Choosing A Freelance Content Writer – Dos, Don’ts & Tips

Too busy or exhausted to write, need to post more content on your website than a person’s capacity, want specialists to handle a niche of your blog, have too many websites to handle, your client want you to take care of content alongside marketing, or you are planning to start a website, in a niche, which you have no knowledge of – Reasons could be many. But now or later, you will have to engage more people to create content for your blog or website(s). What to do then?

Will you hire an in-house professional or will go to a freelance writer (or a team of freelancers)?

Freelancing is picking up as an employment choice among the self-driven and efficient people, making freelancing a good option for your blog too. See this:

But we won’t take this decision too early. To keep it fair, let’s compare both methods of picking writers –

Hiring an in-house Writer

Upsides:

• Immediately available to fulfill your requests (in the office hours at least!).
• Better Learning Curve, if made to work on the same project while trained alongside.
• Good option when you need regular and bulk content.

Downsides:

• We all make wrong choices sometimes. Result – A bad writer and therefore, bad content regularly!
• No diverse experience and hence, less variation in writing style.
• High costs, especially when your requirements are not very regular.
• You can’t change writer till the contract ends.
• Not very productive, as in-house professionals are found to be less dedicated.
• It’s found that many in-house writers use plagiarised content if the employer isn’t keeping a tight check on what they are delivering.

And if you doubt these freaks, stay assured that around 80% of them are well-educated.

Here’s the proof:

Hiring a Freelance Writer

Upsides:

• You’ve multiple options all the time.
• Holds diverse working experience and therefore, is able to work more creatively and efficiently on your projects.
• Freelancers are self-employed. They are more attentive and careful while working with their clients.
• Flexible working hours.
• Budget-friendly option, when you have variable requirements (in terms of budget, expertise, and quantity). Moreover, you will always find an efficient and likable writer to work on your payment terms (if you are paying genuine amount).
• Lives the fear to lose the project and money, so fewer chances of messing up at the task.

Downsides:

• May have all the downsides as possessed by in-house writers if you choose wrong person/agency.

The extract is: You have to make right choices while hiring a writer for your website or prepare yourself for disasters.

Cons of Having a Bad Freelance Writer

In a world where Google is the god, a bad writer is nothing less than the worst possible nightmare coming true!

They may:

• Provide you with bad content; plagiarised in the worst case.
• Become the cause of you, losing your best clients. It happens when you are a content marketer, content agency, SEO expert or a content-buyer who buys content on the behalf of your clients.
• Cause delays in content publishing or delivering schedules due to their carelessness.
• Be the reason for your website getting lesser traffic.

The results, therefore, will be:

• Slow progress in terms of SEO.
• Bad website ranking.
• Google’s Penalty.
• Fewer or no conversions.
• Money, going in vain.

We’ve seen websites losing their hard-earned search engine rankings, we’ve companies losing loyal readers, and we’ve seen losing the bloggers their reputation in no time – all because of bad writers. You would not like to add your name to the list, obviously. So better is to remain extra-cautious all the time.

As the content curation techniques of your writer affect the content, judge their method using this data:

Where to Find Good Freelance Writers for your Blog/Website?

It’s not tough to find efficient, creative, knowledgeable and budget-friendly human resources for your online assets. The methods are easily reachable. Check out these 8 fine places of finding good content writers, before we teach you the art of picking the right one among multiple options:

1. Freelancing Platforms

There are multiple freelancing marketplaces and a few of them are dedicated to writing. It is better to start your search from dedicated platforms. Reasons are many. As specifically built for the content creators, these portals have a better pool of writers. Along with multiple options to choose from, you will get a good variety of prices too. Detailed writing portfolios, better tools for time-tracking and quality-checking tools are some of the properties, as exhibited by most of these websites. It helps the client get quality content.

Post a job or pick from writing packages, depending upon working mechanism of the platform you have selected. You will find enough freelancers to choose from; all under your budget.

2. Facebook Groups

Facebook isn’t merely a social networking site. It has become a great source of finding talented brains for job-providers and a decent way of reaching potent clients for job-seekers. You will find so many writing-related groups, targeting difference genres and writing styles. Either ask the group admin for help or post your requirement in the group so that interested freelancer writers could contact you.

3. LinkedIn Contacts or Forums

LinkedIn is a reliable professional network, which has numerous freelancers and employees to choose from. Searching through the website, posting your requirements on LinkedIn can help you for sure. Prefer adding more and more content-related connections on the portal so that the reach of your job posting remains high.

4. Twitter

That’s pretty interesting method by the way, though applicable for Twitter addict only. You must be habitual of going through trends, profiles, tweets, threads, etc. While doing this, it is impossible to neglect the creativity and randomness which lies underneath the ocean of tweets. If someone is able to impress you with his/her writing style in just 280-characters sample work, why don’t approach them directly? Make an offer and seal the deal if confronting party is interested in it.

5. Take help of your Peer Bloggers/Professionals

The easiest way of hiring the best content writer for your blog or website is to take help from your peers. Think of the bloggers or service providers in your contacts, who publish for the similar website(s) as yours. If their content intrigues you, ask them whether they outsource their content requirements or have freelancers working for them. You will definitely get worthy help.

6. Writers’ References

Writers are the best critic for fellow writers. At the same time, they have extraordinary skills of judging other writers for their skills. If your requirements are increasing and you want additional resources to produce more content, it’s good to ask your current or old writers if they could suggest something.

Sometimes, client backtracks in hiring a writer due to the limited budget. If it matches your case any day, do not forget to take advice from that writer. There are fair chances that you will get an in-budget alternative.

7. Search Engines

Yes, THE Google! How can you forget it?

As per your requirement, browser search engines. Depending on whether you want a content writer or a content writing agency, check the web pages which come up in the search result. You’ll get what you want.

Tips For Selecting A Suitable Writer

Though the above-listed options are effective and will render a good list of freelance writers in front of your eyes, it is not necessary that you’ll find that ‘right’ gem. Use our tips once you’ve collected a few freelance writers to interview:

• Go through the Portfolio/User Profile

Generally, portfolios have enough details about their timeliness, repeat hiring rate, charges, works, etc. You’ll also find reviews and feedbacks from other clients. Before interviewing an aspirant, go through their user profile and see if it impresses you. If no, then don’t indulge in the lengthy process (just to find yourselves being disappointed later).

• Have a Quick Chat with Them

Written communication skills of a writer are a good reflector of their skills. So, do not forget to have a small chat interaction session before you make the decision.

• Check their previous Work

Ask the aspirants to share the writing samples, relevant to the talk you are going to assign them. These write-ups will detail you with better insights about person’s writing style, skills, and expertise.

• Clarify if the person understands what you Need

It is essential that your writer understand every bit of your requirement very clearly. Encourage them to ask queries and interview them well. It will help you in measuring writer’s potential and visualize the quality of content they’ll provide.

• Make sure the Budget is Acceptable

Contentment is the key to successful endeavors. If your hired professional isn’t happy will what you are paying or what your demands are, he or she will not put any extra efforts in delivering a great piece of content. Not acceptable, right?

To Conclude

Your blog or website is a precious online asset. To get the best returns in the least time, organic content is almost mandatory. It acts as a catalyst for your website/blog’s rank and your online reputation. For this reason, make sure that only worthy, engaging, unique and error-free content goes online from your side. Only a good writer or a team of efficient writers can make it possible. So, hire freelancer writers using our expert suggestions.

Life-saver Freelance Hiring Tips for Website/Blog Owners:

• Do not forget to cross-verify the submitted content before it’s published on your blog. Check it for the correctness, uniqueness, and grammar, once the writer has sent you the copy.
• In the beginning, stay more engaged with your writer(s). It takes time for everyone to understand client’s requirement, likes and dislikes.
• In addition to content, do not forget to add visuals and links to your content. It will engage more people if you do so.
• Know your writer’s capacities and skills.
• Do not overburden him/her, as it reduces the creativity.