Forum Moderators: not2easy
However, if you are looking for keyword laden articles for search engines, you can get someone from India at one cent a word. Your choice.
Since I'm a frustrated English major doing double duty as a webmaster for my company ("dost thou mistake thee for an ass?") I can tell you with some certainty that most writers tend to hang out in cliques (smoky bars, addiction meetings and free buffets are good hunting grounds) and also you can find writers by googling 'writers wanted' or 'writer available' and see where that leads you.
Seriously though, check out craigslist or about.com and see where that leads you . . . .
good luck!
Patrick
if you are looking for keyword laden articles for search engines, you can get someone from India at one cent a word
If by "laden [dictionary.reference.com]" we mean to say "oppressed; burdened: [ex:] laden with grief" ...then right, go to India. Words are cheap there. Even keywords.
But if you're willing to invest more for better copy, remember that you don't have to sacrifice keyword density for good quality. In fact, the ability to integrate these two features of content is what makes a copywriter good.
So find a copywriter who plugs keywords till the search engines purr with delight, begging for more, while readers keep happily reading, clicking through and buying things, totally oblivious - that's the trick.
We deal with a very good American writer. What are the topics to be covered?
Since I'm a frustrated English major doing double duty as a webmaster for my company ("dost thou mistake thee for an ass?") I can tell you with some certainty that most writers tend to hang out in cliques (smoky bars, addiction meetings and free buffets are good hunting grounds)
Speaking as a professional writer, all I can say is so true!
Another matter to watch for is the old axiom that while there are many people who think they can write well, there are very few that actually can.
Matt
If keyword-packed articles = money.
And some people in the world are willing to do it for $0.01/word.
Then why don't they just start their own web sites?
If they're using a freelance site on the 'net, they're probably pretty savvy. If they know what you're going to do with their articles, then I simply can't figure out why they don't start their own made-for-adsense sites.
Some of them are even using SEO terms in their resumes. What gives?
I can't speak for the motivations of Indian writers - my team is entirely English speaking - but I do know that with plenty of clients, good references and a well-run operation, any seo-savvy writer is pretty much set. Running adsense on personal sites would just be frosting on the cake.
I'm pretty convinced, however, that a lot of writers are not resisting this frosting. I've even seen individual freelance writing sites running adsense. Let's assume that they're also running their own websites with adsense. What, then, are the implications?
Well, there's both a risk and an advantage to contracting an seo-savvy writer. The risk, as I see it, involves confidentiality. What's stopping the writer from stealing your ideas?!
Confidentiality should be a top criterion for the selection of a content writer. Not only can a reliable writer be trusted not steal a webmaster's ideas for personal use, but he/she must not mention them to anyone else - most importantly other seo clients.
How do you verify a writer's trustworthiness?
I'd say looking for references from other webmasters is a good start. In addition, developing a solid relationship is important and, when possible, meeting the writer in person can't hurt.
Once trust is developed, the advantage to having a writer who understands seo is enormous. The content will be keyword optimized, priced right and styled for Internet readers. These benefits are hard to match.
