Freelance Article Writing for Profit and Fun
Sharing Expertise and Knowledge on the Internet
Sep 26, 2009
Websites and blogs can showcase enthusiasm, and if enough people read articles money can be made.
Sophisticated free blogs and websites are easy to create (for example blogger and google sites), and these can be used to indulge creative talents.
To go beyond simply writing for personal pleasure and to reach a wide readership it is essential to gain some understanding of the way search engines work. Articles need to be written in a particular way – but that does not mean that content has to be compromised.
Search Engine Optimisation
- SEO requires careful choice of wording for article titles, sub-titles, and paragraph headings.
- Automated search algorithms are not intelligent, so they do not understand clever word play or in-jokes.
- Transparent descriptions of content will be picked up by the ‘robots’, and also show readers exactly what to expect from the article.
- Short articles, focussed on one clear topic or idea, will work best.
A personal blog or website can be used in much the same way as a diary or a notebook, and there will be no editorial constraints (save those of the author). Sharing the information is optional – it can be kept personal, restricted to a few like-minded individuals and friends, or opened up to the whole world. The text is of course paramount – but images, videos, and sound can be included. Multimedia ‘articles’ can be very ‘information-rich’ and go beyond the limitations of the written word.
Writing Online for Profit
Revenue from internet writing comes from advertisements, and there are several ways to benefit from this.
- If a personal blog or website has a large enough readership it might be beneficial to allow advertisements alongside the text. Appropriate adverts will be put where they are most likely to attract enquiries, and the owner of the blog/website will make a little money whenever readers respond to the adverts.
- Articles can be sold outright to other online organisations. Entrepreneurs buy suitable text and then display it on their own site for their own profit. This model is rather like selling text for print.
- Some sites will host freelance articles for free and share any revenue that they generate. This model obviously works best if the hosting site is well-known and already has an established readership. Copyright is normally ‘signed over’, either permanently or for a specified period of time.
Altruistically sharing information and expertise is noble, and it can also be a way of gaining a little extra income.
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