The web is filled with content. ‘Written’ content. No written content, no world wide web. It’s thus a veritable writer’s paradise- a freelance-writer’s delight. Is it vastly different from the world of print media and the like? In truth-hardly!
Web Content
Yes it needs to be concise! No more than 100 to 500 words a click or page. It needs to catch your eye. Make an immediate impact. So you need to use short sentences, active voice, sub headings, separate paras, apt phraseology and meaningful vocabulary! Uphold clarity!
But isn’t that what we do when we write, even otherwise?
So how different is different?
Alright it’s the search engines eye that needs to be caught! So we have Keyword-Rich and Search-Engine-Optimization among others that do the job. For all that, almost all content on the net is either pushing a product or promoting a scheme. It is as blatant as it is instant. But hardly any different from a copywriter’s function in an ad agency. Not too difficult for a clued-up freelancer!
Market yourself
And writing for the web has galvanized the writing fraternity as nothing else has. Writers have blossomed outright as projects have mushroomed overnight. Every business man and-his-mother wants his piece of merchandise up for show or sale. They also want content writers. So if you would want to make your presence felt, this could be it!
How? By promoting yourself the same way you do products on the web!
Blog
Get yourself an URL. Use ‘Keyword-Rich, SEOs- the works .Position yourself well. Market yourself. Publish, Post, Blog. The same Google will do to you what it does unto others. It will throw up your name often enough if you do it right! So before you know it you will be writing on sunglasses to real-estate ad nauseum! Your Blog can not only enhance your web presence but can also make you money as with Google adsense.
Show me the money
Blogging: Apart from your own URL generating money through ads, blogging professionally, can fetch you a good contract or Rs 2 to 2.50 per word for a month’s regular posting. Foreign blogs go for 50-100 dollars plus commission on the number of views. But domestic Blog developers try to push you for as low as Rs 250 per a 750 word Blog (30 paisa a word). And outsourcers $1.50 cents for 250words.Which is really very low!
Web-Content: It has, yes, spawned a whole new wave of instant writers. Unfortunately it has also encouraged anyone and every one who can string two words together to become a writer. When the going rate is Rs three and above for good content, there are writers who go for as low as 25 paisa a word (think conversion) for outsourcers and as low as Rs one per word domestically or even Rs 10-12 per 100 words(10 paisa a word) for a large project. So why wouldn’t the cost cutting canny outsourcer or stingy SEOs-whose language is suspect anyway- use these obliging writers and hang the quality! The product –positioning- sells, regardless of content-quality is the constant refrain. So to cut costs, cut the writers’ fee. Or at times even ask you to write for the ‘joy’ of writing! What these haggling Web developers and SEO s don’t realize is that shoddy content can also impact business- adversely! Just as good content will always attract.
- Sreelata Menon
Please Note: Chillibreeze does not endorse techniques or views mentioned in the articles here. The articles listed here are provided as reference material for writers as a support service.
Check out the complete list of our featured articles for Indian Freelance writers and editors
Related Links
Courses, Certifications and Higher level tests evaluated by experts
Writing and Editing Assessments
Expert Review of Your Writing
Related posts:
- Occupational Hazards of Being an Indian Freelance Writer
- Internet Censorship and the Indian Freelance Writer
- Internet Censorship and the Indian Freelance Writer
- The Ten-fold Path to Success for the Indian Freelance Writer
- The Issue of Rights and the Indian Freelance Writer
Comments:
{ 1 trackback }