Quality Trumps

On the state of orders at Textbroker

“Is Textbroker not getting any orders these days?” Our Author Services department gets this question all the time. The answer is a resounding: No, on the contrary! The number of orders has risen steadily since the first text in 2005; they’re just divided up a bit differently now. Here, you’ll discover which orders are to be found where and also how you, independent of quality level, can always have enough to do.

Fresh and good

That the method in which our clients place their orders has changed is a result of Google regularly updating their algorithms. The Freshness update in November 2011 introduced a penalty for websites with out-of-date content. As a result, webmasters and website owners have been ordering increasingly more up-to-date texts in order to comply with the new regulations. Today, there are thousands of Textbroker authors writing more than 100,000 “Unique Content” articles per month in more than seven languages.

The Panda update in February 2011 changed the content more than the frequency of the ordered texts. With it, Google demonstrated a commitment to more quality on the web and now ranks websites with poor content badly. It’s for this reason that clients have been placing orders for texts at higher quality levels. After all, along with the needs of the client, the author’s responsibilities must change as well.

The Net needs new texts

Each update to Google’s algorithms subsequently meant a change in the clients’ wishes, with the trend moving toward increasingly more texts at increasingly better quality. As a result, the demand for 4-star texts in the past months has exploded on all of Textbroker’s platforms. Many clients are also ordering more Team- and DirectOrders rather than exclusively the less expensive OpenOrders, as here, in contrast to the somewhat diffuse author pool, they have a smaller selection of authors who they prefer to work with in the medium- to long-term. In this way, clients and authors are better able to negotiate reliable delivery dates and conditions.

Recently, many clients have begun to book service packages along with their texts (‘Managed Client Orders’). Since 2011, in addition to great content, Textbroker has offered full project management as a service. This is particularly suited to clients who not only want accurate, high-quality texts, but also would prefer to expend as little energy and as few resources as possible finding and vetting authors or checking and revising the content. For these clients, Textbroker takes over certain optional services related to the production of the texts.

Not fewer orders, but different

All in all, the total number of orders has continued to rise steadily. Only the classic distribution of 3- to 5-star OpenOrders is no longer a given. The diverse selection and combination of Textbroker services ensure a much broader range of orders, but in exchange authors will notice that there are fewer steadily available 3-star orders as there were a few months ago. While it’s true that clients are ordering more texts in higher quality as a result of the modified quality criteria in the web, that the authors feel that there are no 3-star texts available also lies in the huge number of 3-star authors who quickly reserve the texts for themselves.

That’s why we’re showing you today how you can nevertheless always find an order that fits to you. Generally, there are two safe ways to go about ensuring you’ll be able to find work.

Author marketing: Make yourself visible!

·         It always pays to be good: The Textbroker editors read each text after submission. By doing this, authors who are especially good in one area or at a given quality level are quickly spotted. Effectively, with your texts, you demonstrate to our team what you are capable of. This is important because we regularly receive direct requests from clients to recommend authors for certain topics. If you are on our recommendations list, you can look forward to orders in your area of expertise.

·         Fill out your author profile as completely and descriptively as possible. Emphasise your strengths and interests. When a client searches for an author for Team- or DirectOrders, you don’t want to have that opportunity pass you by. Use sample articles to show what you can do. The more technical terms and catchwords in your profile, the more probable it is that exactly you are selected for a client’s specific order. It doesn’t take long to do, but can make a world of difference.

·         Have you made a client especially happy, demonstrated by exceptionally quick text acceptance or a great rating? Then write them a short message and offer your services for further projects. Often, what results is a long-term cooperation via DirectOrders, or you will be invited to a team which matches your expertise.