What Future for the Web Writer Profession?

The 2010s saw the profession of web writer experience a certain growth.

A surge in content creation needs was indeed observed, whether in e-commerce or for blogs.

Social media also played a role in diversifying demand.

Since the health crisis, and also since the growing development of AI, we observe an evolution in the profession, sometimes viewed as concerning for the future, especially as proclaimed writers seem to be legion in France or elsewhere in the Francophonie. 

However, there are good reasons to put these fears into perspective: let’s take stock of the future of the profession.

Observation: a profession in full transformation 

In order to understand the future of the web writer profession, it is beneficial to assess the ongoing changes. 

Health and economic crisis: what impacts? 

Since 2020, the health crisis has generated sometimes crucial impacts in certain sectors. The tourism and travel sector, for example, has not really recovered yet. Thus, many writers specialized in themes around travel had to redirect their skills.

Freelance writers specializing in writing articles for professional blogs also faced a decrease in demand from many small businesses.

Finally, the lockdown periods led to a surge of interest in the profession, raising fears of increased Francophone competition and a drop in rates.

Indeed, the observation at the turn of the decade could have been worrying for the future: extra-European competition, decreasing requirements from some internet users…

For a quality-conscious writer seeking to live decently, the equation could be complicated.

Digital transformation and AI

For a web writer, the digital transformation within companies is both a subject of choice and a reason for existence. The end of the 2010s and the health crisis even accelerated the process of digitalization. However, a phenomenon worries many writers: the increased use of artificial intelligence, which could intensify.

Digital marketing had already taken hold of various automated processes for some years, such as messenger bots, made available to CM and businesses to reduce advertising campaign costs.

Today, some companies offer content creation solutions generated by AI. This is concerning, but raises a question: is this massification a guarantee of quality?

The outlook

Automated processes, decreasing requirements in certain sectors, near disappearance of demand in others, falling rates… This observation needs to be nuanced. 

A growing quality concern

Knowledgeable writers have reason to hold their own. For while some sectors of the Web  follow the race to reduce costs, others cannot be satisfied with that. This is the case for sectors that are demanding by nature and have high added value.

A blog from a law firm, an institutional website, or a sales page for luxury products cannot afford to stuff keywords into mediocre raw text: it would impact their image.

This is also the case for all those who have recognized the qualitative stakes, as their position on the first page of search engines is at risk in addition to their image. Moreover, since 2016-2017, Google has continuously favored, through its algorithm, the coherence of texts and their quality in terms of both content and form.

Writers therefore have a qualitative card to play, offering their clients customized and quality content. Gradually, competition is based on these aspects, which are vectors of added value.

From niche writer to "Swiss army knife" and SEO

Thus, the SEO web writer is undergoing significant evolution to position themselves on various needs. On one hand, being able to sustain the massive competition, but not always qualitative, from AI systems or offshore platforms that may overlook rates and quality (which is not the case for all).

An important fact that only the future will confirm: the two models may well compete, leaving writers the territory of quality.

On the other hand, defending a very high level of quality for demanding sectors, in order to position their client in a SEO friendly approach. 

Indeed, SEO has become so important that it is impossible to provide added value, and thus a decent income, without being a writer involved in the natural referencing process.

It is possible that in the future, SEO writers must master these various skills to excel by diversifying. Unless, of course, they acquire the overall skills of a professional SEO, a path with high added value that some seasoned writers choose.

Find all our articles on SEO writing.