Archive for content mills
What Do The Latest Google Algorithm Changes Mean to Freelance Writers?
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Currently, the world of internet marketing is in a state of mass panic as the latest Google algorithm changes, designed to punish content farms, affect the search engine rankings. Stories of huge drops in page views dominate marketing and SEO forums across the world, as webmasters complain that Google has it wrong and is incorrectly punishing quality content. Naturally, everything is speculative and things may well change as the process settles down, but with livelihoods at stake, the paranoia levels are high.
Even on well-respected sites such as Hubpages, writers and marketers are reporting significant drops in page views, often as much as 50%, and this threatens to wipe out income for many affiliate marketers and writers. It seems that Google has decided to attack the love-in with some of the article sites, downgrading those it perceives as having too much spammy or scraped content.
For myself, income from advertising and affiliate links to Amazon, are secondary; I like the extra payment every month, but my main business is as a hired gun, producing quality content for others.
However, the picture is not that simple and Google algorithm changes can indirectly affect freelance writers. Our fortunes are largely tied to the fortunes of marketers, the lifeblood of the internet, because much of our business stems from that source.
Freelance Writing and the Double Edged Blade of Google
For freelance writers, the changes could be a double-edged sword. The good news is that, if Google is finally delivering on its promise to promote quality content, then good writing will come at a premium and online businesses will happily pay decent money to hire a professional writer. They know that they will receive an excellent return on their investment if their high quality content rises up the rankings.
The downside is that we could see an influx of disenchanted marketers online. Many will see their earnings collapse and decide that the only way to survive is to work as freelance writers, flooding the freelance writing sites and tendering ridiculously low bids.
A similar influx happened a couple of years ago, when oDesk advertised on Good Morning America, with the net result that hundreds of recently unemployed people flooded the site. Freelance writing rates plummeted as desperate people were prepared to work for food.
Will Quality Freelance Writing Rise to the Top?
This trend eventually righted as clients slowly began to realize that, if you pay a couple of bucks for an article, the chances are that you will receive badly written, rehashed crap spun from other sources.
There will always be bottom-feeders who will take advantage and offer 50 cents per article (I have seen that many times), but most clients do want good content, and a skilled professional writer is not going to offer that for free.
Freelance writing demands a different set of skills from writing a few articles online. Apart from the obvious traits, such as the ability to work to deadlines, you cannot pick and choose your topics and you sometimes have to be able to read the client’s mind. Having a computer fitted with Microsoft Office does not make you a freelance writer – it takes a lot more than that.
Google Algorithm Changes – We Await the Outcome
For now, we will have to wait and see what happens – this latest algorithm change from Google could well be a double edged-sword. I retain some optimism, as huge Google changes often take a while to settle down as the software engineers tweak their algorithm. I also believe that quality writing does rise to the top so, unless Google completely messes up, those of us who aim to produce quality will be successful in the long term.
Keep up with the latest developments on Sunforged’s Blog: Search and Marketing News
Freelance Writing, Diversity, and Overcoming the Writing Doldrums
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A Becalmed Freelance Writer Will Lose Focus
Many people have asked me why I prefer being a freelance writing ‘Jack of All Trades’ rather than picking a speciality and sticking with it. Conventional wisdom dictates that a writer working exclusively in a specific field can start to charge three figure sums for an hour’s work, yet many freelance writers choose not to follow this path and prefer to remain general writers.
I think that the reason is that it is very easy, as a freelance writer, to fall into a rut and start to lose motivation and focus. As with any profession, doing the same thing, day after day, can make life mundane and start to suck the enjoyment out of writing for a living.
The Romance of Freelance Writing
There is a certain romance attached to freelance writing, and many people give up lucrative careers because they want a fresh challenge. For some, they want to work from home and avoid tortuous daily commutes, or they fall in love with the idea of moulding words and shaping language.
As is often the case when converting a hobby into a profession, the dream rarely matches the reality and freelance writing has its doldrums, drawn out periods where writing the same type of articles, over and over again, can be mentally draining. In the more extreme cases, many would-be writers soon return to the 9-5 (as opposed to the 9-midnight that most writers work), sick and tired of writing endless articles about industrial fastenings or the latest health fad.
In other cases, writers start to mentally switch off, like many workers on production lines, and start to produce stale, tired copy. This is fine if you are throwing together copy for an article directory or one of the content mills, but it is unacceptable if you are writing for a client – they hire you because of your unique voice, style, and flow.
The Cost of Developing Freelance Writing Expertise
Sticking with one field magnifies this problem and it is easy to lose your edge when you are writing about the same subject, ad infinitum. Of course, some people are fascinated by a topic and will happily write tens of thousands of words about it, whilst other expert writers have such intense focus that they can write emotive sales letters or make the most mundane topics interesting; this is why they charge big money and they deserve every penny.
Personally, this is not a route I chose because I like the challenge of facing something different every day. One day, I may be editing an academic paper about aquaculture, the next I could be starting a ghost-written book about Islamic science. This variety that keeps me fresh and also helps me to develop and grow as a writer, as I constantly experiment with new styles, designed to appeal to a different audience. I love the challenge of learning something new and expanding my knowledge into unexplored areas.
A Change Brings Focus
If you are struggling to stick to the plan as a freelance writer, maybe this is the sort of change that will help you last the course. Challenging yourself and trying new things is a great way to rediscover your muse and inject the energy back into your writing, bringing life and rhythm to your copy. Naturally, some fields require training or experience, with technical and academic writing the two obvious candidates, but you can still look to extend your reach and look for the assignments that force you to do something a little different.
Instead of working to a formula, use words in new ways or experiment with different emotions and voice. This will also help you to avoid the worst enemy of the freelance writing, the Ogre of Procrastination, a beast that will kill you through apathy. A good writer knows when their work is not up to scratch and will find ways to combat that, taking the laptop outside and working in the sun, or exploring a new niche and looking for assignments within that field.
Freelance Writing as a Vocation
Ultimately, freelance writing is not the carefree, joyous existence that many people believe; it involves hard work, long hours, an expanding waistline, and severe caffeine abuse. Despite this, it is a way of life, a vocation rather than a job. However, like most vocations, you need passion over everything else, because without this you will fall out of love with writing for a living.
If you find that your passion is draining and you are going stale, try something new – it certainly won’t hurt to try!
