I Need Content for My Website: How Do I Get It?

​If you have a business and want to expand your digital presence, you have probably at one point thought to yourself I need content for my website. It’s true, you need an online article strategy because every business owner stands to benefit from a deliberate online presence.

Right now, there are nearly 1.8 billion websites on the internet, and that number is constantly rising. Managing your business is one can of worms that you’re probably great at, but creating a solid internet presence is a whole new can. And maybe you only have an outdated and dull can opener to attempt to open it with. Creating your online presence is more than merely crafting a website with your unique backstory and essential contact information; it’s connecting with your customers and showing that you are active and your services or products are worth attention.

There are two questions to ask yourself when starting on your content creation: Do I need to write content for my website, or do I need a content writer? The answers to these questions will shape your approach and help determine where your focus is. Getting the content needed for your website may seem simple at first, but as with any job, there is a lot of work that needs to go into it.

Do I Need Content Ideas For My Website?

One option that might save you money upfront is to try writing your own content. There are two main reasons to write your own content: it costs less and you already know a lot about the industry. On the other hand, keep in mind that article writing takes time even when you are an expert. If you take on this work, it’s essentially saddling you with another job on top of running your business.

SEO content creation may appear easy at a glance, but when you finally sit down to write, you’ll likely realize there are a whole bunch of different pieces that make up the puzzle of blogging and article writing. How do you know which keywords to use? What are backlinks and where should you put them? Is it good enough to put all of your written content on one website? How often should you be producing new content? These are just a few of many considerations you probably need to start thinking about as you begin writing.

Becoming an expert on your niche’s topics is an important step for establishing your website (and thus, your business) as an authority in your industry. Building your site’s authority takes time. It can take months or even years before you see yourself land at the top of a search engine ranking. Before that can happen, you need content ideas. It may be easy to come up with the first couple of topics on your own, but how are you supposed to keep that up indefinitely? If you’re asking myself “I need content for my website now,” there are a few places to look.

Browse Search Engines

Chances are high that whatever questions you have about topics relating to your line of work, someone else has also had them. Search engines are a great place to glean such information as frequently asked questions that people ask about your industry. While the answers and topics might seem overly simple to an expert in the field, they are important to those who aren’t familiar with what you do. You can get a lot of mileage out of the simple topics and basic questions. If you are running low on ideas, do a little search yourself and see what topics start to pop up.

Venture Through Social Media

The number of active social media users is quickly approaching 4 billion, so there must be some content there that is holding people’s interests. A business social media account is a great way to quickly interact with your customers. You can focus on client engagement and even head off negative reviews by quickly addressing concerns brought to your attention.

More importantly, you can see what businesses like yours are doing and take note of what your target clientele is responding to online. From recent news to the latest industry trends, social media can be a useful tool for discovering what is important to your clients right now. Just make sure the content you produce is unique and not copying everything your competitors are doing.

Check Your Analytics

If you are managing your website and creating content on your own, it’s vital that you take advantage of analytics tools. More importantly, if you are using any sort of analytics program, you must review the information it’s collecting. The right analytics tools tell you everything from how many people are visiting your site to which keywords customers are using when they find your business.

And if you look closely, these tools can answer your “I need content for my website” question. Understanding your highest-rated keywords may help guide your article topics list.

Do I Need a Content Writer?

Creating your own content is a lot of work. Eventually, trying to maintain your online content while running your business may get to be too much. Or maybe writing isn’t one of your strong suits. Most businesses benefit from hiring a content writer to come up with articles for them. Outsourcing your content creation can be beneficial in many ways, but ultimately, it all culminates in you being able to focus on your business. But where should you start looking when you need a professional writer? Your options range from basic content to freelancers to professional companies.

Basic Content Options

You may have the option to hire an in-house writer. There are many considerations to mull over before taking this dive. Hiring an in-house writer means paying another wage or salary, plus any potential benefits if the writer works full time. This makes more financial sense in the long term than the short term, and you should be sure there will be plenty of work for the writer. If your content needs come in small bursts, an in-house writer might not be the way to go.

Some mill-type companies churn out a lot of content for seemingly low rates, but the quality of the content you get can be hit and miss. You get what you pay for. Keep in mind that maintaining your online presence is one part of investing in your business. Getting the content needed for your website should be given a high priority in both quality and quantity.

If you are not making room in your budget to secure quality articles or blogs, don’t expect to see a large return on your investment. If you plan on using another company to help produce your content, perform your due diligence to make sure you will get the quality of content you want.

Freelancer Choices

Better than a basic content option is to work with a professional who understands search engine optimization and online content creation. Thanks to the growth of remote work, freelance writers are abundant online. On the one hand, there are many great writers out there with portfolios to back up their skills. On the other hand, finding writers of this caliber is not always easy, or cheap. Freelancers are business owners themselves and ultimately determine their own rates. If you only wish to work with the cream of the crop, make sure you can afford it.

As with the basic options, you should also be wary of too-good-to-be-true prices. Always research the services being provided and vet your desired writer as thoroughly as possible.

Professional Content Creation Companies

Probably the best middle ground between writing your own content, getting affordable rates and securing quality is to go with a professional content creation company. These businesses typically work with teams of writers to craft written content for a variety of businesses. Although it’s still important to research each company to ensure the fit is right for you, with most professional content companies you can expect the following:

• Writer availability
• Quality assurance
• Keyword research
• Topic ideas

In addition, some companies offer extra services, such as posting the content for your business. With the right company, you can be mostly hands-off regarding your online content. However, it is always a good idea to know what’s going on with your website and social media so as to head off any issues. Having a company take over your content creation can be similar to having an in-house writer, depending on who you work with. At the same time, if you are on a tight budget and can’t afford professional rates, it can save your wallet.

What Should I Look for in Content Creation Services?

While asking yourself “I need content for my website, how do I get it?” you should definitely consider outsourcing. As you’re hunting down the best place to get content for your website, you should also know what qualities to look for in a content provider – and what to avoid. For example, steer away from businesses that practice black hat SEO tactics. Black hat SEO tactics are strategies that, while not illegal, attempt to artificially inflate page rankings through questionable means.

For example, stuffing keywords repeatedly into a single blog or placing links in every blog or social media comment. Quality and authority take a back seat with this approach. Good content providers should be able to help elevate your business organically following search engine guidelines.

Specifically, the following can be indicators of good website content writing services:

Human Contact

In an increasingly automated world, human contact can be welcoming. Whatever business you work with, you should have the ability to reach a real person when you need to. This could be through the company’s online chat, a phone line, text message, email or social media page. Being able to order your content through a smooth and automated process online is definitely convenient, but make sure you are dealing with real people, too. This also helps if you have specific questions or needs for your article topics.

Quality Oversight

If you’re hiring a company to write the content needed for your website, your time might be precious. Yet you need to ensure that the content representing your business is of good quality. Your business shouldn’t be creating content purely for content’s sake. The more educational, informative, and authoritative your content is, the better it’s likely to rank.

You should be able to trust that the company you use can generate quality content in your target language. This means if you want content written in English, the writer should be a native English speaker. The company’s writers should be vetted and properly trained. If you are constantly worrying about major grammar mistakes and coherency, it may be time to find a better provider.

Content Management

You have a couple of options for handling your finished content. As with the writing portion, you need to decide if you will publish and promote the content yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Many content providers also offer management services and can schedule the publication of blogs and articles to blogging platforms and social media for you. While promoting content is not necessarily as time-consuming as writing it, the process still takes time. Letting someone else handle publishing and promoting can take a lot of stress off your plate.

Taking note of all of these aspects of a good company, it is vital that you’re able to form a trusting relationship with your content provider. After all, you’ll be sharing a lot of information about your business with the writer and any other necessary contacts. Check out reviews, talk to listed references, and gather as much information as you can about the company beforehand to make sure you can trust their services. If available, take advantage of a trial offer to see if they will be the right fit. As with any business relationship, it’s important to start with a solid foundation.

What Works Best For My Business?

If you need content for your website, there are a few different ways to find articles online. While you can’t just take someone else’s content and claim it as your own, the internet provides quick access to a variety of services for professionally created content. You can also find tips for writing your own quality content. Where you ultimately get your articles comes down to personal preference, time and budget.

Once you have established your preferred method for content generation, eventually your content library may grow large enough that you can start updating and reinvigorating older posts, but you have to start somewhere. The internet is full of article writing advice as well as professionals and companies that can do the job for you. Ultimately, if your focus needs to be on your business, then you likely need content writer services.

Has working with professional writers benefitted your content strategy? What qualities do you look for in a professional writer or content company? Share your experiences with us!

Do I Need Content For My Website Right Now?

If you’re ready to start buying custom content for your website or you’re saying to yourself “I need a content writer,” give BKA Content a try. Our trained and vetted writers can create the content you want at affordable prices. You can order from our Content Shop today.