So What Happened to the Web Content Industry?
I started writing web content sometime in 1999 as the industry emerged. Back then, I could make $25 to $30 an article or a very big pay-per-read commission. This dipped a little as the industry grew and around the time I went full-time 5 years ago, I was making an average of $15 an article. Then the economy went ppllltt (it went to hell in a hand basket).
Since then, I have watched my income get lower and lower and more as more people lost their jobs and turned to writing web content as a way to put food on the table. This did two things:
1. It over saturated the market with writers. People were willing to write for less and so pay scale slowly but surely decreased.
2. It over saturated the market with sub-par writers. This is not to say that many of the writers aren't excellent, because they are, but A LOT of the writing is not good. This angered readers and those who direct traffic on the internet (Google) took action. In one fell swoop a few months ago, I saw my web-content income plummet.
I think there's hope for the industry, although right now, it looks like I should up and move to North Dakota to participate in the new oil boom that is invigorating the state. My prayer is that this created a ripple effect across the nation from all of the Bakken Shale jobs that includes teachers, oil workers and truck drivers. Even the truck parts industry could see a boom due to these oil jobs. That would put a lot of people back to work, and leave the web-writing for the web-writers.
In the meantime, I just will be glad that my husband's income has improved to balance out what I have lost. As for me, I have scaled back to part-time web writing, working on a book or two and updating my education.
© WWW.AHERMITT.COM
Since then, I have watched my income get lower and lower and more as more people lost their jobs and turned to writing web content as a way to put food on the table. This did two things:
1. It over saturated the market with writers. People were willing to write for less and so pay scale slowly but surely decreased.
2. It over saturated the market with sub-par writers. This is not to say that many of the writers aren't excellent, because they are, but A LOT of the writing is not good. This angered readers and those who direct traffic on the internet (Google) took action. In one fell swoop a few months ago, I saw my web-content income plummet.
I think there's hope for the industry, although right now, it looks like I should up and move to North Dakota to participate in the new oil boom that is invigorating the state. My prayer is that this created a ripple effect across the nation from all of the Bakken Shale jobs that includes teachers, oil workers and truck drivers. Even the truck parts industry could see a boom due to these oil jobs. That would put a lot of people back to work, and leave the web-writing for the web-writers.
In the meantime, I just will be glad that my husband's income has improved to balance out what I have lost. As for me, I have scaled back to part-time web writing, working on a book or two and updating my education.
© WWW.AHERMITT.COM