There are lots of content writers available to hire. They come in all price ranges, but price should not be your only selection criteria. Quality of your website content is most important. Instead ask yourself “will it convince and sell my product?”
Good content writing should be well researched. The writer should understand your business and your industry. The content they write should resonate with your customers. Their writing should be professional and make your company look good.
Writing for the web is different. You will use shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs. There will only be one idea per paragraph. The content will be formatted for visual scanning using sub-headings, bulleted lists, italicized or bolded words.
Writing for the web should always be keyword driven. Be ready to supply a list of keywords to your writer. Use one primary keyword phrase per written page.
How do you find writers?
- Websites: Use websites like guru.com, elance.com or freelancer.com. These websites allow you to post your job and allow writers to bid on doing your work.
- Experience: Find people that know your industry. Are they exited and passionate about it? Do they have SEO content writing experience? Do they know how to work keywords in for maximum search engine impact?
- Quality: Most sites post ratings on writers from others that have used them. Only choose top rated writers. Always have writers submit samples of their work. Look at the writing quality for grammar and spelling. Is it engaging and interesting?
- Research: If you need the writer to research the topic, expect to pay extra for it. If you have pre-selected source material, make sure you supply that to the writer.
- Describe: Give clear and accurate descriptions of what you need written as you issue assignments. How long should the article be? Who is the audience? What is the call to action? Provide the keywords phrases that you want the writer to incorporate.
- Check: Always check the work of a writer as soon as you receive it. Check for originality using a website like copyscape.com. Did they capture the concepts that you wanted and was it well written? Communicate changes if you need them. Most writers will edit their articles if needed.
Think of the content writing as a strategic investment in your business. Balance quality and price to reach your marketing goals.