Ask Yourself These 5 Questions Before Hiring A Content Writer

Are you tired of working with content spinners in the name of content writers?

Let’s face it. There is no dearth of content online. Someone, somewhere, may have already written about what you think is a “brand new” idea indeed. So, what you usually do is, in point of fact, a spin-off from resource research. But, the difference lies in the presentation of the same idea. What angle do you choose, who are you addressing, how you connect it with your brand, and how you put the content together.

This is what differentiates bona fide content writers from wannabes! Quality and experienced content writers have the ability to create highly engaging content on a common idea giving it their style of writing and keeping it relevant to your audience.

Here are four questions that will help you separate the wheat from the chaff and find a suitable content writer for your projects!

1. What are your content writing goals?

This is the first question you need to ask yourself before hiring someone. Your final goals help you define:

• what do you need a content writer for - is it a blog, product descriptions, or website content
• how long is the project going to last
• is it a one-time gig or an ongoing requirement

Ask yourself these 10 questions before hiring a content writer. By identifying what type of content you need you can directly reach out to writers who have specialised in that area. And depending on the length of a project you can also get into an extended contract with a writer for consistently creating valuable content for your website.

2. Do they understand your industry to write relevant content?

While hiring content writers, it’s important to prioritize the ones who are familiar with your industry. They not only bring experience to the table but are also able to bring an outer perspective to the content they create, enabling the audience to connect easily with your brand.

Content writing agencies are an easy way to find such writers as they maintain writers under different cohorts based on their experience, content specialization and industry familiarity.

3. Are they capable of writing persuasive SEO content?

This one is very important, and you will agree, for content published anywhere online. If you want your content to reach your audience, you need to follow through with SEO thoroughly. The content writer you hire should understand how to find relevant keywords for your brand and how to use them in the copy. A basic grip on internal/external linking is always valued!

That being said, make sure the emotional essence of the content is not lost in technical jargon to meet SEO expectations alone.

4. What does their writing portfolio look like?

Portfolios are the best way to look into someone’s work. They can tell you anything to fit the role, but once you have access to their past work, you can get a sense of their writing.

How do they write titles, are their introduction strong? Do they use relevant keywords, where do they use keywords in the body, are there sub-heads, and are the images optimized for Google?

You can also ask them about how their content contributed to the business goals. How much traffic did it attract? And did his content help improve SEO rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs)?

Conclusion

Good content writers can help you position your brand as a trustworthy source of information for your readers. Keep the following points in mind while hiring someone for your company. Look closely into their portfolios and talk to their references if need be.

Ask them about their KPIs (key performance indicators) to have clarity on how they can bring a difference to your business and help you achieve your goals.

If you don’t have time and want to avoid this process altogether, get in touch with us here, and we will help you!