Content Providers

Content Providers work to provide businesses with information in the form of text and graphics.  People hire Content Providers to enhance the professional look and appeal of their websites and print materials.  Often times, organizations feel that they can get by without hiring someone to provide them will quality information.  Usually, these people fall back on their own inferior skill in order to create this content, which sometimes falls short of professional quality.  It is generally the stubbornness of business owners that lead to websites having poor written content, documents having a second-rate look, and manuals looking like an uneducated individual assembled them.  It is for this reason that a Content Provider's job is very important to the business world.  In that same token, a Content Provider's job is recession proof (in theory) for as long as there are businesses and organizations in need of good content to provide to the masses, there will be a need for someone to create it.

Generally, a Content Provider's job involves research and an ability to learn quickly.  More often that not, the content being provided is something that the Content Provider isn’t familiar with or well versed in.  For this reason, a Content Provider must be able to think quickly on their feet.  They must be able to quickly adapt to each new job, which will require them to invest their time and energy in a subject or area that they may not know much about.  In most cases, the information is provided to them by the business or organization that employs them and they are expected to assemble that information into a coherent whole.  The ideal Content Providers are also Technical Writers and they are able to amalgamate their writing and common sense skills to form slick, concise, succinct information for the business world.


In addition to writing skills, most Content Providers are expected to be graphic designers on some level.  Many times, businesses need graphics created or edited to fit with their websites, documents, or manuals.  These graphics tend to be logos and boilerplates.  These graphic design skills can be acquired outside of school by spending time with a preferred program, such as InDesign.  These skills will certainly come in handy as the Content Providing work won’t have to be split between two people.  If the Content Provider is able to do the writing work and the graphic design work, their employer won’t have to hire two separate people or business to do the work.  A multi-faceted craft is seen as much more impressive and much more valuable to the employer.  This can often mean a bigger paycheck for the Content Provider.

Web skills are essential for any Content Provider.  With the advent of S.E.O. or Search Engine Optimization, it is important that Content Providers know how to provide the world with quick and easy access to their website.  Search Engine Optimization is a method of raising the rank on a search engine when they businesses key words are used.  For example; if someone types “cardboard boxes,” the business that hires the Content Provider expects them to make them one of the first sites that the searcher encounters while looking at the competitors in the cardboard box industry.  This process involves using a series of online links to boost popularity.  Online tutorials, books, and college classes are available to hone these skills.

http://www.yudkin.com/content.htm

http://www.articlecontentprovider.com/

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/content-providers.html

-Adam M. Shumaker