Meet Andrew Hendricks of Human Creative Content

Andrew Hendricks grew up in southern Mississippi, and he now lives in Davis, California where he manages his team at Human Creative Content where he is editor-in-chief.

In his own words: "I founded HumanCreativeContent.com to help my clients make the Internet a slightly less crappy place, one website at a time." Learn more about the ways that Human Creative Content supplies written and visual content to websites by checking out their creative services page.

1. For you as a writer and a reader, what distinguishes human-focused web content from other content that's out there?

Too many people have come to the philosophy that because you can publish instantly on the web, web content matters less. With the continuing shift to all-digital media, this is an oddly myopic view, considering there is a HUGE demand for high-quality, thoroughly edited content that is entertaining to read. Just because a story isn't printed on dead trees doesn't mean your reader wants it to be any less entertaining.

2. What would you say are some common misconceptions that small business owners have about SEO?

SEO is a process, not a thing. If someone is selling you "SEO," there's a good chance they have no idea what they're talking about, or more likely, they're hoping you don't. SEO is Search Engine Optimization--it means making your content able to be understand by Google. It doesn't mean writing nonsense, keyword-pumped articles.

The biggest misconception business owners have is thinking that getting their blogs respected by Google is the goal. That is just an aspect of getting your content seen by the viewer, and THAT is what matters. Google can tell if your link was viewed for half a second or 30 seconds, and it treats the two VERY differently.

3. Is it really so difficult to get visitors for a new website, or are people making things hard for themselves without realizing it?

People are focusing on the wrong things. I see this so often--it's not that so many of these website owners are lazy, but you can spend hours and hours trying to funnel traffic to your website, and if you have a fundamental lack of understanding regarding what type of reader you want, then you're really just talking past each other. It is hard to write web copy that doesn't sound like an infomercial or a carnival barker, even if your business is a totally legitimate one.

Getting coherent, concise copy to explain your website is the #1 most important step in even beginning to optimize your web presence and try to get viewers. You want to make sure they have something to view first.

4. What do you enjoy most about your job?

I have found the transition from freelance hustler to Editor-in-Chief very satisfying, but not for the reasons I would have thought. Now owning my own business and publishing platform, I am the first paid gig and portfolio piece for many new talented writers. Being that first leg-up is very rewarding.

5. What is your best advice when it comes to creating a website that people will want to visit again and again?

They used to say "content is king," and that's still true, but all content is not created equally. I don't mean just SEO-oriented blogspam, which has its own problems, but any good website should have content that is tailor-made to the brand and that clearly and coherently explains what the website is, who it services, and why it is a good thing that it exists. This sounds very basic, but you'd be surprised how many people skip this process entirely.

Thanks, Andrew!