When writing motivation is not there, writing articles can sometimes be a laborious task you avoid. If inspiration has not pulled up next to you as you sit down and write, facing a blank screen seems like a chore.

When you are a web owner or a freelance writer, creating web content is going to be a part of your life. You may write articles for your blog, guest posts, content sites, or magazines, or clients. You may also write using other various article marketing tactics.

What are some ways to succeed with article writing?

Here are some tips from others…

1. Article Writing Tips For A Conversion Boost…

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Yes, it’s true that a huge number of people make a lot of cash from article writing, but the good news is that you can discover this knowledge for yourself and begin to do the same. It’s like article marketing is the best kept secret …

2. Article Writing – Solid Tips To make use of Straight away | News blog

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If you’re looking for the highest quality traffic, few things can beat article marketing in that arena. But, the potential downside is that if you produce poorly written articles, then your efforts will largely be in vain. It’s a fact, though, …

3. Article Writing Tips to Help You Succeed | Lisa Mason

writerlisamason.com1/17/12

If you are an article writer, you probably already know that there are many other people out there trying to do the very same thing that you are doing. If you want to have success on your own, you need to know some tips and …

4. Article Writing Tips: SEO Basics

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Mastering SEO or search engine optimization is one of the key article writing tips you can learn. When you write for the web, you have to meet the challenge.

5. Article Writing Done the Right Way – JunkLife.net

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Is the article writer inside you aching to be set free? But maybe you’ve been churning out articles but no one seems to like what you write? This article really can help you a lot because it contains three already-proven article …

6. 3 Reliable Article Writing Tips For Greater Reader Satisfaction | Tax …

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3 Reliable Article Writing Tips For Greater Reader Satisfaction. Most online marketers do not bring great article writing skills to the table, and that can prove to be a stumbling block for many. But at the same time it can work out really well if you …

7. 3 Article Writing Tips To Remember …

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If you understand how to go about it, article writing can be immensely enjoyable and you can make money with it, too. In this article we will be sharing a few effective tips that will make it …

8. Article Writing Tips That Are Easy, Fast, and Effective »

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Any knowledgeable online marketer knows that top quality articles can yield targeted traffic for years to come. So please move forward and learn the following…

9. 3 Article Writing Tips You Should Remember | Blogging Fresh …

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Article writing is like many other things, if you know what you’re doing and are competent, then it can be fun and provide a lot of satisfaction. So continue reading to learn about some effective and proven writing tips for your …

10. Excellent Writing Tips from Successful Authors | Writing Tips | Writing …

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Today’s writing tips are a collection of quotes from some of the world’s most successful writers. Get inspired!

One thing that you can count on when it comes to Internet marketing is that you will soon have quite a stack of original, already researched material on your hard drive.  The great thing about this material is that, with a little effort, you can rework it into something that can bring even more traffic to your business.  As you know, traffic leads to conversions and conversions lead to sales.

What I am talking about is not just another form of article marketing.  Not only am I not encouraging that, but I never would.  I think most modern article marketing is little more than a scam designed to separate hard-working people from their money.  That’s because you’re never going to get anywhere marketing poor material to even poorer sites.  What I cannot understand is why there are still people out there claiming this works.

When I say “repurpose existing content,” I mean writing and rewriting quality articles based on material you have already developed, then sending those items to reputable sites that will appreciate your work.  When done correctly, this will build your reputation on Google and help you sell more organs, tissue box covers, Cuisinartcoffeemakers, or anything else you’re trying to market.

How to Grow With What You Know

Here’s a question that you should be able to answer off the top of your head:  what is the most hit upon pages of your website?  In other words, which page has had the greatest number of visitors, most time spent on it and the lowest bounce rate?  If you don’t know, you can find out with Google Analytics.

Next question:  how long did it take you to create it?

Chances are, you spent around three times as much time on the research and outline as you did the writing.  Sure, you may be able to drop the research time some as you learn more about the topic, but you will still spend the lion’s share of your time on R & D (research and development).

But in the end, all you have a one good, high quality article.

Now, consider what would happen if you took the same information and outline and wrote another article from it, or two, or twenty.  What if you then took these articles and put them up on your site, or someone else’s, taking care to make sure that there was anchor text to draw your reader’s attention back to you.

My First Tenfold Gain

As I’ve already said, I really hate article marketing schemes.  In fact, it’s gotten to the point where I kind of have an obsession with stomping them out.  It irks me to see so many people who are new to internet marketing get started on the wrong foot by those who are only interested in lining their own pockets by selling books and CDs on the subject.  Thus, I decided to channel my hatred into a serious article on how and why people should avoid this questionable practice.

It took me about three hours to put together the information I needed to produce a 3,700 word outline.  This included time spent online and with books, not to mention jotting down notes from my own experiences.

Using this detailed outline, I wrote one long (3,700 word) article and one shorter one (about 1,900 words).  While both warned about the dangers of article marketing, they were sufficiently different that no one would call them identical.  Next, I posted the articles on two sites that I and others speak well of and that take guest material:  ComLuv.com and FamousBloggers.net.

As a result of this adventure in repurposing, I generated new exposure for my site while gaining more serious brand awareness.  I should mention here that much of the exposure was thanks to re-tweets. Another exciting result was that ABC Affiliate interviewed me on their podcast, which was later rebroadcast on Geekcast.FM.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that so far I had written two articles that led to two podcasts.  Since I felt there was still more that could be done, I hired to another writer to write 3 more articles based on my first outline.  I posted these to three other high quality websites.  Then I persuaded ABC Affiliate to led me rebroadcast the interview on my own show, Coffee Talk.

Making your content good to the last drop

To summarize, once you’ve gone to the time and trouble to write the best articles you can, consider the value of rewriting it a few more times for to increase its value.  Note:  this is not spinning, its new content.  And you’re not going to send it out to just anyone.  You’re only going to focus on sites with at least a PR3 rating.

Consider this as you way the value of this particular SEO technique against that of article spinning:  just one backlink from a major, respectable PR3 site is as good as a thousand links from lower value content farms.  Furthermore, if you aren’t careful, you could actually hurt your site’s value by having your name associated with lower value sites.

While it’s true that reworking content takes some time, you’ll be grateful when you see the positive effects it has on your site.  Before you know it you sales of dishwasher, rags rugs, Cuisinart 4 slicetoasters or whatever you are marketing will go through the roof.

Fiverr.com (Image via CrunchBase)

Getting new clients for your freelance writing business is a never-ending task; you have to constantly market yourself.  As you become an established freelance writer, new clients will find you via word of mouth.  However, in the beginning, you may have to use your creative skills and tap into different marketing sources.  Sometimes, this means, you will have to lower your rates.

I know it seems to be a contradiction in my last blog post about writing for slave wages.  However, if you are strategic in your methods and your name is attached to your writing, writing for less money is not a bad option.  This is especially true for those writers with a short client list.

One of the ways to do this is with Fiverr.com.  What?  Write an article for $5?!?  I know this seems like slave wage, but if you do it the right way, you may make a little extra cash, establish yourself as a writer, and pick up a few clients.  Freelance Writer, Jennn Fusion did this exact thing.  She is not the only one.  Other freelance writers make $1000-$2000 month doing gigs on Fiverr.  If you write on a topic that doesn’t require a lot of research, this won’t be a difficult job.

Offer Just Enough for a Taste of Your Writing

I am not suggesting that you use Fiverr as your only source for finding clients.  Truthfully, most of the users of Fiverr.com don’t have a large budget, which is why they are shopping on Fiverr.  However, other people may go there as a way to “test the waters” before they hire a freelance writer.  You never know who is lurking around Fiverr, so always put in your best effort.  I have landed a few clients from Fiverr.com by placing a few select gigs on the site.

Be clear in your gig.  If you will only write up to 300 words, state that. If you want them to contact you ahead of time to review the article topic first – put that in your gig.

By setting up an easy gig with a lower word count, you can give buyers a taste of your writing.  After you complete a gig, include a small note telling them about your “premium services.”  Fiverr does not allow you to provide contact information.  To get around this, be sure and have a link to your freelance website in your bio.  If they really like your services, they will find you.

Do you work for less than minimum wage as a writer?  I still can’t believe how cheap people will work for writing.  iWriter is the newest slave labor writing website.   This is my rant of the quarter.  I don’t rant often and try to be inspiring, but COME ON!

Article marketing and content is in such demand that it drives prices down for all the new webmasters to jump on board.  I hate to say it, but the world of Internet marketing makes it seem like all you have to do to make a lot of money is put up a website, a few generic articles – and the riches will be coming in.  With all the auto-this and auto-that, it is like no one wants to work at building a real business.  It is maddening to me.

Here is how you get paid on iWriter.

Question: How much do writers get paid?
Answer: Writers get paid 81% of the price of each article. Paypal takes the rest in transaction fees, as well as Copyscape quality checks to ensure the article is unique. This leaves a profit of $1.62 for a 300 word article, $2.43 for a 500 word article and $4.05 for 700 word article for the writer. If you receive a “special request” from a requester you receive another 5% (i.e. 86%) earnings per article, which equates to $3.01 for a 500 word article.

Gee, thanks.  $3.01?  Really?  Really?  Who can possibly live off that? And that’s with a “special request”?  Even an average, no research involved, generic 500 word article takes 30 minutes to write. Or more.  Let’s do the math.

First, here is what you get per word for those who like to compare par per word rates.

 300 word article =$0.0054 a word.

500 word article – $0.006 a word.

700 word article = $0.0057 a word.

If you drone away and write 10 articles a day (no thanks!), you will (if you are “special”) make all of $30.10.  At 30 minutes an article, non stop, that is 5 hours of work.

5 hours @ $30.10 = $6 an hour!  That is less than minimum wage in the United States.  Plus, a LOT more brain power.  I can do a  mind-numbing job for more than that! Plus, get benefits.  Self-employed, or freelancers, need their OWN computer they pay for, health insurance, etc.

5 hours @ $24.30 = $4.86 an hour

Is that what your time is worth?

You are better off putting those hours into something like marketing yourself to businesses that understand the value of good content.  Or your own website.  Or selling hamburgers and french fries.

And this is assuming you could even get 10 articles a day of work – day after day.  This is assuming you work non-stop.  This is BILLABLE hours.  You don’t get paid for breaks.  A whole 5 days of this and you will pulling your hair out.

Math recap:

5 hours a day. 10 articles a day. 5 days a week.  25 hours a week.  For $121.50 – $150.50. 

And those buying these articles: either you are getting a) really poorly written articles from a non-native English speaker or b) a decent writer who have succumbed to slave labor.

There are times working for cheap, or even free, are beneficial (i.e. guest posts with a byline) or to get your foot in the door of a high traffic and highly respected publication.   But when are just churning out article after article for others to make money from, and you get zero credit and a measly $2.43!!! It is sickening to me.

This motivates me to work harder on my book, Calling All Freelance Writers.  Writers need to know that this is NO way to make a living.  Instead of spending 4-5 hours a day pumping out boring, generic articles for a whole $30, there are much better ways to make money writing, which will be a part of my book’s message.

I am done.  Soap box. Off.

I would LOVE to hear comments on this one.

Related articles

• Hiring a Writer – You Get What You Pay For (freelancewritingprofessional.com)
• Writers are Happy Getting Paid $.88 an Article! (inspiredtowrite.com)
• Getting the “Good” Writing Assignments (inspiredtowrite.com)

Image via CrunchBase

I have had a love-hate relationship with Suite 101. Since it is the first place I began my online freelance writing career back in 2008, I guess I have never completely given up on the roller coaster relationship.  I took a hiatus at the end of 2009, but that was more for personal reasons.

I have seen so many changes with the site (mostly good), that I am quite impressed with their tenacity.  After the Google Panda debacle, they made more changes.  Again.

One of the big changes is to give all writers their own subdomain.  So, for example, my profile and all my Suite 101 articles now fall under julie-mcelroy.suite101.com.  This is good and bad in my opinion.  The bad news is now writers lost that PR 7 link juice that came from the main domain.  It is like starting over to build up your online reputation in the search engines eyes.

The good news is is separates the good writers from the spam and poor writers.  This is the intent of Suite – to not punish the entire site for a few bad apples, but reward individual authors. It all gets your name out there in the search engines (which could be good or bad depending on how you feel about your name on the Internet).

Many people on Suite 101 are claiming their Page Views and income has gone up since this subdomain change occurred.  I have not seen this yet, I think it is too early to tell.  However, I have seen a slight increase in my revenue since pre-Panda.  But that is also due to that fact that on September 1st, I became a Feature Writer, which includes a revenue bonus.

Overall, I have seen that Suite 101 is starting to slowing creep back up in traffic, but mainly in the last month.

It is too early to say what is going to happen. However, Suite has been around since 1997 and I don’t see them throwing in the towel anytime soon, despite what Matt Cutts thinks about them.

Should You Write for Suite 101?

Well, that depends on your goals.  I would say, don’t use it as your only place for writing.  If you want to take your career as a freelance writer to a more professional level, seek out other options.  If you don’t care about making a lot of money and just want to publish online, Suite 101 is one of the better options.  The community is helpful and they are more partiuclar than some sites I see.

In Google’s eyes, it is a “content farm,” but I disagree.  First of all, not anyone can write for Suite.  You have to apply with a sample of your writing. Not everyone gets accepted, so I don’t consider it a place for spammers.  Back in 2008, I was accepted as a writer there.  I imagine now, they are even more particular in who they accept.

They also have editors and now topic editors.  I guarantee any spammy, overly promotional, affiliate link filled article will get rejected.  So while it does have a lot of content from various niches, the content is regulated to keep the spam out.

Overall, there are possibilities at least to get your foot in the door as a writer.  But don’t expect riches or even enough for a car payment for quite awhile.  It is a way to get clips and exposure as long as your articles are of high quality and helpful to online readers.  You first have to get past the application process.

Some writers would argue that you should not get your start with a content farm, but I guess it depends on your definition. I happen to disagree with Google.  But, that is just me.

There’s a ton of information out there about marketing for the Internet and when you’re just starting out, it can be overwhelming. Just what do you believe? Currently, there’s also controversy over the effectiveness of articles targeted for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes.

Has article marketing gone the way of the dinosaurs? This is one point of view, and the other side states that when Google’s update (called Farmer) came onto the scene recently, that it made no difference to their marketing strategy. In fact, some marketers get lots of traffic from their backlinks, and they may feel that the naysayers are still doing it the wrong way.

Because many marketers on both sides of the hurdle are successful — this makes the issue terribly confusing at times. How can you believe anyone when they both claim that in their experience, either article marketing is the golden boy of the Internet, or dead and buried?

Millions of people depend on marketing articles for their livelihood, so this is a really big deal. Should you get rid of the concept, or should you perhaps make a few changes and march forward with this type of marketing strategy? You may think to just ignore the controversy regarding article marketing and keep on at it — the way you always have. There are many different ways to market your golf clubs for ladies, so here’s what each side of the fence is saying.

Article Marketing Is Dead And Buried

Even a few Internet marketers who’ve been successful, are talking about the fact that they believe article marketing is gone for good. They’ve even put this point of view on their blogs. They believe that Google’s Farmer update wiped it out, never to return. One member of Google’s search quality group says that Google doesn’t like article marketing very much.

The so-called usual method of doing article marketing, is to churn out many articles and then submit them to different article directories. Theoretically high-traffic directories will get you readers and backlinks, and this is supposed to raise your page to the forefront in Google’s search engine results.

Another purpose of these directories is to get your articles republished as much as possible and ergo, this will help you direct traffic and provide more diverse backlinks. If these types of links are from high-quality sites then this is supposed to help Google find your site when it searches. The trouble is, you don’t have any control over republishing of your articles.

What happens when a site with zero traffic republishes your article? Nothing. If you get 10 junky sites republishing articles, then it’s still zero. The naysayers on article marketing blame this Google Farmer update and its targeting of lower quality or duplicated content sites. These doubters claim that this means doom for article directories because of several reasons.

A lot of the time, article directories publish pieces that are low quality. Ezinearticles.com has really tightened up their editorial guidelines regarding length (the body has to be a minimum of 400 words), grammar, punctuation, material relevant to the title, and usefulness to the reader. Some of articles which you may check out, still ramble on and on without saying anything at all.

The naysayers put forth the argument that the concept of article marketing means you need many hundreds of articles on directories in order to get any kind of results. It’s of great difficulty to produce that many quality articles for your niche. Google is trying very hard to get rid of content that is of low quality, but the directories are full of it still.

Many marketers of articles seem to take the approach of throwing out their words like birdseed. In other words, they will submit numerous spun articles on the same subject, and spread them out across hundreds of directories. If software has produced these articles and they have not been checked for grammar and synonyms, then the results are often extremely humorous as well as being awkward. It’s not good to make readers laugh, unintentionally that is.  A software program will never approach the true creativity of a real writer.

The Farmer update was focused on this type of duplicate content and they did not consider these articles and backlinks of quality enough for their searches. Google doesn’t believe that tens of thousands of webmasters will be linking back to your site, when they have the very same anchor text.

The naysayers regarding article marketing state that article directories aren’t in SERP results as often as they used to be. Check it out yourself. Article directories aren’t getting ranked as high or as much traffic as they used to. The anti-article marketing folks dread more shakeups on the horizon. They also believe that Google is the croupier, and article marketing is gaming. The house always has an advantage.

Article Marketing Is Thriving

There is plenty of proof out there that people remain high on article marketing and get great results, even with that self same shotgun approach of scattering hundreds and hundreds of articles onto directories and sites. This method may have taken a hit, but it’s not down.

Whenever you hit up old Google with the web search, ezinearticles.com is still shown in top results a lot of the time. It might be down a bit, but it’s still there. If you provide excellent articles, which are SEO’d correctly, then they will show up in a Google search. It’s moderately easy to get your article on the first page of results, which is everyone’s goal.

Ezinearticles.com, because they did update their editorial requirements, have become much stricter. You may have encountered this when you’ve submitted articles to them recently. They appear to want to stay on top and are doing their best to remain there. Results are not known with other article directories, and they are numerous so have to be checked individually.

Article marketing proponents say there’s a very easy way to get through this current storm of controversy. Make sure that any article you or someone else has produced for you, is of the very highest quality. Write longer articles, and two or three times longer than the minimum of 400 words is better. Make the articles unique and full of vital information to the reader. Traffic will come to you no matter where you put your articles.

Google is always searching and changing up its parameters in order to find the best quality content. If you submit that, you should be okay. Article marketers have welcomed updates because they say it cuts out the rubbish that is out there on the web. Great articles are always left intact and well ranked.

Those who come out on the positive side for article marketing, point out that Google is not the be-all and end-all of search engines. Factoring in that articles are written for people to read and if you always make sure that that is in the forefront of your writing, then Google’s changes won’t affect you. If people read your articles and find them of interest, then they’ll visit your site.  Plain and simple.

The people who are for article marketing say that the penalty for duplicate content is just a myth. It’s not true there’s a penalty for duplicate text, or that it won’t show up in search engines. Google does its best to filter out duplicate content, but many marketers will get results even with software used to spin their articles, and then putting them out on the web everywhere possible.

Ponder These Points

Are you totally confused? Now you feel like I do a lot of the time. It’s urgent that people who rely on article marketing figure out this mess. Whatever the future holds, there are a few pointers that you should consider. Don’t put your eggs or articles into one basket. Google’s update was an alarm call for many of us. Savvy marketers don’t rely on one way of article marketing. Diversify, and then diversify even more.

Article marketing isn’t simply article directory marketing. There are many more avenues for articles out there, and more appear every day. Try submitting superior articles to authority sites within your niche. Try the ones with a higher page ranking. If you get even a single backlink from such a site, then that’s worth far more than over 100 articles on a junk or poor quality directory.

Always keep quality in mind when you write articles, or have them written for you. It’s worth the extra money if you’re hiring a writer to provide quality and unique material for your articles or website, or blog. When you use a writer whose native language is your own, or a writer for another language in which you want to publish it, then articles provided by that same writer are superior to any others.

If the article is in English, and the person reading the article has English as their native language, then they will certainly be able to tell the difference between an article written by a software program, or someone not well versed in that particular language. Whether you think that article marketing is dead or alive, it’s really up to you and depends on your own personal method of marketing your articles.

HubPages Submission Requirements

The article was rejected because it had a link to my Internet Marketing blog.  My blog.  Not a sales page, not a spammy site, not an affiliate link, not a get rich quick course.  My blog.

Why?   Essentially, if you have an opt-in anywhere on your site or you offer eBooks – a link to that site is not allowed on HubPages.  Even if you are trying to be helpful, you can not direct anyone to your site if it has an “email capture” form.

No where on my blog are you forced to opt-in.  When one opts-in, it is a voluntary decision.  If they want to opt-out, it is a voluntary decision.

Beware of the Big Ol’ Bad Internet Marketers

My take is that Internet marketing has such a bad rap in many of these content farms eyes, that they simply reject anything that has to do with it.  There are so many websites that offer free eBooks in exchange for an email.  It is a marketing technique that goes way back before the whole “Internet marketing” took off.  It actually is a form of well -  Internet marketing.

I have noticed that the submission guidelines for these sites have become a little paranoid since they were effected by Google Panda.  They have ridiculous expectations and editing requirements.  They expect this for a couple dollars a month! I could understand the strict guidelines if I was getting paid a decent amount.  But you are basically submitting these articles with little to no monetary reward.

Which I think is irony.

You don’t get PAID unless someone clicks on an ad on their site!  They want articles that will attract ad clicks, yet anything even slightly promotional is prohibited.

The bottom line is, create your own blogs and websites where no one is OVERREGULATING what you write.  Stick to quality content.

For those who write for content farms, I would love to hear your experiences since the Google Panda updates.

Related articles

• The Attack of the Killer Google Panda (inspiredtowrite.com)
• HubPages Adds Subdomains, Claims Google Panda Recovery, But… (searchenginewatch.com)
• Site Claims to Loosen Google “Death Grip” (blogs.wsj.com)
• Subdomains: Hubpages Way Out Of Google Panda Purgatory? (seroundtable.com)

Author’s Bio: 

Simon is a computer wizard working in the accounting profession. His passion for writing comes from his lifelong love of reading. He writes on a variety of subjects on article sites such as HubPages and his blog,  Earn Money by Writing, which is dedicated to helping amateur writers discover ways of earning with online articles and assist them in the nuances of creating decent articles.

Long-Tail Keywords?

The recent Google algorithm has forced amateur writers on the web to delve into the sordid world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO); while there are dozens of decent techniques that will help your articles rank well, one simple technique will have a very good effect, and that is the long tail.

What is a long tail?

Ornithologists out there will be wondering what a duck has to do with article writing; the long tailed duck stands out from other ducks simply because it does have a long tail, and that is exactly what you are aiming for – articles with headings that stand out in search engine results.

In SEO terms, the long tail is a series of words (usually 3 or more) made from quality keywords. The long tail is formed into a sentence or question with the aim to create a phrase that readers will type into a search engine.

As an example, if you were creating an article about the long tail duck, you would use the three words in a phrase such as “What does a long tail duck look like?” or “Where do long tail ducks live?”

Creating a Good Long Tail Heading or Long Tail Phrase

Simply creating a long tail phrase or heading is only half the battle; as you do with keywords you have to research traffic and competition levels using tools like Google’s Keyword Tool.

As I created this article I began doing research with the keyword, “long tail.” Doing some research on this and other headings my results were:

• A discussion on how to create a good long tail heading: monthly searches: 0, competition: low.
• The long tail: monthly searches: 14800, competition: low
• Long tail heading: monthly searches: 0; competition: low
• Long tail phrase: monthly searches: 170; competition: low
• Long tail keywords: monthly searches: 6600; competition: fairly low
• What is a long tail: monthly searches: 2400; competition: low
• How do I use a long tail: monthly searches: 0, competition: low
• Long tail keywords: monthly searches: 3600, competition: low
• Long tail: monthly searches: 110000, competition: low

As you can see the word ‘Long Tail’ has the best results. The next step is to actually research what happens when you search for the above phrases. Searching for the phrase ‘Long Tail’ I get over 20,000,000 websites – I noticed that none of these sites are specifically called ‘Long Tail’ but have this mini-phrases within their title – so simply putting ‘Long Tail’ will not specifically get a reader to your site.

Researching the above, I finally settled on the title “The long tail: how to use long tail keywords to improve article ranking”. It uses the mini-phrases ‘long tail’ and ‘long tail keywords’ and therefore will take advantage of the monthly searches and competition levels for both of these.

How do I use a long tail phrase to improve article ranking?

Now that you’ve researched a variety of long tail phrases, you can now start incorporating them into your article. The following guidance will give you the best chance of being listed highly in search engines:

Your heading should always be a long tail phrase – try and aim for a heading that is very specific, but also contains some great keywords.

Your sub-headings should always be long tail phrases – sub-headings be logical and fit in with your article, but they can also be long tail phrases that will be searched for within search engines.

Repeat variations of your long tail throughout your article – do not over-stuff your article or destroy the flow of the article!  A lot of writers make the mistake of filling their article with keywords and long tails and end up with a very poor article – you may get traffic to your website, but if they are put off by your writing then you’ve wasted your time.

Conclusion: Why should I use long tail phrases?

You don’t have to use long tail phrases in your articles, but if you are serious about publishing on the web and attracting readers, then the long tail is an important tool that when combined with other SEO techniques will help your article get more targeted traffic.

Getting a million visitors to your website is great, but getting ten thousand visitors who actually want to read your article is even better.

Related articles

• Study Looks at Searcher Verbosity, Ask “Wins” (searchenginewatch.com)

One of the main benefits of being a copywriter is that you are constantly faced with new and exciting challenges. Every project you are set teaches you new things about the world leaving your written style better for the experience.

Well that’s a bit of a lie really. Not all projects are fresh and exciting; in fact some are tediously dull and extended. You know the ones. You get set 50 articles to write on gardening tools and you’ve got less than a week to get them done. The sort of project that really puts your creativity and discipline to the test. If you find it tough to keep your copy original when writing multiple articles on the same topic, I have listed some of the tips I use below to enhance my creativity.

These will help to keep your copywriting fresh, and your reader entertained

Mix up your narrative voice – I am not suggesting that you start your copy in the first person and then end it in the third. By narrative voice I mean the tone, personality and rhythm of your written style. In one article you should try and be humorously sarcastic yet in another be pompously astute. This will keep every article you write distinctly unique because each one will incorporate a different aspect of your own personality. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about the same topic; if the writer has a different voice then it will make for a completely different read.

Repeatedly research to find new angles – The problem that a lot of copywriters find when faced with these multi-article projects is that they simple run out of fresh things to write about. But that can only be true if you insist on looking at a topic from only one or two angles. Let’s make an example out of the garden tools articles that I referenced to earlier. For your first few articles you might talk about the benefits of having a nicer garden, but it is possible to go deeper than that. A different angle might be to look at the power that gardening tools gives to a homeowner. It puts them back in control of their own presentation and it gives them a reason to be proud of what they have done. Remember, there is always a new angle to be found.

Play around with sentence structures – One well known, yet often under-used, technique to maintain a reader’s attention is to utilise longer complex sentences and to then stun the reader with a much shorter one. The idea works incredibly well at the end of paragraphs when you need to summarise a point and increase its impact. Trust me.

Hopefully now you’ll bear less dread when your next multi-article project comes in

The important thing to remember is that it is possible to produce multiple articles on the same topic that are genuinely helpful or entertaining to their readers. As a seo copywriter you do have the skills needed to mix up your written style and produce killer copy that is always original.

I found an interesting article on Writer’s Weekly talking about Examiner, a Pay-Per-Click writing site.   The article is a couple years old, but I think the sentiment still applies. Essentially, Writer’s Weekly asked Examiners to respond to talk about their experiences (and pay) on Examiner.  Once the number of articles and payout was calculated, it was quite a depressing thing to read.

More recently, these type of pay-per-click sites are also known  as “content farms”.  Sites like Examiner get high search engine ratings, so traffic is high.  This is not as true today, after the Google Panda update.  Traffic to these sites has significantly diminished.

The sites pay you in ad “clicks,” which is not very much.  People are becoming so immune, or even annoyed, by ads on websites, they rarely click the ads.  Which means – no clicky, no money.

I Have Been There….

While I have not written for Examiner, I have been on that side of the freelance writing world.  I did it for a couple years as a way to break in.  In the end, the amount of money I was paid compared to the amount of time I put in is actually embarrassing.  But I, like many others, really thought that was it – the only way to be a freelance writer.

Fortunately, I learned there are other ways to make money as a writer.  But, it takes work, and you do have to be proactive and even apply some marketing techniques.  But, it is worth it.  Finding high paying freelance jobs is not always easy.  But, at least find medium-paying freelance jobs – not slave labor.

I know many people that write for these sites say they don’t do it for the money, and they simply love to write.  If that is the case, have a blog where no “editor” is going to tell you what subjects to write about and decide if the article is acceptable.  For even $5 an article, the editing and application process for these sites is NOT WORTH IT!  Having your own website gives you writing freedom, and then you can spend your time looking for higher paying freelance jobs.

But, my Aunt Sally…

Other proponents of the sites will claim that there really ARE writers making thousands of dollars a month on the site.  *sigh. There is always going to be an exception to everything (review the lesson on the the Bell Curve).  For all the thousands writing for the site -  these people are the exception.  Even the Examiner admits to that.

If you write for one of these sites (and you know which ones they are if you do), ask yourself this: Aren’t you worth more than $.88? Or $1.80 or even $10?

If you are in this boat, I highly encourage you to read this article on Writer’s Weekly.  While you are there, take a look around the market – you may find publishers looking to pay you A LOT more than $0.88.

Love to hear your comments on this!

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• Do You Write as Job or a Hobby? (inspiredtowrite.com)
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