seo

Lost in the Ocean of Ghost Writers

Hello, my name is Gabriel, like the angel, but not quite the same.

I’ve been studying SEO trends for over 10 years now. I started learning back when I was a Quality Engineering Intern for EarthLink, Inc. Which basically means I stuck the ‘ISP Service” marketing CD into a Mac and PC and checked the database integration for typos. Translation. I was bored out of my adventurous mind. So, I studied any and everything written about Google search engine algorithms I could find.

Oh, and just for the record. The most common typo error I found was for the word “Earthlink”. It has a capital ‘L’. EarthLink.

But, let’s jump forward now, shall we? I run a small SEO consulting firm, (name omitted until I earn my SEOmoz stripes) out of Denver, Colorado. I have good clients and use the white hat techniques of yore with aplomb and grace, upgrading them with the current times. However, the one area I am lost in … is finding quality ghost writers or SEO copywriters.

Steps to Finding a Quality Ghost Writer

I did what most people on the Internet do to find anything…I typed it into Google and saw what the fishing nets brought in. What did I find? ‘Sponsored’ links and sweet ‘organic’ links to the top ranked SEO copywriter sites of the nation. Well, herein lies my Moby Dick I can’t catch. Just because someone fine tuned their website with search engine friendly code and they rank high doesn’t mean their SERVICE ranks high.

One particular, dare I call it an agency, had an excellent layout with reasonable pricing packages. I thought I had struck search engine gold. The business I’m in provided me with a winner. After I placed my order for 2 sample “denver divorce lawyer” articles, I was going to hit the Ferris wheel and then the tilt-a-whirl with a corn dog in hand! (I would have to eat the dog before the tilt-a-whirl, of course.)

I sent my clearly written email through the form provided and waited with anticipation. Nine days later (past my client deadline to create 2 new webpages) I receive a simple yet, unapologetic email:

Email Response

Gabriel,

I just dug your email out my spambox. Did you still need content?

Joe Owner
www.weblink –
no phone number

My Email Response

Joe Owner,

Wow! That was some digging. Yes, It’s been a little longer, but we’re still wanting to order those 2 samples to test out the quality of the service.

You can call me now if needed.

(my complete info was included: phone number & email)

Customer Service Who?

I had replied and understood the plight of the spam email folder monster, Sarlacc (photo courtesy of wikipedia.org). It eats anything and everything at random. Important communications vanish without a trace…

Sarlacc - Return of the Jedi

Lying near the Great Pit of Carkoon, it would digest lost emails for a thousand years. I felt I was generous in my response. Understanding and willing to let bygones be bygones. Yet I wondered? With such a lack of empathy for a client requesting service, would the next installment be any better? It was not.

It has now been 17+ days and no further response was given. No article link showed up in my inbox, which would be unrealistic since I was never given a link to pay or make an SEO article order on. This was an “organic” SERP vendor, mind you.

My Hero

So, I did end up finding another vendor through the pay-per-click links. The site had boxes that linked to a Paypal account with the exact amount I would be paying for each article and the number of articles I was requesting.

The pay-per-click vendor sent me a link to my 2 fresh, new SEO articles 5 days later. Thanks, Han. The quality of the writing was decent, with a nice keyword density ratio. Most importantly, my client didn’t think I was a slackoff.

In Conclusion

In the end, I’m still researching good ghost writers for legal SEO copy and other copy, for that matter. I have 200+ webpages to fill with quality, readable, SEO-friendly content. My goal was, is and has been to find a handful of writers to spread the wealth to. I’d like to help stimulate the economy.

I am still in search of my Luke Skywalker writer to come in and save the day with his/her lightsaber pen or touchpad keyboard. Perhaps the emergency message in R2-D2 got lost in the email spam folder, Sarlacc.

Either way, it shows that ‘organic’ links don’t always produce the best results. Pay-per-click advertisers are actually reaching out to service your needs. Perhaps I was too judgmental. Maybe someone doesn’t have to be “organic” to be a quality service or product.  

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