Many freelancers have questions about what is SEO; what is SEO copywriting; what is SEO writing. This article explains – in detail – what this is. And, how to make money from it as a freelance writer.

What is SEO?

SEO is an acronym for the phrase “search engine optimization.” Search engine optimization is all about doing specific things to your website to drive more traffic to it so that you can increase online sales – and traffic.

What are some of these “things?”

There are many, but here we will discuss what it is as it applies to freelance writers. And, this means writing text in a certain way so that web surfers (ie, internet users) can land on a particular site.

What is SEO As It Relates to Freelance Writers?

What freelance writers need to be concerned with is keywords. What are keywords? Keywords are the words and phrases that web surfers type in when they search for things online.

For example, let’s say you were interested in starting a foreclosure cleanup business. You may not know anything about it other than foreclosures are hot in the news right now and you are interested in starting this kind of company.

So, you log onto your favorite search engine, (eg, Google, Yahoo! MSN, etc.) and type in the keywords “foreclosure cleaning business” or “foreclosure cleaning” or “foreclosure cleanup” or some other relevant keyword phrase.

Note: When you type words into a search engine to find something on the internet, the words you type in are called a keyword (one word) or a keyword phrase (two or more words with commas in between).

How Businesses Get to the Top of Search Engine Results

When you type in these words and hit “ENTER”, a bunch of sites pop up and you start to surf (ie, click on the results) and start investigating the sites to see if they have the information you need.

The sites that pop up are the results that search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, et al think are the most relevant to the keyword phrase (aka search phrase) you typed in. Companies pay a lot of money to be among the first two or three pages in the results that search engines return.

Why SEO Copywriters are So In Demand and How They Make Their Money

One of the ways they get to pop up in the first two or three pages of results is to have relevant text that contains the proper keyword phrases. And, this is where you as an SEO copywriter can make a lot of money. You write the text that their site needs to pop up high in search engine results.

Many times, companies will simply give you a bunch of keyword phrases and let you write what you want — as long as it’s a certain length (usually 300-500 words).

There are many freelance writers – hundreds of thousands, if not a few million. BUT, only a tiny minority know what SEO is and how to write this type of copy. And, this is why they’re so in demand.

SEO copywriters have an in-demand skill. And, as more and more companies move larger portions of their advertising budgets to internet marketing, there is an even greater demand for their skills.

In the SearcheEngineWatch article, The SEO Copywriter: Wordsmithing the Web, William Flaiz, underscores the importance of an SEO copywriter. He writes:

“The role of the agency SEO copywriter is unique because…. Suddenly, the writer must optimize press releases, craft articles for social news, monitor social network communications, and develop wiki content…. a strong SEO copywriter is adaptable and capable of internalizing a lot of new information extremely quickly. These unique individuals have fast become the backbone of many SEO engagements. If content is king, then they [SEO copywriters] are the kingmakers.”

And this is why SEO copywriters can charge a premium for their services. If you’re looking for a way to start or maximize your income as an online freelance writer, then SEO copywriting is they way to go.

You may be the best in your business. But without a website, no one will ever know anything about you. And even if you do have a website, you need to ensure that your website has good content. Writing is an art and it is even more complicated when you have to write about your own product for a website. To make the best of today’s online marketing world, you can hire a good freelance content writer.

When you hire a content writer, you make sure that you catch the reader’s attention with good content writing. If you are looking for tips on how to write good content for your blog or website, we have the best tips for you!

Tip 1: Stick to your content, literally! Make sure you are always relevant to the service or product that you provide. Straying away from your topic is not good for your business. When you know about your product, make sure you cover everything they need to know about it without going to too many pages. Having relevant content is the first step in making sure Google and Yahoo and other search engines take your webpage to potential customers. Make sure the content is easy to understand.

Tip 2: Keep your content short and to the point. You don’t have to write more words just because you want to build a story before coming to your point. Make sure your content is precise as most people prefer skimming through content rather than reading every word and spending time with it.

Tip 3: Make several drafts before the final one. You might be great at content writing, but that doesn’t mean your first draft is your best work. Keep working on your article and check it thoroughly for grammar and spelling errors. It might be a careless small spelling error but the impact it can have on your readers is large. It’s okay to be a grammar Nazi at times.

Tip 4: Think your article through before writing it down. Even if you are writing about your own product or service, make sure to read a lot about it. With proper research comes a great article. Read a lot of articles, blogs and also your competitors content to decide what makes you different from them and then highlight it.

Tip 5: Keep the tone of the article upbeat and stay positive. It is okay to be blatant about authorizing your own products or you can also do it with subtlety.

Tip 6: Before you write an article, think about your audience. If you are writing about a technical service, you can use big words and sound smart. But on the other hand, if you are writing for common people, you do not want them breaking their heads trying to figure out what you are trying to say.

Tip 7: One of the most important things is to avoid fluff words. If you can put across something in one sentence, don’t pull it out to three sentences. Keep it short silly!

Tip 8: If you have pictures or a cartoon, go ahead and add it. It will appeal to people more than a lot of text.

Other tips –

• Focus on the formatting. People can find it annoying if you write like this.

• Have a lot of bullet points to put across your points easily.

• Have a skeleton structure and then build the article on it.

• Fix the number of paragraphs such that each paragraph is about one aspect or one topic.

• Keep your paragraphs short. Ideally, a paragraph can have 200 words.

• Have subheading so people can jump right into what they are looking for.

With these tips in mind, you can think of how to develop good content for your website. It might not be easy, but the effort you put into it is definitely worth it.

Writing a federal resume and completing a federal job application packet are not jobs for the inexperienced or faint of heart. Successfully cutting through the red tape that usually surrounds federal job requirements requires skill, determination and experience.

A powerful resume written by federal resume specialists gives you a big advantage over your competitors. Remember, every day literally hundreds of thousands of people apply for only thousands of federal jobs. If your resume and application package are less than stellar, you won’t stand a chance!

A great federal resume cuts through the red tape by emphasizing your academic achievements, education, transferable skills and career-matching qualifications by providing most if not all of the following information about you:

Your Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): The federal government frequently requires a supplemental narrative statement that addresses a specific knowledge, skills, and abilities as they pertain to a job series or position. Providing quantitative or qualitative evidence that supports your KSAs is imperative. All KSAs are scored on a point system, and specific examples usually get the highest scores.

KSAs are also known as: Supplemental Narrative Statements, Selective Factors, Selective Placement Factors, Evaluation Criteria, Executive Core Qualifications, and Professional and Technical Qualifications.

See why you need a specialist?

Here are the basic definitions for KSA statements:

Knowledge statements are bodies of organized factual and procedural information that indicate your performance on the job will be adequate.

Skill statements mean how well you manually, verbally or mentally manipulate the data or other things as required by the job for which you are applying, for example typing tests or vehicle-operating skills, or skills in writing and editing and evaluating information.

Ability statements describe your present abilities to perform an observable activity, as opposed to whatever aptitudes you possess. Aptitudes are only the potential for performing the activity.

KSA’s are important because Office of Personnel Management ranks applicants with higher proficiency levels on a quality ranking factor above those with lower proficiency levels With quality ranking factors, the focus is on the level of proficiency the candidate brings to the job.” Simply put, KSAs alone will not disqualify you but they are essential to receiving a high proficiency rating.

KSA’s are only one of many reasons why hiring a professional federal resume service is the smartest move you can make when applying for a federal job. So don’t leave your federal hiring to chance–to increase your chances of being hired for a federal job, put your chances in the hands of professional today.

Walking down the narrow path walk, a woman was few steps ahead of me conversing er, quarreling with someone.over the phone.

Overheard conversations:

Woman: Never again. I won’t let you do it for the third time.

Man: But… you’ve just said you love me.

Woman: Yes, but loving myself more is better than loving a man like you.

Man: Then, why are you calling me this very hour, you knew very well that I am busy.

Woman: Busy with what?

Man: Work.

Woman: It’s Sunday!

Man: Oh.

Silence. Something I feared that time might happen. For the storm was brewing.

Woman: What a flimsy excuse. How could you lie to me like that? You’re busy womanizing.

Had just passed by her few steps away when, to my great surprise, she threw the phone few steps to where am heading. It shattered to pieces.

What if I accidentally stepped onto the cellphone shattered pieces, and got myself hurt from what she did?

What if an innocent kid got hurt from such?

What if… too many possible scenarios. Yes, a writer like me has this fondness to playing what-if every time there is a chance to. For, the ambient or setting, action-reaction of people or what around can be a great story gem need polishing, good insinuating incident to my soon to be written novel and slated to be published this coming year.

Well, I was in awe to the gentleman who chose to pick those destroyed cellphone and returned it to the woman who had just raised hackles at that time.

Yes, endless is the possibilities of getting ideas out of daily people-watching while you’re also busy on things adulting. We are, oftentimes, being side-tracked with different stimuli around; yes, almost all our scenes or dialogues were products of overheard conversations, seen movements of people doing daily grind, and the like.

Making this people-watching as one way toward getting gem for a story or what, the easier the journey becomes toward fleshing out a character, dressing up a scene, and giving thought-provoking statement to the readers who are open to absorb wisdom from all corners of the book, either in printed or e-book form.

I did not give longer attention for I was preoccupied with other matters like having to feel the ambience of being surrounded with different faces, reactions, due to different motives, either eking out a living wishing such could have been given to them instead of throwing it away, or just passing time waiting for someone, hours before dawn.

With the different thought popping up my mind, say possible cliffhanger to a given chapter need to be written when I am home, the conflict needed for a scene where the protagonist has to confront the antagonist, things like that.

A writer’s mind is full of characters competing for attention. So when you see me unmindful of the ambience around, well, am between characters shouting at me at length for a chance to grace one of my future novels.. Don’t bother bothering me.

Yes, a writer is a slave of his characters vying for attention and all. Please don’t compete with them. Just kidding.

A piece of writing is only useful when it is easily understandable by the average reasonable person. This is the purpose of technical writing – to make written material about otherwise complex fields such as science and technology more accessible and easier to understand.

Technical writing is synonymous with effective written communication. Its purpose is to convey a particular piece of technical information to a particular audience. Technical writing is essentially written explanations of scientific and other specialized subjects related to the sciences. In its simplest definition, technical writing is the process of transforming and translating technical ideas into a written output that a target audience will understand.

A technical writer is therefore responsible for documenting a specialized field or technology. He or she must be able to effectively translate technical information into something accurate, readable, and accessible.

Technical writers work in diverse fields. They are everywhere- in the computer hardware and software industries, chemistry, robotics, consumer electronics, aerospace industry, and even biotechnology industry, to name a few. They are trained to identify the target audience for the project, and then effectively write according to their level of comprehension and familiarity with the subject at hand. Technical writers have to deal with varying audience types. They must be able to write a very simple how-to for a DVD player, for example, so that consumers can understand them. But they must also be able to write for a DVD technician who has advanced knowledge of the device about diagnosis, repair, or replacement of parts, for example.

Technical writers are called ‘technical authors’ in European countries like the United Kingdom. They are also referred to as ‘information designers’ in some industries.

Creative Writing is not as easy as it looks. Many people like to read historical fiction novels and read letters that one character writes to another. Indeed, in the old days, folks write a lot different than they do today. Can you even imagine writing a letter to someone in the style of writing used in the 1600s or 1700s? Well, maybe you might have a go of it and see what you come up with.

For instance, just so you get a little taste of the style to refresh your memory, below is a creative writing practice letter to a creative writing coach.

 

Baroness of Barbuda,

I sincerely hope this letter finds you well and do hope it meets its destiny, as there are far too many ships lost this time of year due to the frightful Hurricane Season. I find it unfortunate that you hath reduced me to no more than a rich guy, merely because our family founded the first colonies. I dare say you are wonderfully blessed by God to have the benefits of news, as it rarely finds its way to the North. We have magnificent wild turkey here, however no chickens, such a delicacy one can only dream for.

 

Perhaps by the grace of God we may soon have such pleasures of the plate. Indeed, there will be a trading vessel coming by next season here and our last corn harvest was good for this time of the year. Could I be so bold as to suggest that you have the local natives messenger your writings to the editors of news, as your time is valuable and you must attend to more pressing matters of running your Kingdom.

With the grace of God, I bid you a warm farewell,

Sir Lance-a-Lot of Articles

 

— — — — —

 

As you can see it’s not easy to weave a letter of this type into a fictional historical story, but that is not to say it cannot be done. Would one consider this a good try? Hmm? Well, it’s okay, it’s a start, you see,

 

I am attempting to write a little historical fiction here, as it seems creative writing is not my forte, well unless it is Sci Fi. So, I figure I better get some practice?

Can an online article writer write fiction as well as articles for article marketing, even if most of what they write is non-fiction? Some say that writing is writing and once you can write well, you can then work on your creativity aspect. In my case, most everything I write is non-fiction:

Futurists Concepts

Business

Industry

Politics

Op Ed

Philosophy

Science

Energy

Etc.

So, if I am going to write historical fiction, well I am going to need a coach and start talking to an eminent achiever creative writing genius. Now you might want to know what advice I would give to you in writing historical fiction, I would say the best way to get the hang of the era is to read actual writing from the exact period in which you will be creating your scene and characters in.

 

Soon you will notice how flowery the personal letters were back in the day? It’s like everyone who was anyone back then could write well, today folks only do text messaging. It is really interesting to read the collection of letters, papers, documents that led us to the present day, amazing actually. Once you do a little studying on the particular era, then you can begin practicing and getting a feel for it. It’s not easy, but it may not be as difficult as you think.

Resumes can be tailored to suit any industry or position. Generic resumes do not always have what it takes to get yourself noticed. There could be hundreds of people also applying for the same job opening so you need to make your resume stand out.

If your field is in customer service then you should write a customer service resume. Be sure to mention everything you did in your role. If you had specific accomplishments, list those as well, they will really help you to set yourself apart from all those who just list basic job duties. If there were key metrics (that is, numbers or quantitative data) that you had to make be sure to list those as well. Your resume should use some of the same wording in the job posting. This is very important, some companies use a computer to narrow down the resumes they receive. The computer is programmed to look for key words and phrases.

Once you have written your resume you should also create a targeted cover letter that pulls key phrases and words from your resume. You do not want to make it too long. Try to summarize the highlights in your career.

Save a copy of your customer service resume to your hard drive so you can use it again. Each time you apply for a customer service job you can pull it up and make changes as necessary. A custom resume should be used each time you apply for a job.

1) In case you are unaware, there are currently 60 million unemployed people in the USA and another 60 million that are only able to work part-time, seeking to advance in their careers or trying to make a career change. This means there is more competition than ever before (60M + 60M = 120M a historical high).

2) Next, there is a cost benefit analysis of whether to delegate the job to an expert or not. In the current economy, if you do it yourself you will certainly save about $300-$400 instantly. However, as weeks turn into months and months slip into years of unemployment or limited earnings part-time the financial loss of an average salary of $4,000 per month times an average job search of 12 months equals a true cost of $48,000 in lost wages. What if expert assistance from a veteran Certified Professional Resume Writer cut that loss by 67% or at least 50%? Essentially, it is right back to Ben Franklin’s advice, “A penny saved is a penny earned” with a modest adjustment for annual inflation, you could save $24,000 to $36,000 even if you only have only average earnings.

3) If you have done well, your resume will be compared side by side with the top 5% of resumes that made the cut to be reviewed and interviewed by a human. Most of those are professionally written. Wouldn’t you get more interviews if you were at least be on equal footing?

4) Most people cannot brag about themselves effectively, let alone market and sell their skills, talents and abilities in a way that will actually motivate hiring managers. Professional writers are adept at doing this without showing arrogance or exaggeration.

5) The average American’s writing, editing and proofreading grade level is too low only because college education is so expensive here. Thus, great writers will have a serious advantage over you.

6) Many mistakes are hard to catch, even with spell checking from Microsoft® Word. Commonly confused words like homonyms (to, two, too or their and there) are very hard to catch. Then there are errors in logic, general grammar errors and typos that form another word unintentionally.

7) Another person’s opinion and interview questions will often reveal plenty of new, relevant information that you did not think to include on your resume. This in itself may cinch your hire.

8) The average American business professional or Fortune 500 executive still does not understand that one of the primary missions of your résumé should be to build their value. Why miss your chance to cash in and earn a significant raise?

9) If your resume and cover letter deserves to be in the top 5% of resumes an employer collects for a job posting, odds are you will earn plenty of interviews. More importantly, you will likely have multiple offers to choose from and thus position yourself for a better compensation and benefits package. Is a $100,000 compensation package with top-tier benefits better than a $75,000 annual salary?

10) After you hire a Certified Professional Resume Writer, you will be keenly aware of your worth in the market place; thus, you will not be accepting low-ball salary offers from third-tier employers. Confidence is essential in your salary negotiation process as employers have a strategic edge right now due to the overabundance of well-qualified candidates.

11) Most people completely miss out on the many critical points of résumé strategy: Targeting, specific performance metrics, making claims supported by evidence, focusing on results rather than responsibilities, stating a specific goal, strategy for career changes or industry changes, compatibility, file size restrictions, editing for brevity and relevancy, prioritizing, applicant tracking system strategy, convincing writing, accomplishments, style, proper formatting, tuning into what the employers want and keyword strategy.

12) You cannot circumvent the laws of supply and demand because they are omnipotent. Thus, many job hunters with merely average resumes and cover letters are forced to settle for an employer that requires them to relocate (very expensive) or settle for third-tier employers. Odds are there is undiscovered opportunity where you are now or you should be earning a salary that better reflects your current market value.

The truth is, your destiny awaits you. It really is no big deal to conform to what exactly employers want to see in your resume or cover letters. Regardless of which path you choose make sure your career documents are excellent because they are still the foundation of your job hunt.

Expert Federal Resume Writing Help – Certified Professional Federal Resume Writing Service

The federal resume is one of the hardest documents you will ever prepare. It is a time-intensive, labor of love that requires dedication, advanced grammar and editing skills, and the ability to draft a 2-4 page document about yourself. That doesn’t sound hard to you? Okay, try sitting down and describing your current life in a paragraph. Now, do that 2- 8 times over with respect to each job position and life experience you have had and then maybe you will see my point.

Unfortunately, even though the Obama administration got rid of the KSAs, the federal resume still looms. And, don’t be fooled by the fact that the government has done away with KSAs – that is not the case. Rather, the only difference is that now many of the agencies require that the KSAs be integrated into your current resume. How’s that for difficult – Basically the KSA is still a requirement for almost every government agency, only they are requiring that it be included in your resume, as opposed to submitted in a separate document.

What can you do to try to ease the pain of creating a federal resume – here are a few tips from a 10th year nationally certified resume writer who has served as a federal resume writer to several of the web’s top resume writing companies.

1. Brainstorm: When you apply for Federal and Government positions, they are sticklers for accuracy. Saying you started a position in 2010 is not enough – they want dates, including months and years. And, once you are on the interview and request that you complete a job application, they will require even more specific dates such as the exact date you started and ended the position. Therefore, take some time and think of each position you’ve had, the title, the supervisor, the months/years, and whether you will agree to let the potential employer contact your old employer.

2. Outline: Just as if you were back in high school or college, the key to any great essay is the ability to gather, organize, and execute your thoughts. Therefore, the first step in actually drafting the resume is for you to outline a job description that adequately describes each position you have had for the last 15-years.

3. Fine Tune the Outline: The next step should be taking the information and turning it into a story. Unlike a civilian resume, which is the equivalent of telling a story, a federal resume is the equivalent of writing a really, really boring story. It is important that you detail everything you did, but not overstate it. This is because with federal jobs, they WILL check your references, and WILL check you confirm that you actually completed what you said you did. (Not that you should ever lie in a civilian resume).

4. Give up and Hire a Resume Writer: Make SURE you have an EFFECTIVE FEDERAL RESUME: Government resumes generally will require the help of a professional resume writer. This is because the format is entirely different, the verbiage is more straightforward without being repetitive, and the content is much more dense. In addition, the job descriptions are much more detailed and in paragraph form. For the best results, do yourself a favor and hire Certified Professional Resume Writer with a strong background in creating Federal Resumes.

GOOD LUCK!

• Academic writing is formal, often using the third person and passive voice. Business writing is less formal, more direct and concise, using active voice.
• Long sentences are fine in academic writing, but they are very cumbersome in business writing.
• Students need to show a wide vocabulary so they use complex words and long sentences. Business writers must get their ideas across quickly, so they use simple words and short sentences.

Let’s look at these differences in more detail:

Students write to demonstrate learning!

Schools, colleges and universities exist to share knowledge and to help students do the same. The writing that students produce in academic settings can best be described as “writing to demonstrate what you have learned.”

Students write to discuss and explore different topics, to argue a case, to demonstrate what they have learned to teachers and professors. They need to prove they can think about and apply what they learned. Students need to persuade readers of a particular theory or develop information gained from research.

The writing that students hand to instructors or professors indicates how their mind works, how much they know, and what they think and feel about particular topics.

In academic writing, students write to demonstrate learning, to impress!

Business writers write to get things done!

In the business world, we write to share information, to solve problems, to propose new strategies, to negotiate contracts, to report progress to stakeholders, etc.

When we write in business – to managers, employees, customers, vendors, stakeholders, etc – we need to give clear information and explain what we want or what we want others to do. Business writers often recommend specific courses of action to their readers. Therefore, writing in business contexts can best be described as “writing to do.”

In business, we need to get things done quickly, so we need to express ourselves clearly! Clarity is key and this should be the main focus in all business writing.

In business writing, we write to get things done – to express!