Writer Jobs

No matter how fantastic the product or service you’re offering is, it’s useless if people don’t know about it. The success of your business therefore depends on getting your message into the minds of your potential buyer. If you’ve chosen to do this by means of a website, you’re probably looking for ways to get it promoted and listed.

Firstly, some basics.

Like it or loathe it, Google is the God of the internet. If you want people to visit your site, you’re going to have to do things the Google way. What’s the Google Way? Follow their Webmaster guidelines as closely as possible – these can be found by typing 'google webmaster guidelines' into Google (I can't publish the URL here because it keeps throwing back an error).

There are guidelines on design and content, technical guidelines and quality guidelines. All three sets of guidelines need to be considered together – so for example, whilst it’s important to develop interesting content that users want to find (per the Google quality guidelines), their advice to “think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it” is telling you to make the pages keyword rich too (per the Google design and content guidelines) without keyword spamming.

When you understand all of these, and you’re happy you’ve followed all the rules, you need to get to grips with the way Google ranks sites – an article on this can be found here: http://www.google.com/corporate/tech.html

If you’re confident with all of this, you’ll know that your two main goals are to obtain:
* Keyword rich quality content
* Quality links to your site from other trusted websites

So let’s think about how you can attain these goals.

1. Finding keywords

To do this, we can use a free tool that Google provide. Type Google Keyword Tool into a search engine and decide on common words or phrases that you think describes your niche content (make sure you check the ‘use synonyms’ box to get the best variety of results)

When you have some results, click on the "Approx Avg Search Volume" header to sort by the average monthly volume. You are going to take each of the search terms that look like good possible keywords and run a search on Google for them. You’re looking for keywords that don’t have much competition – so what you need to record is the number of matching pages. This appears on the right hand side of your search results, e.g ‘Results 1 - 10 of about 99 for thiskeywordterm. (0.55 seconds)’. You can also get an idea of the competition from the results under the column ‘Advertiser Competition’. Don’t forget to keep track of your results – either write them down or download the results in CSV format (this can be opened in Microsoft Excel or another similar spreadsheet program).

When you have that information for a good handful of keywords you want to come up with a success potential ratio for each. It's easy. Just divide the "Approx Avg Search Volume" by the number of pages for that keyword on Google. This is your success potential ratio. The higher the number, the better.

Example A: Approx Avg Search Volume (6,500) / Matching Pages on Google (100,000) = .065 is your Success Potential Ratio

Example B: Approx Avg Search Volume (9,750) / Matching Pages on Google (233,000) = .042 is your Success Potential Ratio

Example B has a lot more searches performed, but has even more competition than A. This means the keyword from Example A is likely our best bet to target.

When you’ve got your keywords, concentrate on making your content keyword rich for these. It will also help if you read some articles on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) so you know what factors Google and other search engines take into account. These are good articles:

* http://www.seomoz.org/article/bg1
* http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

2. Set up Wordpress

Wordpress is a great tool for search engine friendly content. It’s very easy to use and update, and you don’t need to be a programmer to work it (although lots of programmers do use it because it’s a fast way to get websites live). Here’s a link to the website: http://wordpress.org/ - if you’re not very web savvy, there’s a Dummies Book you can buy to help you create your site.

3. Create Content

You need to create your main pages – About / Contact Us / Your Order Page etc but you also need keyword rich content that will help search engines find your page.

There are several ways you can go about doing this.

* Purchase 6-10 articles based on the keywords that you have chosen (2 keywords per article). This is a bit hit and miss because you need to find good writers. Essaybay (http://www.essaybay.com) is a good place to find writers for this – people bid on your work and you can read their reviews (and samples of their work)
* Get another 6-10 articles from article sites. There’s a list of article sites below. Forget what you’ve been told about duplicate content. It’s okay to have some – as long as your entire site isn’t made up of these articles.
* Find 3-4 videos from youtube etc that are relevant to your service (obviously not advertising anyone else’s of course)
* Publish 5 of your articles to start (begin with the original ones) then 1-2 every few days

4. Get Links

You need to get quality links to your website. You can do this by circulating your articles around the web and including links to your site both in the articles and underneath in your ‘signature’.

Submit around half of the articles to:

1. EzineArticles
2. GoArticles
3. WebProNews
4. ArticleDashboard
5. SearchWarp
6. ArticleBase
7. Buzzle
8. ArticleCity

And the other half to:

9. IdeaMarketers
10. Site Reference
11. Article Alley
12. Web Source
13. Amazines
14. Submit Your Article
15. TheWhir
16. Excellent Guide
17. Directory Gold
18. Articles Factory
19. Content Desk

You then need to submit the site to around 20 web directories, and as many of the following as possible:

www.icerocket.com
www.kaboodle.com
www.spicypage.com
www.spotback.com
www.wagg.it
www.mister-wong.com
www.ratemysite.com
www.ratemysite.net
www.ratemyeverything.net

Finally, try to adapt the articles as news articles and submit to

www.zimbio.com
www.digg.com
www.humsurfer.com
www.buzzle.com

5. You’re done – for now.

Submit your site to Google and the other top search engines. But don’t stop now. To make a success of your site, you need to repeat the process as often as you can – writing articles with links to your site and submitting them to the article directories frequently. There are far more article directories than I have listed – at least 50 good ones. If you submit two articles a week and get an average of about 200 people reading each of your articles on each directory per month, that's 80,000 readers a month. If just 20% of readers click through to your website, that’s 16,000 visits a month. If you can spare the time to submit an article a day, you’re looking at over 50,000 visits a week sourced just from articles.

Are you an IT professional or graduate who enjoys writing? If you'd like to earn a great rate of pay for freelance writing, visit Academic Knowledge Freelance Writer Jobs.

Midlands research company Academic Knowledge, until recently, wouldn't consider taking on any writer that had less than a 2.1 degree in a recognised subject. But the Company have opened their door to student writers and are offering up to £30 an hour for the completion of writing projects. So what's changed?

New services
Academic Knowledge have launched a range of new, lower priced services that offer model answers and written projects that are completed to pass or 2.2 standard. These are in addition to their regular first class and 2.1 guaranteed standard writing services. Their student writers will only be able to write for the pass and 2.2 services, where customers know they are employing the help of a student.

Rates of pay
AK's pay rates for students aren't the same as for graduate writers. Graduate writers get paid a fair bit more and are offered a wider variety of projects. However, when you consider that the average weekly student wage in the Midlands is £95 it doesn't take a genius to work out that 3-4 hours work a week writing in the comfort and warmth of your cheery student accommodation is a far better option than slogging it out over a bar serving customers who could knock you out with the level of alcohol on their breath alone.

The Road Crew
AK have said that they're sending out a road team over the next two weeks to top universities to recruit undergraduate writers. Students will be able to talk to the team and ask questions. The list of univesities is under wraps but I'm told all are in the top 10.

The verdict...
Whether freelance writing's the job for you as a student is very much going to depend on your attitude towards working whilst studying. It does mean more essays and if you hate writing to begin with, you probably won't want to sit down after writing your own coursework to start on someone else's. However, if you struggle to earn enough in the little time that you have to spare, this opportunity does allow you to work less for more. Visit the Academic Knowledge student recruitment page to find out more.

A quick search on Google will reveal hundreds of links to freelance writing websites with adverts for writers to complete specific projects. Competition is stiff though - and you may want to consider some alternative ways to generate work as a freelance writer. Writing for an agency is one such way.

There are a good number of writing agencies, like Academic Knowledge, that are constantly recruiting for writing talent. The assignments you can expect from a freelance writing agency include:

* freelance writing services for business clients – these may include business reports, marketing reports, company research and business presentations in a variety of mediums

* freelance writing services for teachers – these may include lesson plans and teaching materials

* freelance proofreading assignments for undergraduate, postgraduate and international students – these may include proofreading only or proofreading and critiquing

* freelance research and model answers to assist students in fully understanding the courses they are studying

* freelance copywriting assignments – typically this will be for website content

* freelance translation services – for writers who have a second language

If you work as a freelance writer for a reputable agency, you’ll find that work is regular and the rate of pay is good. Most agencies pay bi-monthly or monthly either into your bank account or to Paypal. It’s better to get payments direct into your bank as Paypal takes a cut of any money you receive.

Interested in freelance writing for an agency? Try Academic Knowledge.

Now you've found your perfect job as a freelance writer that offers you so many benefits, how do you make a good impression with your Agency so that get more work in the process?

* If you are new and have offered yourself for a few briefs without success, the key is not to get disheartened. You haven't had the chance to prove yourself yet so you're less likely to get chosen for work and of course, you're bidding against more established names. However, before much longer, you'll find that you've come forward for a piece that nobody else has. This is your opportunity to prove that you're a great writer and you can do the job well.

* Make sure you check the level of required expertise and the availability of any sources listed as 'essential' or 'requested' before offering yourself for a brief. If you bid for work that is allocated to you and it transpires you can't complete it, the Agency are unlikely to use you again.

* Once you do get accepted for your first piece, it's crucial that you do a great job. First impressions really do count. Always bear in mind that the standards of your work, especially your first piece, will define your reputation with the agency that you work for, and the amount of work you receive in the future.

* Always read the brief thoroughly - failure to do so is a crucial error and may mean that you stray down the wrong route from the beginning. Whilst it may be possible (and you may be willing) to amend the brief where you've gone wrong, it doesn't look professional and many agencies will judge writers on their amendments ratio (i.e. how many pieces of work need amending, out of all the ones they have completed)

* As you're writing, always stay within the context of the brief - keep thinking - is what I am writing actually relevant to the brief title - and why is it relevant?

* Your agency is looking for evidence that you can write in an interesting, fresh and engaging way. For example, when writing a subjective piece, look at the referenced thoughts of others on the subject - compare and contrast them, and then offer your own thoughts - how are other views different? Why do you agree or disagree? At all times, make sure you are referring to respected opinions but don't be afraid to go out on a limb and argue things a different way, as long as you can back up what you have said. This is the mark of first class writing.

If you want to increase your work load, you need to check your email (or the online area, if the agency has one) regularly during office opening hours - the quicker you respond to offers of work, the more likely you are to be accepted. When an agency has an order from a customer, as soon as they receive a bid from an eligible writer, they will phone the customer to take payment. If you leave it too long, other more established writers may bid and get chosen.

Some further points to note:

* Always, always back up your work every 15 minutes - agencies will rarely accept your PC crashing as an excuse, particularly as you can back things up to a memory stick or portable hard drive and Word has an 'auto save' feature.

* Never, ever, plagiarise. This is a breach of other people's copyright, as you are selling the work on to your agency. You'll find that most agencies use plagiarism detection software and you'll be caught, and probably liable for a large fine under your contract, as well as being subject to civil litigation from third parties. Some agencies use turnitin - others have developed their own plagiarism software and scan every piece of work using it. They also maintain a large database of texts and journals, electronic books and previous essays.

* Take regular breaks - rushing is not a good idea because in the long run it means your quality will slip and when that happens, you'll end up with a lower fee as well as being less likely to receive work in the future.

* Always read your final piece over at least once after completion - reading out loud is better. Does it make full sense? Are there grammatical error or the use of incorrect language (use the built in spelling and grammar checkers in Word but be careful - the grammar checker can give some interesting suggestions!) Would the work be genuinely useful to you if you were the client? If you carefully check your work, this is likely to save you time and money later on.

* Deliver added value to the customer. Although your contract sets out certain obligations regarding amendments, you should try and be as accommodating as possible with customers' demands. A good attitude will attract the Agency's attention and will mean you're more likely to receive further work.

Are you looking for work as a freelance writer, editor or proofreader? Try Academic Knowledge.