When I started writing for the iGaming industry back in 2016, I just wrote whatever was in my head. I sat down, placed my hands on the keyboard, and started typing. I never put much thought into how I actually wrote or phrased things; I just wrote as I would speak, which I guess is common for self-taught writers. Imagining that I wrote to tell a friend about a new casino greatly helped me speed up the actual writing process. It also made my articles read naturally, and in that way, they hit the target audience and the “voice” I was aiming for. Fast forward a couple of years and my actual writing speed had reduced to about half of what it used to be. I had by then written about the same topics over and over and over again, and at some point, I simply had no new ways of conveying my messages. According to Copyscape I was plagiarizing content. Not articles written by other writers, but my own previously published work.
When speaking I use the same ways of explaining things because there is no one listening who is searching through a database, or even worse – the whole internet …
I think most writers will agree that Copyscape and similar products are something we’d rather do without. I never copy anyone else’s articles, I never use other affiliate sites to find my facts, and I would never on purpose rewrite one of my previously written articles. But still, when I checked my articles through Copyscape I tended to get hits. Never more than just a few, but still enough that I felt I needed to go back and rephrase something. This was becoming ever more frustrating, as I rely heavily on the knowledge I already have and write in a similar way to how I would speak. When speaking I use the same ways of explaining things because there is no one listening who is searching through a database, or even worse – the whole internet, to see if I or someone else has phrased something the same way, or similar, before. However, as a writer, I actually do need to type out what I want to say, and nothing gets past Google. Google wants unique content, so it’s my job to somehow make that happen. But how?
The solution I’ve found is to work from different angles and cover all the “normal” aspects of whatever topic I write about, but in addition, always add more in-depth information as well. This makes Google think that I have something unique to bring to the table (which I also believe that I have). I get to use all the knowledge I have and really explain things in a detailed enough way that everyone should be able to understand it, regardless of their previous knowledge on the topic, and with these “extra” bits of information added to make the whole article or post more unique, even Copyscape is happy. Because let’s face it, they don’t make any distinction between plagiarism of myself or others, all they see is that the content isn’t unique. They also don’t care that the casino affiliate niche is so saturated with thousands upon thousands of articles covering the same topics, and how that makes it difficult for writers.
… no one wants to read SEO blurb. Not Google and not actual people either.
Being allowed to decide for myself what or how to write about a topic is a luxury I have due to the fact that I have clients who trust me and give me the freedom to do things the way I feel is the best for their projects or websites. Not all writers are so lucky and lots of clients have a strict content brief outlining what exactly should be covered in each paragraph, which headings to use, and how many words should be added to each heading. Not to mention keywords and longtails. Don’t even get me started on those… I’m not saying that all content briefs are bad, as I also use them when I’m managing projects and content writers, but I think they need to be well thought out also from the perspective of actually giving the writers the creative freedom they will need to create something other than just the normal casino SEO blurb, that will never be truly unique. After all – no one wants to read SEO blurb. Not Google and not actual people either.
If I would give one tip for clients who want unique, well researched, and interesting articles for their websites it would be this: tell the writer which topic to write about, and either trust them to do the job (if you’ve worked with this writer before and know they are capable of this) or let them come back to you with an outline of the article so you can make adjustments or add suggestions, or just give them the go-ahead to continue as they had planned.
For writers, I would say that the first step is to pick your clients with caution. If you’re not happy with the way clients want to work with content, then don’t work with them. Nothing good will ever come from a mismatch between your writing style and the client’s expectations. The second step is to make sure that you actually have the knowledge required to create something unique and also factually correct. Never fall for the temptation to just make stuff up to get to a certain word count or rewrite articles you find online. Instead, try to think of how to properly cover the topic while also adding some new information that other writers who are less experienced in the iGaming niche tend to shy away from. Don’t be afraid to go into detail! If you do this, creating unique content is a breeze – even when writing for the saturated casino affiliate niche.
