Check out MY new BLOG!!

My career as a writer could be over – can an automatic article writer be my true enemy?

Oct 15th, 2007

by Marsha Maung

As a writer, I am consistently on a lookout for better ways to write articles to help promote my clients and on fine day, I surfed past an advertisement that could potentially destroy my career as a freelance writer. All that experience, all the pain of going through teething problems…the struggles of a budding writer almost washed away like mud water. All because of one simple program….an automatic writer. Whilst I believe that an article writer like that is worth a look, it's not exactly worth the money and time.

I don't want to be defensive but here's what we're looking at. A program designed to churn out articles for you automatically. That's like designing and coming up with a robot who can cook your dinner for you. Now, let's consider this for a moment here. If we DID have a robot cook or a robot writer, what would be result be? Just humor me and put on your thinking cap for a bit here…just imagine. Would it be good enough if I said that the robot may not be able to customize the food or the articles for you the way you want it? You can't tell the robot to ‘write with more passion' or ‘give it a little bit more personality'.

It's true that search engines love articles. Search engines love words and content is, even till now, king of the World Wide Web. Websites packed with lots of useful information and articles written by experienced HUMAN writers are often rewarded with a good listing in the search engines which…in turn, results in high traffic…which in turn, bring in the sales. But I am a writer who is BIG on personality. I don't like deadpan articles (unless that is what my clients want) because I think readers like to read articles with a little bit more feel to it. To me, the personality that the writer is capable of injecting into his or her article will give the article that extra ‘oomph'. Show me someone who is not looking for that extra little oomph .

One big reason why I strongly discourage people from purchasing and using such automatic article writers is this…while it's good that people are finding you ‘accidentally' through the search engines, ask yourself this question….are the articles your writer is producing compelling and interesting enough to make the readers bookmark your website so that they can come back for more?

Let's then take a look at this word ‘sale'. It's proven that people don't often (not many, anyway) make an online purchase the first moment they chance upon a website. So, if they don't purchase the first time they come to your website, it means that you have to bring them back. Which brings me back to writing a proper article…interesting stuff that your potential customers would want to read. And by the third, fourth or fifth time they come to your website, they're probably ready to make the purchase.

True, an automatic article writer like that is cheap (I think it's within the region of USD$20 - $80) but in the long run, I believe I can convince you that investing your money in a good and reliable writer is a better decision.

Marsha Maung is a Malaysian-based freelance writer who has been in the search engine marketing business for more than 8 years. Today, she spends her time alternating between being a mother to her kids and mother to her clients' websites and blogs! Now, she is a popular SEO blog content writer and service provider. Visit her website http://www.marshamaung.com for more info and if you want dirty personal details, visit her blog at http://www.marshamaung.blogspot.com .