SEO Writing, a Freelancer's Perspective

Search engine optimization is the greatest evil i have encountered in my career as a freelancer. Submitting yourself to professionally writing SEO content is like doing the low-brow work of the devil, there is no redemption for you, search engine optimization is your eternal hell on earth.

For those unfamiliar with “SEO” practices I will explain it to you in the most lament of ways. SEO writing is the processes of generating written material for the internet that is primarily intended to gain search engine hits and is generally employed when a profit is desired. What it is based off of is the statistics and analytics of specific searches that people do- Everything you’ve ever “googled” is well documented and used to come up with various keywords percentages that generate the most popular online hits. Even when you google “Midget Porn XXX” on google, (or whichever sight you do your perverse glimpsing on) the search engine takes note of your word choices when searching. Then, it correlates these words as a recommendations for keywords to be used on a website that has the desired content. The likelihood of your site gaining a “front page view” is therefore increased when it contains the words that are most popularly searched in correlation to the websites subject matter.

In the beginning, I am sure that search engine optimization was not mean to be such a devious tool. Essentially at the core of its invention it is an extremely useful way to connect people with relevant information appropriate to their online searches. However it is the great business minded franchises that have turned this innovation into the profound depravity that it is.

You are probably familiar with the saturation of online get rich quick while working at home schemes that plague the internet with adverts. Most frequently they suggest that you can make loads of money by writing full time online - typically what these advertisements are referring to is SEO writing.

It is very likely that as a start-up freelancer you will be enticed by this sort of work- and I speak from my own experience that it is inherently easy to come by and get hired for. If you take up SEO writing for websites, you will soon discover that the content matter you write will not be judged on quality but on your ability to “insert keyword here” and compose articles that are saturated with the desirable keywords. Additionally you will be met with the frustration of composing four hundred or more words on a topic that can be simplified and explained in much less- essentially learning how to “stretch” your compositions and repeat the same basic idea in various different ways will become a great asset. Then of course, for the most part compensation is actually much less then those online advertisements would like you to believe. Depending on your WPM and overall work ethic SEO article writing is far from a get rich quick scheme. The people who DO make money are the owners of the website that is generating buyers hits because of your optimized content.

There are exceptions I am sure, where your friend of a friends, cousins, aunts, estranged sister-in-law from Denmark actually made a huge profit writing SEO articles online! I don’t care to further dispute the possibility of making money doing this sort of shady writing, because part of me thinks that there are some huge ethical grey area that occur within the practice.

Furthermore if you wish to become a freelance writer, I believe that you have to make the choice about what kind of “writer” you wish to be.

Writing SEO articles is easy, but it is not the greatest of inventive outlets. I promise you once you get into the business of it, you will quickly understand why it is a soul sucking vice for truly creative people. If you have any writing talents what so ever, certainly you are meant for greater and better things.

Aside from that SEO writing is tres’ la boring and so very god damn random that often you will feel as if you’ve been sucked into some undefinable inside joke. Take for example my first experience with SEO article writing- Coral Care; How to Create and Care for your Own Saltwater Coral Aquarium. That was the title. Here is an insightful excerpt:

“Most Aquarium enthusiasts tend to stray away using real coral in their aquarium environments because the process of growing and caring for their own coral seems like a daunting and impossible undertaking. Although it is true that raising coral can be a time consuming task, the pride and sense of achievement is well worth the time you will need to invest in your coral farming. In fact with a little bit of patience and diligence you can have your very own home grown coral in a short twelve weeks.

There are a few things you will need to purchase in order to successfully raise coral. You will need; a coral kit- standard at pet stores or tropical fish stores, a tropical fish aquarium (at least over 20 gallon’s is recommended!) a standard hydrometer, also heaters, lighting and filters suited to your aquarium if not included in your kit. Each of these items is essential if you want to raise coral in the twelve week time frame.”

If you by any chance share the same sense of humour as I do, I hope you witness the “sarcastic” tone that I secretly instilled into this article.The whole thing went on to be around 600 search optimized words on coral care, it was essentially regenerated information that I myself obtained by doing a simple google search. We love google.

That is how the whole process works- you do some brief research to find your information and then you write as if you are an expert on the assigned subject matter. All the while making sure that you monitor carefully your keyword percentages and word count. Word count is for some reason, very important.

You can probably tell my experience with SEO writing has been far from positive. I learn’t how to do it correctly more so out of trial and error- rather then any personal goal to become an search engine optimization expert.

In an idealistic world well written, informative and entertaining articles would be the easiest for people to access- This is why I personally do not believe in the business of composing articles designed strictly to gain website hits and turn in a profit. SEO writing is the opposite of creative writing and therefore it is really not a job for creative people like myself.

If you are interested in freelancing I would recommend learning the in’s and outs of SEO for yourself. Having a proficient understanding of how it works will aid you in your online writing endeavours. There is a happy medium where the process of adding SEO to your content without sacrificing quality is possible- and can become a tool for you to use. Having SEO ability on your resume may get you some copywriting or product description jobs that can help pay the bills so I would not kibosh it altogether in favour of staking out a artist’s protest.

Even though working on SEO projects often makes me feel as if I have ripped my brain out, thrown it in a blender, stuck it back in and gone on with my day; I still will take the occasional SEO job. However, I have learnt to be extremely picky about, who I write for, what I write about and that I am getting respectable compensation for the work. (This is very important: Some business that hire SEO writers will pay you the wage of an ethiopian kid in a shoe factory- this kind of workload will often be relentless expecting delivery of an unrealistic amount of articles a day for something like $2.50 a piece.) As a start up freelancer though do not get in the habit of immediately snubbing any sort of paid work; remember crap jobs are your initiation into the freelancing world.

Keep your head up, if you are talented you will slowly start to find better writing work then professionally attempting to outsmart google. That, or you will transform into a former mutation of your artistic self, a gruesome SEO advocating zombie walking this earth and making 1 million dollars as a single mother working at home.