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(a little bribe for info)What is the warrior take on article writing 'quality'?

by movinmetal
15 replies
I am new here, and excited to listen to all the pros...

I have been reading the advice provided to a person here desiring to generate a quick income, and most folks seem to agree that article writing is the answer. But I can discern no particular writing ability that this person might have.

I wonder if maybe I don't understand something here(quite likely).

I 'exchanged' content with another blogger once, but when I realized that a post had been made, and actually read it, I could not remove it quickly enough.

Some people can write well. Others cannot.

When one peruses any of the article directories, the first significant impression is shock and dismay at the utter lack of writing talent. Even common punctuation is mishandled or nonexistent. I know that this is the impression that any of the pros here would get, it isn't just me...

Are there websites that post crap all the time in order to draw traffic?

I could NEVER post 99% of this content on any of my sites, and I do not see professional websites covered with all sorts of amateurish mistakes.

So, the (long-winded) question is, who pays for bad writing?

And, if someone feels that they can write well, or works as a writer, where do they find buyers for content?

Whoever can provide the most useful answer is welcome to 400 words on their subject of choice!

Thanks!
#article #bribe #infowhat #quality #warrior #writing
  • Profile picture of the author indexphp
    Writing content takes time. Writing good content takes even more. Crappy articles are still good for a link (with your anchor text of choice). I would never put my best content on a site other than my own.
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    • Profile picture of the author movinmetal
      Originally Posted by Garrett Aren View Post

      Writing content takes time. Writing good content takes even more. Crappy articles are still good for a link (with your anchor text of choice). I would never put my best content on a site other than my own.


      Thanks for the info. I would love to thank you officially, but am still baffled by the technology of doing this: no 'button' anywhere in sight
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  • Profile picture of the author Anthony Robinson
    I think you've touched on something that seems to be a problem in the IM world, and that is the continued devaluation of quality writing.

    Let me answer your question in two ways:

    Who pays for bad writing?

    People who don't see the value in a well written post, article, press release, etc., who seek out only the lowest bidder. I can't see the value in outsourcing work that you have to re-work to make it acceptable. If you're trying to build your brand, why would you want to attach your name to substandard work?

    Who pays for bad writing?

    Initially, the people who use this drivel to promote themselves or their products. They are the ones whose reputations are being tarnished. In the long run, anyone who writes for a living pays for it by having their profession devalued in this way.

    Now let me throw a question at you:

    Who benefits from bad writing?

    Ultimately, anyone who produces quality work on a consistent basis will benefit from the garbage currently being published. By having such a vast array of junk out there, true quality work sticks out like a sore thumb. This can only help those who market their writing skills by providing a standard that is easily surpassed.
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    • Profile picture of the author movinmetal
      Thanks, chopper. I agree absolutely that quality will certainly stick out, but where and to whom does one market writing ability? Even copywriting ( which seems very easy) would require some kind of intro, followed by vetting for quality, followed by...

      There are probably just a few players who are the go-to people, as it is with most biz. As it should be...
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  • Profile picture of the author biz_online
    :confused: I'm confused! Are you people "for" or "against" writing a good quality article and submitting it to the top article directories?

    I don't see why anyone would not submit a good quality article to ezinearticles.com so that it would get picked up and get multiple links back to their site.

    Maybe I'm missing some... I thought the whole idea is to get traffic to your site to make money. Article marketing does just that.
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    • Profile picture of the author Anthony Robinson
      Originally Posted by biz_online View Post

      :confused: I'm confused! Are you people "for" or "against" writing a good quality article and submitting it to the top article directories?

      I don't see why anyone would not submit a good quality article to ezinearticles.com so that it would get picked up and get multiple links back to their site.

      Maybe I'm missing some... I thought the whole idea is to get traffic to your site to make money. Article marketing does just that.
      Biz,

      We're for
       quality articles, blog posts, etc., but are lamenting the fact that quality writing has suffered as people scramble to find the lowest price they can find to have an article written. All too often, the articles that result from this are low quality, poorly written trash that does not produce the desired result (traffic and sales) and lumps all writers into the same category.

      Hope this clears things up!
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  • Profile picture of the author Darren Mothersele
    Thanks chopper,

    Your succinct summary of the situation fills me with hope that one day the devaluation will reach a limit, and people will once again appreciate excellent writing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peggy Baron
    Hi Movinmetal,

    I think part of the problem is a time issue. People want to make money fast and they realize the faster they churn out articles, the sooner they drive traffic to their sites and make money. So trying to write 5-10 articles a day tends to put some strain on the quality of the articles.

    "Good enough" seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

    I would also like to point out that articles posted on many blogs tend to be more of a conversational nature. The grammar rules are relaxed and people write like they talk. These kinds of posts are much easier to read and lend some stickiness to the blog. However, they should still provide value to the reader.

    Good luck with your endeavors,
    Peggy
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    • Profile picture of the author bombdiggity
      Originally Posted by Peggy Baron View Post

      Hi Movinmetal,

      I think part of the problem is a time issue. People want to make money fast and they realize the faster they churn out articles, the sooner they drive traffic to their sites and make money. So trying to write 5-10 articles a day tends to put some strain on the quality of the articles.

      "Good enough" seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

      I would also like to point out that articles posted on many blogs tend to be more of a conversational nature. The grammar rules are relaxed and people write like they talk. These kinds of posts are much easier to read and lend some stickiness to the blog. However, they should still provide value to the reader.

      Good luck with your endeavors,
      Peggy
      I think this is exactly right. People want more traffic, so naturally they churn out more articles. Quality gets put on the back burner, while quantity gets preferential treatment. If you're a good writer, I think 25-30 minutes minimum is about the right amount of time to write a quality article. With research, I'd say 45 minutes tops. I'm sure some of the speed-writers out there could prove me wrong, but I haven't seen anything to change my mind about this subject yet.
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      **bombdiggity**

      =ask me about my unique high quality content articles=
      >>explosive content starting at only $3.50!<<
      .boom.baby.boom.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ryan Dodson
    Consistent bad content may get you more views/traffic - but that traffic won't stay on the page longer than 5 seconds once they relize that they've wasted their time clicking the link to your article/page.

    Then you'd find yourself with a 100% bounce rate.
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Originally Posted by Ryan Dodson View Post

      Consistent bad content may get you more views/traffic - but that traffic won't stay on the page longer than 5 seconds once they relize that they've wasted their time clicking the link to your article/page.

      Then you'd find yourself with a 100% bounce rate.
      I want a high bounce rate in most cases. I want about 20% or so of them to bounce away quickly to an Adsense ad, eBay listing or affiliate landing page where I'll get paid for their click/action/purchase.
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      • Profile picture of the author Darren Mothersele
        Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

        I want a high bounce rate in most cases. I want about 20% or so of them to bounce away quickly to an Adsense ad, eBay listing or affiliate landing page where I'll get paid for their click/action/purchase.
        unfortunately that's not where they'll be bouncing too - you know the browser back button is the most used navigation device!
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  • Profile picture of the author traces2757
    Bad writing is a pet peeve of mine; most especially when the writer simply doesn't care. Perhaps that's because I am a writer and editor, but I would hope that it means something to anyone who values quality.

    I realize that people will get traffic even with bad writing, but the ones who truly care about the quality of their content will get more than traffic; they will also get credibility. To me that means much more in the long run.

    I also realize that you can take a few more liberties with blog posts (and I do) because they are more of a journal type thing. Even with blog posts, though, you can take care to make your writing legible and interesting.

    Those who can't write--and for some it's simply not a strength; no shame in that--should outsource to those who write decently. I can write, but if I needed a website created strictly with html code I would have to outsource. We can't all be good at everything, but we can still make sure that everything we put our names on is of the highest quality possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author raydp
    I was amused to see this thread as I had just been on a Warrior's website that, in addition to high ticket SEO services was offering "Article Writting".

    One can guess what the articles would be like!

    My fear is that with the decline in standards, search engines will devalue the links from article directories. In fact, I have read somewhere that it's already happening.

    Ray
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