what is web content?

What is Web Content?

What is Web Content? written content on the Internet. Blog posts, articles, and website pages are common examples. Many business and website owners aren’t writers and would rather hire someone else to fill up their web pages. Maybe they need regular articles written to inform their customers, persuasive sales pages are written, or maybe just pages that describe what their business does.

On any given day, you could be writing about any topic imaginable. I’ve written about topics like medical marijuana dispensaries, how to find a ranch in Montana, and what types of shorts work best for mixed martial arts. Some topics will require a lot of research and others require none.

What this Guide will teach you

1. How to Set Up a Writing Portfolio

2. How to Set Up a Stellar Profile on Major Freelancing Websites

3. The Basic Principles of SEO

4. How to Contact Potential Clients

All of these you can do in the next 7 days and if you follow my recommendations, you can make your first dollars online in less than a month (although it could be much sooner).

Day One: Understand the Industry (30 minutes)

Start off by heading over to my favorite freelancing website, Elance, for some industry research. You could also check out Guru or O-Desk. Then, set up a quick profile so that you can look through the posted writing jobs.

Important

Choose a username that you will want to keep. Something memorable might make you stand out more. I chose a name with Writing in the title; just don’t use your full name.

Once you have a profile, select, Find Work, and search the writing jobs. I recommend narrowing the search to one topic you enjoy, like travel, health, dating, or maybe technology.

Look through the postings and click at least 5 jobs that look interesting.

Look at the types of writing jobs offered, what they are looking for in writers, how much they pay, and anything else that stands out.

As you can see there is a lot of competition for these jobs and some people are willing to work for much less than you. Don’t worry about that yet.

If you see words, you don’t understand, take a minute to look them up on Google.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization

A way of writing that makes it more likely Google will find your article and put it close to the top of the search page.

Ghostwriter: You write the article and they put their name on it. You are a ghost.

Copywriter: You write the ‘copy’ on a website or a sales page that is intended to encourage the reader to take a certain action. Typically, used in the marketing of a product.

The Biggest Challenge of Writing Web Content

The work is not that difficult, but finding gigs is the biggest challenge. There are a lot of writers and you are competing with writers from around the world.

Writers in India can charge a small fraction of what you will need to afford groceries. You also have to compete with experienced writers with lots of feedback on their profiles (sort of like recommendations from past employers).

We are going to go after the middle ground to find our clients.

The Sauce Strategy

Charge more per article than the Indian writers and write much better articles than they would. Use your native English skills as one of your biggest strengths. But don’t charge as much as the full-time, experienced writers, who can charge 50$, 100$, or even more per article.

I have found 10-15$ per 400-500 word article is pretty inexpensive for many website owners. Plus, if I know the topic well I can write at least 2 articles in one hour and usually more. As you get better and find more clients, a jack that price up to 20$ per article and you will have a solid wage.

Shoot for clients looking for an inexpensive, native English speaker, who produces great quality articles (this is now you).

Day Two: Set up a Portfolio (30 minutes)

When you are looking for jobs in your area or on freelancing websites, most employers will want to see a writing portfolio. This is simply one page of why you are awesome and then 2 to 3 of your best articles.

Day Three: Learn the Principles of SEO (5 minutes)

SEO is one of the most important aspects of your writing. If this is totally new to you, then this section will give you a 5-minute crash course. I suggest reading a beginner’s guide to SEO, for more details. At the very least, it will improve your confidence as you write.

Typically, your client will provide a keyword that the article must contain. It is then your job to research and writes an interesting article about this word. You will be expected to put the keyword certain places in the article because Google is more likely to look for the word in these places.

4 Basics to Writing an SEO Article:

1. In a 500-word article, put the keyword in the title, the first sentence, the last sentence, and 2 spots in the article. For longer or shorter articles, increase or decrease this appropriately.

2. Use the keyword naturally.

3. Don’t overuse the keyword.

4. Write a quality article and not something you just rehashed from other articles online.

Day Four, Five, and Six: Write 3 Articles (2 hours a day)

Write 3 articles for your portfolio over the next 3 days. Make sure they are your best work and choose topics you enjoy. I suggest writing different types of articles too.

A. Write one short blog post of 500 words.

B. Write a longer article of 1500 words.

C. Write an about page for fictional or a website of yours (about 200-400 words).

Remember: Use the principles of SEO in your articles (don’t worry about the about page).

If you need help coming up with a topic, look at this list of blog topics.

Extra Sauce: Have a friend read your articles when you are finished.

Day Seven: Set up a stellar profile on Elance

This is where you can start looking for work right away. Odesk or Guru is good options too. Pick whichever site works the best for you.

There are hundreds of jobs on these websites in many categories. There is also a lot of competition. If you have an exceptional profile, your odds of getting a job increase drastically.

About Writer Online

Content writing expert, I write blogs, articles, content writing, creative writing, research writing, writing styles online,social media writing, freelance writing