Each year, thousands of would-be online business owners set out to make a name for themselves by selling a unique product or service; however, many of them either never get their business off the ground or fail after the first six months. While a number of factors can cause this failure, the most common is failure to understand how vital search engine optimization (SEO) is for a successful Web-based business. Thanks to sites like WordPress and affordable domain names, almost anyone can build a site, but not everyone can create effective, engaging content that also allows their website to rank high on search engines like Google, and that is why hiring professional content writers is a vital step for your online business success.
Google Penguin, Panda, and a Professional Outlook
While do-it-yourself websites are user-friendly, the same cannot be said for SEO. A failure to understand how to optimize your page’s keywords for a higher search engine ranking is only the beginning, especially when you consider how Google has recently changed the way it ranks its findings. Google Penguin and Panda, which are two different algorithms for determining both the quality of a website and whether or not it is using manipulative techniques to force its rankings higher. If you do not have experience with writing Web content, you may actually do more harm than good to your rankings by:
- Unintentionally stuffing your content with too many keywords
- Overusing keywords
- Using duplicate content on one or more of your pages
Being flagged by Google Penguin can be especially damaging to your website. Even if you did so unintentionally, keyword stuffing and duplicate content are red flagged by Penguin and then reported to Google. The results are disastrous, as depending on the severity of the offense Google will no longer show your page in its results, even if the keywords are used, and the results of their flagging will be made public. This can result in negative publicity for your page and significantly lower traffic. However, this can all be avoided if you hire a content writer. Professional SEO content writers understand how to make your keywords work for your site without tripping Penguin and Panda, which gives low rankings for sites based on user experience. Overall, when your content is handled at a professional level, the less of a chance your site has of violating Google’s SEO rules and restrictions.
Keyword Research for a More Successful Site
A professional content writer can also increase traffic to your website by creating an effective list of keywords for your site. You may already have done this, but if your keywords are not yielding higher traffic or better rankings on Google, a content writer who is also well versed in SEO can help you narrow those words and phrases with the following steps:
- They will examine your keywords and phrases to ascertain whether or not they are too general. For example, if your page sells homemade organic granola bars and you’re using the keywords “organic food,” this may be too wide of a field. Instead, they will narrow your page’s keywords down by using “organic granola bars” or “organic granola.” Because SEO is vital when you run a niche business, using a professional content writer to target your audience will yield better results.
- Once the content writer narrows down the keyword phrases, they will look over your content to ensure that you are not using them too often. Because Google’s Penguin algorithm is designed to flag pages that engage in keyword stuffing, a content writer can keep your page from being penalized while removing unnecessary or ineffective keywords. They will balance the ratio of keyword usage to the number of words on each of your pages and make sure that you are not violating Google’s SEO terms.
Blogging and SEO Effectiveness
One way that a Web content writer will ensure that your site gains consistently high rankings is to have them create content for a weekly blog that is attached to your site. While you might think that a blog won’t affect your profits much, consider this—almost every major successful business online publishes blog posts at least once a month. These posts will not only let your readers know about new products and services, as well as announcing new additions to your site, but the more fresh content your site has, the higher and more stable its ranking will be. Pages that grow stale after several months will slide significantly in Google’s ratings, so hiring a content writer who can write SEO-specific blogs that include engaging and fresh content is well worth the money. This will also free you from having to come up with content on demand, especially content that is optimized for search engine databases.
Hiring an SEO Content Writer
If you have decided to hire an SEO professional to create content for your website, you may not be sure where to begin. There are a number of sites, however, where you can find freelance writers who are willing to create content for just dollars a day. When you place an ad on one of these sites, such as HireWriters.com or Elance.com, you should be as specific as possible about the content you need written and place emphasis on the fact that the person you hire should have experience with SEO. Not all Web content writers are well versed in SEO, so make your expectations and needs clear. When you create your ad, do not forget to include:
- Whether the job is long- or short-term
- Your budget
- Your contact information
When your website content is created by an individual who understands SEO and can use it effectively, you have a much better chance of success. This is not to say that it will guarantee success, as there is more to running an online business than effective content, but investing in an SEO expert is a definite step in the right direction on the path to prosperity.