Say you just don't have the time to write copy for your customers and fresh new content to keep the search engines happy, or writing is just not your forte!

So what do you do?  Sometimes you go to someplace like http://www.elance.com or http://www.guru.com to find a writer and you get duped!

They end up giving you an article that have either have already written for someone else or they even found online as public domain. This can hamper your search engine results by rendering it duplicate content so it will not get indexed.  The search engines try to put only one copy of one document in their indexes. Plus it can be content that's just not good enough to help you build inbound links and repeat customers

Your website must have lots of fresh, high-quality content that in turn will help improve your search engine rankings, so here are some tips for finding good contractors:

#1  Take a look at their ratings and feedback comments. You always want to try to pick someone who has a perfect or nearly perfect score. The comments people leave are a good indication if this is a right match for your project.  Read these as well as the score, because people will give high scores but leave scathing comments -- go figure.

Look at how long they have been a provider and what kind of experience they've had. The requirements are different for different kinds of writing. If you want a basic article, a beginner may be OK, but for a press release or salescopy you might want to look for someone with proven experience.

#2  Take some time to write our your request. Try to be as specific as possible as to what your goals are, what you would like them to do, how much time and research may be required on their part, and what you will supply (keywords, research articles etc.). Specify that you require absolutely unique content and say how much you will be willing to pay.

#3  When you get responses, take note if they just sent you an automated response -- which is not so good -- or did they really take the time to read your request and put some time into answering it. This can be a sign of what the quality you get back in return.

#4  Is this provider experienced or knowledgeable in your area? Although not necessary in all situations, this can be helpful when you are making your final decision. 

#5  Set your budget before you post, don't base your decision on the lowest bid.  Sometimes you get what you pay for!

#6  When you get the writing back, use a tool like http://www.copyscape.com to make sure it is unique content and will help improve your search engine rankings!

Nicole Ephgrave