Monthly Archives:May 2017

Should You Hire Someone to Write your Blog?

If you have a website or even a Facebook page, you may have considered a blog, either self-written or produced by a paid writer. The informational content of a website has a huge impact on how effective your web marketing efforts will be. Design, graphics and technical excellence are all important elements in digital marketing, but in the final analysis people return to your website because the content is engaging, informative and useful. The web is full of pretty sites that fail at web marketing because people view them once and never return.

The quality of a website’s written content has a direct bearing on its search engine ranking and on your internet marketing success. Google, by far the most important search engine ranking organization, has made this clear in its “Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines.” Those guidelines state that, “High-quality pages and websites need enough expertise to be authoritative and trustworthy on their topic.” The guidelines go on to say, “…it should, likewise, be written in a professional style and will need to be reviewed, updated, and edited regularly in order to ensure that it remains current and authoritative.”

One of the “killers” for webpage ranking and web marketing success is the presence of poorly produced, out-of-date or plagiarized written content. This is especially true for sites that fall into the “YMYL” (Your Money or Your Life) category. This is Google’s term for sites that can affect a viewer’s happiness, health or wealth. These sites ask you to spend money, frequent a professional practice, buy a product or service, shop at a given store, or make life changing decisions. In short, these are the types of webpages that are produced and maintained by a business marketing organization or an online marketing company like Axiom Administrative Services.

A great many personal websites would not benefit from hiring a professional writer. They are meant to be personal expressions, not business marketing or internet marketing solutions. If the webpage suits the needs and tastes of the owner, leaving it “as is” will hurt nothing of consequence. However, if your webpage or blog on Facebook has a serious online advertising or digital marketing purpose, hiring a writer to do your blog or other content writing may be a good idea.

Keep in mind the fact that this advice is coming from Axiom Administrative Services, an internet marketing company. Obviously, as an online marketing company, we believe that professional help in search engine optimization and web marketing will benefit almost any type of website. However, we also realize that professional help in writing web content and blog articles is not always useful. If your website is intended to help people find your restaurant or to order a pizza, hiring a content writer is not going to help much. For other types of websites, the situation is far different. Clients, patients or customers often visit these sites looking for useful information.
Imagine that you are an accountant or a principal in an accounting firm. Some people might visit your firm’s website simply to get directions or a phone number, but how likely are they to return? Not very, unless your digital marketing content interests or informs them. If your homepage contains a leader into a topic of interest to the viewer, you are far more likely to hold their attention. In tax season, a concise, well written explanation of Form 1040, line 37 might get a casual visitor’s interest and this makes it far more likely that they will stay ‘tuned in’.
Few people would argue that well-written content does not improve a blog or website, but there is a legitimate question as to who should write this material. The best-informed people about the services or products offered by any organization are the people on the “inside.” On the other hand, those people may already have their hands full taking care of business as it is, and they may not be inclined to write anything. Communications experts recommend that when writing assignments are given to in-house employees, they should dedicate a specific amount of time to be spent on the assignment. Most doctors cannot take an afternoon off to write a blog about good immunization practices, most attorneys can’t take time off to write about state probate laws and most small business entrepreneurs are all too busy to take added responsibility.
If the blog, web content or newsletter is part of an ongoing series, this becomes an even greater burden. This is the time for a professional practice, non-profit, small business or entrepreneur to consider hiring an outside writer. We say “small business” because most large firms have their own in-house communications departments that do this task for them. Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering this issue:

• Is the written content important to the website? This is not always the case; some websites rely more on embedded videos, visual material or other media.
• Do I have the skill to write this material myself? Get someone to read your material and give you an honest opinion. You may be surprised.
• Do I have the time to do this and is the task worth my time? For many business and professional people, the answer to this question is, “No!”
• Can I sustain a blog, a newsletter or the task of updating page content over the long haul? Writing one blog is easy, writing one a week for a year is not.
• Can I locate competent writing help? This may be the hardest part!

Content writing is only one part of a successful web marketing, digital marketing or internet advertising effort. The professionals at Axiom Administrative Services (AAS) can help you to master the digital marketing techniques needed to achieve an effective web presence. Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. AAS is able to combine traditional marketing techniques like printing and direct mail marketing with its creative web marketing services. Please visit our home page to find out how Axiom Administrative Services can fill your web marketing, search engine optimization and other digital marketing needs. You can also call us at 800 888-6348 for a free consultation.