What to Look For When Outsourcing Content

September 28, 2009 - For a lot of companies, finding the time and resources to constantly create relevant, quality content is simply not an option. Whether you can't afford to bring on full time SEO writers and deal with payroll and benefits, or the existing members of your company do not have the experience to research and write search engine optimized articles and blogs on a frequent basis, outsourcing your web content is usually the most realistic and economic option.

Once you have decided to start researching web content companies, what qualities should you look for and what should you avoid?

As a company with a web presence, there is a lot of competition out there and no room for error; therefore it is imperative that any content you create for your website is search engine optimized. Great content that is not optimized for search engines will not be found by your potential clients, and great content that doesn't get read can't help you.

So, one of the first qualifications you should look for in a web content company is their expertise in search engine optimization. Do they understand the importance of keywords, tags, the topics relevant to your company, your target audience, etc.

The next major qualification should be the quality of their writing. Ask to see writing samples as well as the URLs of websites they have worked on. Any legitimate web content firm will have a large library of sample content and/or existing content on other websites that you can view. Never hire a web content company without reading their sample content first. When reading the content, check to see if:

• the tone and style of the writing sample is in line with your website's goals
• the article/blog is grammatically correct and free of typos
• the web content balances information and a call to action
• the article sounds well researched and contains factual information
• the content contains hyperlinks and is edited appropriately for the Internet (versus edited for print)
• the web content organically infuses SEO keywords within the text (the keywords flow naturally within the text versus sounding like they were simply stuck in there for SEO purposes)

The Dangers of International Outsourcing

If you are an American company, you need to make sure that your web content is written correctly for American audiences. Outsourcing your web content to companies in India and the Philippines might save you a few dollars initially, but the web content created in those countries almost never sounds like it was written by a native English speaking writer. Incorrect grammar, as well as poor use of common phrases, idioms, and speech patterns are extremely obvious and can negatively effect the reader's perception of your company.

The content on your website is the voice of your company. It is the first contact potential clients have with your services, and that content represents you. If your website contains poorly written content that features bad grammar, spelling mistakes, and wording that sounds foreign to American audiences, that content will result in a sky-high bounce rate and very few leads.

Writing is an art. SEO writing is a skill on top of an art. Make sure the person or team responsible for your web content is a native English speaker with extensive knowledge of SEO practices, and has the ability to create quality content that is as engaging as it is informative.

Having search engine optimized copy makes it easy for search engines to find your Web pages. If your website doesn't have a first page search engine ranking on Google, We Do Web Content can help boost your web marketing goals. We Do Web Content takes pride in producing high-quality and affordable SEO web copy that is clean, consistent, and formatted for Internet marketing. We get excited when your website's search engine ranking climbs and YOU ARE FOUND. Get started today - 1-888-521-3880.