to your Website? Share your thoughts with us!

Image © seochallengers.com

What is SEO?

Wikipedia defines SEO or Search Engine Optimization as the “process of improving the visibility of a Website or a Web page in a search engine’s results”. Simply put, using SEO helps you improve the ranking of your Website, by listing it more prominently and more often in any search engine results.

While Wikipedia’s definition sounds very simple on paper, it is not actually so. SEO involves several stages and processes in order to work and show up desirable results for your Website. Let us now analyze the various factors influencing SEO.

The Process of Search Engine Optimization

Generally speaking, there are 3 main processes underlying the rules of SEO. They are as follows:

The first and most important aspect of optimizing your Website is researching a variety of keywords which come closest to your niche and then choosing the keyword which will best work for your Website. Neglecting this aspect can negatively affect your Website’s ranking in search engines.

To arrive at the right keyword, you need to research those that register the highest search values per month. Ideally, you should use a keyword with the lowest market saturation and also potentially brings you a good volume of searches.

The Google AdWords keyword research tool and similar other tools can help you find the right keyword for you. Make a list of all keywords matching your niche, find as many related keywords as possible and then make your final selection of keyword.

The next step is to optimize your Website, so that it prominently shows up in the initial search engine results. Users searching for a particular keyword will seldom look beyond the first two pages of search engine results, so your aim has to be to get a high ranking on search engines. Using keywords in the proper measure in the title, description, heading, URL and content, can vastly help you enhance your Website ranking.

We now go a bit more in detail with optimizing your Website:

1. Title and Description Tags

The title of your Website, along with its description, shows up both in the top of the browser window as well as search engine results. This helps build your Website’s CTR or Click-Through Rate.

2. Headings and Labels

The heading and label tag are other important aspects of optimization. They are the ones that indicate the exact nature of the Website content to search engines, helping the latter list your site in the proper category.

3. Embedded and Internal Links

Placing embedded links to other pages within your content significantly increases the ranking of those other pages as well. Placing internal links within the body of your article also helps perform the same function.

4. Sitemaps

Sitemaps are files primarily meant for search engines, so that they can easily find and list your Website’s pages and content.

Yet another very important aspect of SEO is link building. This step comes after you are done optimizing your Website as mentioned above. Link building is done by way of building what are referred to as “backlinks” to your Website. Backlinks are basically links from other sites, directing to your own Website. The more backlinks you build, the higher your Website will rank.

Backlinking can be done via commenting in other blogs, guest posting on other blogs, exchanging links with other similar Websites and so on.

Used in the right measure and taking care not to overuse the above-mentioned steps, SEO can prove to be very effective in enhancing your Website’s ranking in the eyes of the major search engines.

Image © Arvixe.com

Here is a how-to on creating catchy content on your Website.

Make it Short

Ideally, your content, be it articles or blogs, should be short, crisp and concise. Take care to offer information that is well-researched and worded in the most effective way possible.

Use Keywords

Keywords, when used right, can immensely benefit your Website, bringing you many more readers. Keywords should be used in a way that is natural and moves with the flow of the article. Ideally, keywords should be used in the article title; and also in the first and last paragraphs. The ideal keyword density is about 2-4%. Take care not to overuse keywords, as it can prove to be counterproductive for you.

Know Your Niche

Keep your niche and your audience in mind, while developing content for your Website. Provide quality information on your niche, so that your audience looks up to you as an expert on the subject. Judge your content taking the perspective of your reader. If you like what you see, your readers also will.

Tone of the Content

Keep the general tone of your content casual, while also using simple, understandable language. Break up the content into short paragraphs, thereby making it easy for your reader to get a clear grasp of the written material. Also use bullets, numbers and checklists wherever applicable.

Be Consistent

Regularly update your Website and see to it that your newsletters reach your readers on time. Also, maintain uniform style and formatting of your content, so that it appeals to your readers’ eyes.

Error-Free Content

Make sure to check your article for spelling, grammatical and syntactical errors, before publishing it on your Website. A badly worded article, with several such errors, will never appeal to readers. Hence, thoroughly proofread your work before posting it online.

Keep it Novel

Always try to offer something novel to your reader – some piece of information that they may not be able to find elsewhere. Study other Websites with a similar niche and give a different twist to each piece of content you present before your audience. This will keep them coming back for more such interesting information.

Use Visitor Analytics

Keep track of the visitors coming to your Website and make a detailed record of the pages that are most popular with them. This will give you a good idea on developing future content that most appeals to your readers.

Hiring Writers

Do you have ideas but do not know how exactly to put them in writing? You have the option of hiring freelance writers to manage your Website content. Register as a client on freelance writing sites and post your requirements therein. Go through each potential writer’s profiles and writing samples, before hiring a writer of your choice.

There are two ways you can add content to your Website. One is by writing articles and the other, by posting blogs. Most people use these terms interchangeably, but in actuality, this is not so. While both mediums can be used to add content to your site, articles and blogs differ from each other and are used in different ways, to serve different purposes as well.

In this post, we discuss articles and blogs, letting you know how to differentiate between them.

1. Length of Content

First and foremost, articles tend to be very long and can range anywhere between 500 and 1500 words; sometimes even more.

As against that, blogs are usually much shorter, ranging between just 200 and 500 words.

2. Content Construction

Articles are information-based and educative in nature. Hence, they need to be very clear and to-the-point. Also, articles use formal language and proper sentence construction and syntax, adhering to all the rules of grammar.

Blogs, on the other hand, are a medium to attract the attention of the casual reader. Hence, the language used here is largely informal. Also, blogs are a lot chattier than articles.

3. Use of the First Person

Articles should ideally not include first person accounts. Using the term “I” automatically makes it sound like the writer’s opinion, and so, the article loses its objective approach.

Blogs are there to provide a personal viewpoint and hence, the blogger is at liberty to use the first person at will.

4. Frequency of Updation

While it is always advisable to regularly update your site, articles and blogs included, blogs technically need to be updated more often in order to engage readers’ attention.

Using Both Articles and Blogs

Some Websites use both the above mediums in order to enhance their content. That strategy proves doubly beneficial to the marketer to promote his or her business online. While articles establish you as an expert in your field by providing quality information, your blogs help you reach a vast segment of readers looking for more information on your niche. This way, you can use blogs to act as a promotional tool for your main Website.

Articles or Blogs?

No matter which medium or mediums you choose to promote your business Website, make sure to follow all rules of content that each medium stipulates. If you intend to write articles, make them formal, information and very serious.

You can add a few frills to your blogs, making them sound cheerful, adding that extra personal touch to them.

Provided that you approach it in the right way, both articles and blogs will help you add great content to your Website, pulling in more readers and also enhancing your own status on the Web.

Image © myfloridacfo.com

Mentioned here are some useful Web writing tips for amateur writers:

Keywords are Your Key to Success

Using the right keywords is the very first step towards your success as an online writer. Readers use keywords to search the Internet for information on the topic of their choice. Choosing the proper keyword, hence, will easily let them find your article on the Web. Make sure to use your keyword with care. Never overuse them in your article and incorporate it in a way as to sound natural and “with the flow”.

Ideal Article Length

Your article should ideally be about 600-800 words long. Extremely long articles make readers restless and lose interest in what you have to say. Articles that are too short, on the other hand, may fail to create the necessary impact on the reader’s mind.

Format Your Article

Never pen down never-ending sentences or huge paragraphs or content. Instead, break up your article into smaller paragraphs, using shorter sentences and simple language. Also use bulleted lists wherever possible, so that the readers can get a better understanding of the written material. Also use sub-headings, especially while working on a list-format article.

Clearly Articulate Your Ideas

Your article should be clear and lucid, in order to make an impression on the minds of your readers. Remember, your readers are trying to find an answer to their question, so make your content lucid and to-the-point. See that it is informative and educative for your readers. Also, while it is okay to use the first person in a blog, it is always better to avoid doing that while writing an article for the Web.

No Superlatives Please!

While it is advisable never to use unnecessary adjectives and adverbs in your article, the use of superlatives is a strict no-no. Using too many adjectives such as “great”, “awesome” and so on, will end up reflecting only your opinion of the same. Readers, hence, will not trust this as factual information. In case you need to create a list of the “best” or “top” products or services, do so in a serious, professional manner; only as a method to reach the right information to your readers.

Proofread for Error-Free Work

Always proofread your article at least once before you publish it online. This process lets you identify spelling, grammatical and syntax errors, which you may have missed at the time of writing your article. An error-free article will always encourage your reader to browse the entire article.

Submit Original Content

Always submit original content – doing this helps you prevent the plagiarism issue. Also, use a plagiarism detector to identify accidental use of the same words or phrases as some other Website. In case you need to insert a quote or statistic into your article, always cite your sources. While using images, give an image courtesy from the Website you pick it up.

Evergreen vs. Dated Content

Evergreen content is that which is valid at all times, while dated content applies only for a limited timeframe. Submitting more evergreen content will be more advantageous for you, as it continues to perform well for many years at a stretch. Hence, use dated content only if it is absolutely necessary to do so and also mention the date when this was created by you, so that readers do not complain about outdated content on your Website.

Create a Backup

It is advisable to keep a backup of all your written material. This helps you restore your Website or blog in case something goes wrong with it. Make a folder of your articles and store them either on your PC, on a removable hard disc or on the cloud. You have several storage options today, so choose the one that best suits your needs.

Follow the above-mentioned guidelines and you are sure to become successful in writing for the Web. Wish you all the best in your venture.

Need more guidance on writing for the Web? Participate in the About Writelancing Forum and do feel free to contact me.

Here is a how-to on crafting writing samples for freelance writing gigs:

How to Make a Great First Impression with Your Article

Attract More Readers with Your Writing Style

FAQ on Choosing the Right Blog Niche

Questions to Ask a Client before Accepting a Ghostwriting Project

How to Succeed as a Freelance Ghostwriter

How to Write with Vision

A well-written writing sample will immediately attract a potential client’s attention, substantially raising your chances of landing the freelance writing job. Follow all the above-mentioned steps and you will be well on your way to improving your sample-writing skills.

Here is a how-to section on finding follow-on work for ghostwriters:

1. Create a Resume

Firstly, create a nice resume, giving all details of your past work. Neatly organize your bio and add details about all your important projects, past clients’ recommendations and so on. Also add samples of your past work for your potential clients to peruse. Ideally, also create a Website or blog to showcase your work. This will give you even more credibility as a writer.

• Tips and Templates to Write Faster and Better
2. Develop a Network

Reach out to people in your field and actively involve yourself with events taking place in the writing community. Attend events and symposiums on writing; both online and offline. Take part in writers’ forums and contests. Build your contacts and include both fellow writers and potential clients in that list. Befriending fellow writers would be beneficial for all of you, as you could take on their extra work or even do some sub-contract work for them. That would also bring in more income for you.

• Ways Writers can Effectively Use Social Media
3. Get Recommended

Try and get as many client recommendations as possible, so that you can use them for finding more clients in the future. Potential clients will always be impressed by your number of client referrals. Remember, recommendations will get you a long way in finding you more work.

• Questions to Ask a Client before Accepting a Ghostwriting Project
4. Stick with Your Niche

While ghostwriting trains you to write on many and varied subjects, it also pays to stick to your preferred niche. If you are most comfortable writing about cookery and different types of cuisine, for instance, try and find clients looking for writers in that field. Writing on something that is already a passion with you will automatically enable you give your best each time, thereby helping you get the attention you deserve.

• FAQ on Choosing the Right Blog Niche
5. Register as a Freelance Writer

There are many good freelance sites and online resources out there. Go through all the major Websites, such as Freelancer.com, Elance.com, Guru.com, Craiglist and so on, and register your profile on them. Respond to the job listings that appeal to you and you are bound to find work soon enough.

• Latest Freelance Writing Jobs
6. Market Yourself

Many successful freelance writers have got to where they are, by marketing themselves and their craft. Freelance writing includes a lot more than merely writing and submitting the project to a client – it also involves actively promoting yourself and your work. In fact, ghostwriters need to spend an equal amount of time writing and promoting themselves online. You could additionally registering your profile on low-cost Websites such as WritersMarket.com and Mediabistro.com. These services help you showcase your work and promote yourself, thereby helping you to widen your reach within the community.

Follow all the above-mentioned steps and you are bound to find follow-on ghostwriting work easily enough.

What do you think of this article? Can you think of some other tips to find additional work as a freelance writer? Do share your thoughts with us!

Forum Discussion:

Ghostwriting – Is it Really Helpful?

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