Blogs are an important part of a content marketing strategy. Content is king in today’s digital marketing landscape, and this is proven true with 55% of marketers saying that blog writing is their number one priority for inbound marketing.
This is not surprising at all. After all, blogging drives engagement with your current audience, generates new leads, and increases your visibility with more shareable content you produce. Aside from visual elements such as your logo design, brand colors, and social media posts, your blog can also build your brand identity, and serve as your brand’s voice.
However, not everyone has the time to produce multiple blog posts consistently. You might not also have the writing skills needed to make high-quality content. That’s where freelance blog writers come in.
There are a lot of freelance writers out there with different skills, niches, experience levels, and price ranges. So how will you go and find the one that is best for you and your blog? Let’s dive into it.
How to Hire the Best Freelance Blog Writer
1. Define your needs
Before you start hiring a freelance blog writer, it's first important to know and understand first what you need from your writer. Ask yourself these questions:
Are you looking for a writer for a one off project, or someone to write for a long term basis? Are you looking for a writer to help you write a few articles just to start your blog, or someone to help you out from time to time, or are you looking for one to work with you for the long term?
What is the preferred writing style or tone? - The writing style of your blog matters because your content is essentially the voice of your brand. It should be in line with your brand identity. For example, are you going for a friendly and approachable image? Or authoritative and data-driven? By deciding the writing style of your blog from the start, it’s easier to make your content consistent with each other even if you have different writers, as well as make it easier for you to build your brand identity.
How many articles do you need in a month? - Once you decide on the writing style, you need to decide the frequency of posting for your blog as well. After all, having a constant and consistent publishing schedule is key to growing your blog. In turn, this is also important information for your freelance writer since they will need to know the amount of work you’ll need from them.
How many writers do you need to hire? - Depending on your publishing schedule, you might need to hire multiple writers to keep up with your needs. You wouldn't want to overload one writer and have the quality of writing suffer.
What is your budget? It’s important to figure out how much you are willing to spend on this project. You may be able to find a cheap writer, but their skill might be subpar and might need lots of editing. On the other hand, investing in a more expensive but experienced writer that produces well-written content might give out higher returns for you.
What is your goal for the blog? Do you want to increase traffic? Or do you want to build yourself as an industry leader? Having a clear goal will help you in planning the direction of your blog, and in finding the best writer for the job.
2. Write a project brief or job description
Having a clear brief will make it easier for your potential freelance writers to understand what exactly you need from them. Your project brief should include all the necessary information, such as your company background, target audience, the topics that is needed to be covered, writing style and tone, keywords (if you are aiming for to boost your SEO), payment, and other expectations (word count, deadlines, method of communications, policy for revisions, etc.)
You should also ask the candidates to send writing samples or portfolios along with their resumes. You can also have them do a short paid writing test to best gauge their ability and to see if they are the best fit for you.
3. Post on a job board
Posting on a freelance job board is the easiest way to find your freelance blog writer. You can try portals such as Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr, or freelance management system like Transformify.
You can also try reaching out to your network, or posting on sites like LinkedIn. Try to find writing groups or communities in social media sites as well as they usually welcome job hiring posts.
4. Assess your writers
At this point, you have some potential writers for your blog. What is the best way to assess their skills and find the best writer among them?
Check their writing style - You need to find the writer whose style and tone best suit what you are looking for. Read through their work samples to get a better feel for their style.
Check their portfolio - Your candidate’s portfolio is essentially their business card. Use it to find the writer whose strength and expertise is fit for you. For example, even if you have a candidate that is strong at writing ad copies, they might not have experience in writing blogs and might not be the best fit for you. Since you are looking for a blog writer, focus on finding one that has written blog articles before.
Do they fit your niche? - Your blog niche is a key factor here as well. If your blog has a specific focus, for example it's a cooking blog, it’s best to find a writer that specializes in that.
Check the quality of their works - Are their writing samples free from grammar errors? Is their content original and not plagiarized? Do they use proper formatting in their works?
Have they been published before? - It’s definitely a great bonus if your candidate has written articles with their own byline. It means they are a competent and high-quality writer since sites and publications are not willing to just publish anyone.
Do they have good reviews? - You can also check if your candidate has good reviews from their previous clients. You should check if they have a good track record of meeting deadlines, meeting project requirements, and if they are prompt with communicating with their clients.
5. Have a short interview (if needed) or ask them a few more questions
Reach out to the writer that you think will be a good fit for you to have a short interview, or send them an email with some questions. Ask them about their turnaround time, how many revisions they offer, their writing process, their communication style, as well as results that they generated from their previous clients.
Once you have found your blog writer, you can now start onboarding them.
Why hire a freelance blog writer?
Great writing is essential in running a successful blog. And a successful blog leads to an overall successful content marketing strategy, which will give you more leads, high engagement, and increased visibility.
Hiring a freelance blog writer can help you in creating engaging and high-quality content that will give you results. They can also help you produce a steady stream of content without wasting time and without breaking the bank.
We hope our tips above can help you in finding the best writer for you.