The Internet has created a lot of great opportunities for freelance writers. With more traditional media forms slowly decreasing in popularity with the public, such as newspapers and magazines, more and more people are getting information about everything from their local weather and news events to health and parenting information online. The fact is that the Internet has proliferated into many people’s lives, and this means that there is always a need for fresh information on the Internet.
As a freelance writer, this means that if you are not looking for jobs on the web, you are missing out on a large amount of job opportunities. For those looking to take advantage of the many opportunities available on the web, here are some key points you need to consider:
Learn Search Engine Optimization Techniques. Most people who post content on the web, whether that content is blogs, articles, descriptive writing, or more, want that content to be easily found. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a method you can use in your writing that will allow search engines to more easily “find” the content. SEO doesn’t result in instantly higher rankings because it does take some time for a new piece to move higher in search results on any search engine. However, because SEO techniques have been proven to work, many clients looking to hire web writers want to know that you are able to write SEO-based content. You can learn the basics of SEO by spending an afternoon or two reading up on this topic. Much has been written about SEO online, so the web is the perfect place to start your education quest.
Know Your Audience. The fact is that some people will ask you to write content simply for the purpose of driving search engine results, while others may ask you to write for the purpose of selling a product or service, or educating the public about a certain topic. If you are writing merely for search engine rankings, the client usually doesn’t care about how fresh and exciting your content is, and this projects are usually able to be completed faster. For projects where the clients intend for the writing to be read by others and to serve a useful purpose such as education or aiding in the sales process, you will need to pay attention to the tone of the client’s website, the target audience, and the product in question.
Repeat Clients. The fact is that search engine results are always changing because people are always posting new content on and sometimes taking content off the web. This means that there is always a need for your services on the web. In fact, you will find that once a client uses your services for one project, if satisfied with your work, he or she can easily turn into a repeat client simply because of the nature of the web. Even for clients who don’t need SEO-rich content, they often want to keep fresh content on their website so their readers will return to their site on a regular basis.
If you haven’t considered the many possibilities the web offers for freelance writers, take a look and you will be pleasantly surprised.
