We were contacted by a very eager and friendly blogger earlier this week offering some of his writing skills. His name is James and he works for Blogpros.com an online startup focusing on content writing (mainly the ol’ good blog work). Given we ourself are also constantly looking for ways to improve our writing and content quality, well I thought it would be extremely opportune to make an interview out of the occasion no?
We were contacted by a very eager and friendly blogger earlier this week offering some of his writing skills. His name is James and he works for Blogpros.com an online startup focusing on content writing (mainly the ol’ good blog work). Given we ourself are also constantly looking for ways to improve our writing and content quality, well I thought it would be extremely opportune to make an interview out of the occasion no?
Here’s what I managed:
Hi James! Thank you for agreeing to this interview, here’s what we would like to know:
In your own words, how would you describe what your company Blogpros does?
We help our clients grow their sites by managing their blog for them. We do this by writing useful and powerful pieces of content on a regular basis, usually on new topics and trends that will attract potential customers on search engines. After months of hard work and thousands of new visitors, it’s easy to start converting blog traffic into sales with call to actions and other strategies.
“We help our clients grow their sites by managing their blog for them. We do this by writing useful and powerful pieces of content on a regular basis”
What type of business tend to request your services?
Mostly businesses with higher value clients, or agencies. Most small to mid-sized businesses haven’t discovered content marketing yet, or are not aware of the benefits, but the patient ones who try it out are seeing phenomenal results since they are first-movers in their industry.
It was you who actually contacted Web Courses Bangkok, what techniques do you use to find potential customers like our business?
We reached out with a friendly email! We do a lot of emailing (after all, it’s a marketer’s best tool), but we also do a healthy bit of content marketing ourselves, as well as Adwords, advertising space, partnerships, and other avenues.
Can you share some guidelines to good content writing?
We write for both people and search engines. That means not only is our content structured well, lengthy, and filled with great media and formatting, but it’s also useful, engaging, and easy to read. This is key to writing successful blog posts; people usually write for one or the other.
How can you use images and video to increase the value of your content effectively?
People hate blocks of text. They’re boring to read, and when people see them, they usually click back in their browser, which hurts the engagement and bounce rate on your site. Images and videos help keep your visitors interested and can provide valuable visual aids to support your article. Videos are fantastic to keep visitors on your website longer as well. In the end, it’s about adding value to your article.
“This is key to writing successful blog posts; people usually write for one or the other.”
Time is money, according to the pros, how long should a good 1,000 word article take to write?
It depends on the writer and the topic (we’ve written about the intricacies of plumbing hardware, for example), but our writers can write a great article in anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
Can you mention some bloggers that have inspire you to write like you do?
Neil Patel (quicksprout.com) comes to mind immediately; every post of his is an “ultimate guide” type post, and he really goes for quality over quantity on sites like Quicksprout, Kissmetrics, etc. Jayson DeMers with AudienceBloom also writes fantastic blog posts on Forbes and HuffingtonPost regularly.
Do you believe content writing will be a profitable activity for freelancers in the near future?
It depends on the skill, experience, and eagerness of the freelancer. I know of writers making a few hundred a month, and I know of freelancers charging $1200 per article. It’s already a very profitable industry.
Twitter’s opinions on the matter:
Seven Free #SEO Tools You Should Be Using: Today’s post is by Neil Patel – Owner of http://t.co/df2qeoXklC and… http://t.co/KilvszagbB
— Kamyar Shah (@kshahwork) June 23, 2014
Content is king, right? Tips from our blog team on how to write faster: http://t.co/6yJBq43fkI — Hootsuite (@hootsuite) June 27, 2014
Tips and Tactics for Amplifying Your Content (via @Moz): http://t.co/TGXwn8Scwi #contentmarketing
— Basetwo Media (@BasetwoMedia) June 26, 2014
Are there any specialised tools/ software you use to make you social media campaigns more effective?
Social media networks themselves are the greatest tools we use. We promote every piece of content we write for our clients on social media, but we aren’t directly managing their social media profiles with our service.
“I know of freelancers charging $1200 per article. It’s already a very profitable industry.”
Can you give our students any tips on how to improve their writing skills for the internet?
The best way to improve your writing skills is to keep your articles engaging and human (articles without some personality are boring), to support your facts and claims with links to sources, and to write articles that tailor to search engine queries. Billions of people are using search engines to learn more about a subject, so by creating great pieces of content that tailor to those queries, your posts will surface because they are genuinely helpful and relevant.
An attempt at some thoughtful words:
And with those wise words James leaves us quite a bit to think about! In the brink of an age of SEO change, where content becomes king of search engines, being an efficient content writer is becoming one of the internet’s most valuable skills.
Feeling a bit uneasy about the mysteries of social media and good SEO? At WCB we offer a range of awesome courses to get you past your fears, our online marketing and social media workshops can be a great place to start jour journey into the virtual realms.
