Okay, there are writers who will tell you that writing web content isn’t “real” writing. I’m here to tell you that it is. It is a great way to start earning extra money right away. You won’t have to wait months for acceptance -or rejection- and you won’t have to wait months to get paid. Many if not most content buyers pay within the month (if not sooner), many via PayPal.
The main reasons that a lot of seasoned writers don’t like writing content is because 1) it doesn’t generally pay big bucks, and 2) a lot of content buyers are looking for nothing but keyword driven articles. Keyword articles can read more like a list of related words than a genuinely informative article, especially if keywords are abused.
On the other hand, a talented writer can incorporate keywords into an article without destroying the flow or the reading experience. It is difficult to do if a word is repeated too many times, but you are free to avoid sites that abuse keywords this way.
Most sites want keywords repeated at least a few times throughout each page, and anyone can work them in if it’s only necessary to do so a handful of times. You’ll also find that the keyword abusers are generally the most difficult to work for anyway. They usually request a large batch of articles in a short amount of time and pay very little. Some also ask for writing samples using various keywords, and then publish samples without paying you for your work.
However, you can find legitimate sites that also want to drive traffic to their pages, but still want quality articles and information. Writing short, general information articles is a great way to sharpen your skills, get your name out there (instead of writing for free), and make some extra money.
You might even want to join me here and start blogging for Families.com. This is a great community and a legitimate opportunity to make some extra money from the comfort of your own home.