6 Tips Toward Improving Your Website

It's easy to improve your website when you know what readers want. They want a few different things, though. 1. One thing is new content. Don't simply rehash old articles. Do some research into how the idea or concept you're looking at can fit into different areas of business or your readers' lives. Taking an existing article and re-writing it is okay, but put a new spin on it. Readers are NOT stupid and can spot something like this after only a few sentences have been read. They can tell if they've read something similar before. Don't waste their time. It's a surefire way to lose a reader. 2. Original content is always best! At most content sites, it costs just a little bit more to get, and it is so much more worth it. 3. One other way is to check through your links. It can be time-consuming if done manually. There are programs out there that can help you do this mundane but very important task. Think of how you feel on voicemail, punching in buttons to get to the correct department. How do you feel when you get nowhere? Frustrated! Angry! Unwilling to do business with them. But online, it can only take one broken link to mess up your relationship with a prospective client or reader. Make sure that doesn't happen. 4. Check your images, also. These should be working and loading. If not, replace. If you can't, make sure your content doesn't refer to the image that is no longer there. 5. Hire real English writers, not someone who can barely string two sentences together. It's only cheaper short-term. The only exception to this should be if you are using a non-native writer as a researcher, and then you rewrite the content they've sent you. Doing this is best when you've asked for original content and not a rewrite. 6. Read other websites for new ideas. Check out .org's, .gov's and don't stick to just the .com's because you're reducing your resources when you engage in this.

Writers, for the Most Part, Aren't Stupid - 7 Tips for Getting the Most out of Content You Buy

We know what you want, and we don't mind giving it to you. However, there are a few things some clients don't seem to realize about writers, especially writers who earn their living by making other people's websites and blogs cool to read. Here are a few things we writers wished that clients would come to understand.

1. We are all different. Some of us can work well without any direction, and others need to know exactly what you want. Do you want a totally artistic piece, or do you want something that fits a specific set of parameters that work within your established site? Either way, please be upfront with us. Post this info in the listing for the assignment. We don't like surprises. While you might not be penalized for closing a job before it's finished, writers often are. We feel robbed, and in a way, we are, when a client refuses our work simply because their directions weren't clear. 2. Just because we are writers doesn't mean we will fully understand your directions. Don't be upset with us for asking for clarification about something there. We are asking because we want to write what you want your readers to read. 3. Keep your keyword requirements reasonable. There are some clients who put so many in that writing a piece is truly impossible to do. If you have a list of 20 keywords and phrases and they total over a hundred words, and you want the writer to include them 2-3 times, but the client is paying for 300 words, the only option is to write spam. We don't want to write spam, we want to write articles. 4. Don't just reject an article, as you can at some sites. Ask for a revision. Explain what you didn't like. Otherwise, word gets around that you're most likely stealing screenshots of the work and having someone else do a rewrite off of it for a lower fee. 5. Be careful where you shop for a writer. Some sites penalize writers for not following very exacting rules and lower their statuses for minor infractions. When this happens, and you place an order at a higher level, you're reducing the pool of creative talent that you might have otherwise gotten. Do you really want to miss out on an author who can write well, simply because of a dispute over a comma? Some sites have arbitrary rules, and depending on the editor that a particular article is assigned, sometimes months after the client has paid for it, the article is rated high or low. If it is low, it can change an author's status, months afterward. One such site is Textbroker.com, which has its own spelling errors, and in its training videos, nonetheless. This site might have rave reviews, but those, like the article reviews, are from long ago. It's better to go with a site that lets other clients grade the writers, not a recent college graduate who doesn't really care how well your site does. 6. Pay attention to what your writers tell you. If you find an author who wants to give you some tips on w hat your competition is doing, listen! We know what your competition is wanting, what keywords they are inputting, and what products are being reviewed. We aren't simply authors and writers, we know what is going on in your niche! 7. Don't be afraid to ask for revisions, clarifications, or sources used. I used to work for LeapForce, which is a web page rating service used by Google. I can't tell you much about what we did there, but I can tell you that quality is not penalized, ever. Back up your content with sources, and it will go up in the SERPs. Content that is well-researched and well-written is fantastic content. If you don't understand something when you read it, chances are good that your audience won't understand it, either. I will post more tips, but the main thing is to be in control of your content. It reflects who you are to your readers. Make sure you have well-written text, colorful graphics and photos, pertinent links and you'll continue to gain readers and rise in the world of search engines.