How to Buy Articles: Four Pitfalls to Avoid

You will inevitably have to buy articles if you want to run a long-term and successful marketing campaign for your online business. However, buying articles is always a gamble. Great content developers do exist, but the internet is home to a staggering number of bad writers. It is critical to your business's success that you avoid these writers whenever possible and only hire proven professionals. Here are four of the worst pitfalls to avoid when you buy articles.

1. Non-native English Speakers

People all over the world learn to speak and write in English, but they don't all do it well. Still, many search engine optimization and web design companies hire content writers from India and other second-world countries - places where a few dollars goes a long way and where writers are willing to work for pennies. These writers' prose is typically littered with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Even when the language is technically correct, it tends to lack the idioms and subtle nuances of a piece written by someone who lives in a primarily English-speaking country. Make sure that when you buy articles, they are written by someone from the United States, England, or another English-speaking nation. You will easily tell the difference, and so will your readers.

2. Bargain-Bin Prices and Big Bundle Discounts

As with most goods and services, you get what you pay for when you buy articles. There are content creation sites all over the internet that sell articles for ten dollars or less, but these rock-bottom prices are not going to help your business in the long run. Such cheap content is almost always the work of a non-native English speaker or a "quantity-over-quality" type writer who churns out six to eight pieces of rubbish per hour. Don't look to save much money with bulk or "bundle" deals, either. Truly quality writers put time and effort into each article, so they can't afford to charge less just because you've got a big order. Buy nice, don't buy twice.

3. Keyword Stuffing

If you're buying articles to fill your web pages or to syndicate to directories, chances are you'll need to have them optimized for certain keywords. However, you do not want choppy prose stuffed to the brim with keywords and related terms. Your content needs to sound natural to keep readers engaged and encourage repeat visits. You should therefore be wary of people who sell themselves purely as "SEO" writers but say nothing about content quality, flow, or grammar. An article that gets your webpage to the number one spot on Google but never results in sales or leads is not a good buy.

4. Missed Deadlines

Since most online content writers work from home and without immediate supervision, not getting your articles on time can be a huge problem. Even people who seem professional during initial communication can turn out to be utterly unreliable when deadlines approach. If you want to make sure your writers are going to perform well under time constraints, give them one or two trial articles (for pay) before you assign them to larger, more important projects. If they make or beat your deadline, you can put some trust in them.