When most people shop for cheap SEO writing they tend to look on Elance or Guru. When looking at writer's profiles on either elance or guru, it is a good idea to ignore feedback. This is because the feedback systems on both are slanted. Unfortunately both guru and elance have their own freelance firms that compete with the writers that pay to advertise on them so it is not in these site's interest to give their writers great feedback. This way the in house outsourcers hired by these sites get all of the best business.



Also Guru and Elance slant their feedback systems so that a client can leave feedback even if there has been no contract has been signed or a single word has been written. Even an excellent writer's rating can be adversely affected by feedback left by a client that has not assigned or paid a cent to the writer which is grossly unfair and no reflection at all of the writer's services.

You get a much better of what a writer can do by looking at their portfolio and by communicating with them directly. You can also tell a lot about the writer by the way their profile is written. Keep in mind too that a profile that is riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes may simply be search engine optimized so that people can find them and may not be an indication that the writer can't write.

Like all online market places, elance and guru both have their share of bad apples so keep your expectations realistic. Also realize that writers on these auction sites are working for less than one tenth of their normal fees so you can't push them around like a corporate CEO at a real agency would. Usually prompt payment is what convinces these writers to do a good job for you as financial hardship is why they are on the site in the first place.