When outsourcing your article writing, do you really get what you pay for in the way of quality?

My answer to this is “Yes and no”.

When sourcing an article writer you will very quickly see that there is a large variance on price.

Whilst some will write for only $1 per article, others will charge you at least $15-$20 per article, or even more.

Most people new to the game will pounce on these $1 articles but will very quickly realise that they will all have to be rewritten. This is because they either don’t make sense or they look like they’ve been written by someone who does not have English as their first language – in fact, this is the usual complaint people have after hiring a writer who charges ridiculously low prices.

If you’re ok to pay to get quality like this, then by all means go ahead.  However, if you prefer that your articles will need only minor changes (if any), then it is time to realise you will have to pay more to get them.

The bottom line is this – if you want something written in native english, then you will have to pay more.  This is because our standard of living is so much higher, and therefore we have to charge more.  Also, if we were to offer our services offline, we would attract much higher prices – up into the hundreds of dollars per article.  By paying under $100 per article, you are getting an absolute bargain!

In saying this though, there are many new writers out there who are initially focused on building their reputation.  These people are prepared to charge less initially in return for some positive feedback on their work.  I have done this, and I know others who have done the same.  Like these people, as my reputation has grown, I have had to put up my prices in line with the demand for my writing work.

The downside of using a new writer of course is that you do not have the feedback of others to refer to, but a positive of this is that you are giving a new writer a go and you never know,they just might be fabulous!

For the most part, you do get what you pay for, so if you want quality you will definitely have to pay for it, but it will be worth it.

The internet is a very big place and if you’re looking for another way to drive traffic to your blog, then regularly updating your blog content is a great way to go.

The reason for this is because when people come across your blog, it is because they have searched for the answer to a question. If you have an article on your blog that answers that question, then you may have found yourself a new customer!

So how do you attract as many people as possible to your blog? Well, you make sure you have a lot of related articles on your blog first! The more questions you can answer, the more people you will attract, and that means potentially more customers!  Post variations of these articles in article submission sites too.

Ok, so that’s great, but what if you don’t know how to write articles, or you hate writing?

That’s where someone like me comes in.

I have clients who require content added to their site five days a week. They pay me to provide that content.

It is this regularly updated content that attracts visitors to your blog.

In comparison, your competitors who have not updated their website on a regular basis will find that their visitors will begin to drop off.  Who trusts a website when the last content update was five years ago??

Regularly updated, relevant content also provides you with some credibility, because your visitors are able to see that you have a fair bit of expertise, because you have all of this information plastered all over your blog.

I know myself that I would rather hand my money to someone who seems to know what they are talking about than someone who doesn’t…!  What about you?

How-to articles, especially when found on a website, can really engage readers and if they gain enough value out of the article they are likely to either stay a while longer, browsing the website they found it on, or they will click through to learn more.

People are generally searching online to find a solution to their problem, and if your how-to article answers or partly answers their questions, then they will very likely want more, and eventually buy your product or service.

How-to articles are really just like a mini set of instructions on how to complete a particular task. In many cases they are written in point form and are generally easy to read and follow.

So, are how-to articles useful? I’d say a definite “Yes!” to that!

With so much competition out there between article writers, it is difficult for the potential “hirer” of these services to decide whom to choose.

The quality of writers varies and whilst some are very good, there are a lot of “bad eggs” around too!

Many of these “bad eggs” compete by keeping their prices low. They may only charge one or two dollars per article, but in nearly every case, these articles will need to be re-written so they make sense!

It would have been so much easier if you had written the article yourself!

When sourcing a writer to write articles or content for your website, there are some of the things you should consider:

* Check out what they have done before – what was the quality of their past work?

* Search for feedback on this writer – what are people saying about the quality? Are there links to other articles they have written? If so, have a look at those to determine if they are of the quality and style you are after.

* Is your writer easily contactable? If they have provided you with several means of contacting them then this is a good sign that they are going to deliver, because they know that you know how to find them!

* Look for writers that specialize in your niche. The more the writer knows about your topic, the better and more informative the article will be.

* Remember that even though you didn’t write the article, as soon as you put your name to it, the article becomes a reflection of you! Are you happy to say it is “your” article?

* Remember that sometimes you need to pay a bit more to get the quality you are after. If you skimp on prices, you will end up with a sub-standard article that has no hope of driving anyone to your website!

Also, it is important to remember that there are writers that charge hundreds of dollars for a short article, and many business owners find this quite reasonable – as long as they are getting the type of quality they want.

As you can see, there are a few things you can do to pick a good article or content writer for your business.  It’s really about doing your homework to make sure you are getting what you really want.

Articles are a great way to show your expertise on a given topic and most definitely give people an insight into the type of person you are and the type of work you do.

If you publish an article that is of sub-standard quality, people will see that as a reflection of the kind of products or services they will receive from you, which is why it is so important to insure you have high quality, informative articles about the place instead!

Your articles are a reflection of you, so should you outsource this aspect of your business?

Let me ask you the following questions:

1. How is your writing ability? – If you write well and have the time to do it, then by all means go ahead and write those articles!
2. How much time do you have on your hands? – This is probably the main reason people outsource. Lack of time. By outsourcing this aspect of your business, you free up the time to concentrate on other areas.
3. Do you know of a good quality, professional and reliable article writer? If not, then it is time to go and do some research.
4. What is your outsourcing budget. Consider this carefully because you usually get what you pay for! A good quality, informative article is much more likely to generate targeted traffic to your site when compared to a terrible article.
5. How quickly do you need your articles written? After you have sourced an article writer it is important to determine their timeframes. Again, if you’re expecting something in an unrealistic timeframe then the quality will suffer.

Your answers to the questions above will determine whether or not you need to outsource. Many people form good working relationships with their writers who in many cases continue to write for them for many years.