What to consider before hiring a content writer
Hiring a content writer is a crucial decision for your business because it is your content that communicates your message to your prospective customers and clients and encourages them to do business with you. Have a misdirected or lackluster content and after a couple of months you will begin to wonder why the heck your business not doing as good as you think it should.
Contrary to the popular belief it is not necessary that your content writer must thoroughly understand your business; the most important thing is that he or she should be “able to” understand your business and then translate the core message into web friendly words. It is not as simple as it sounds. The reading habits of Internet users are totally different from those of conventional readers. The primary reason is there is too much choice available on the Internet and people can immediately go to another website if they don’t find your content interesting enough. A trained content writer is totally aware of the situation and writes accordingly.
Does your content writer have an online presence?
While hiring a content writer make sure that you conduct a thorough background check on the Internet. Check first of all if the content writer you are planning to work with has a website or a blog or not. A content writer without an online presence might be an unreliable professional because every serious service provider makes sure that he or she has an online presence in the form of a website or a blog. Even if the content writer does not have a dedicated website he or she at least must have some sort of social media presence. The basic point is you should be able to gauge what sort of activities your content writer has been indulging in and what the others think about him or her. Given a choice between hiring a content writer with a business website and without it, it is safer to go with the one who has it.
How much experience does your content writer have?
Experience, of course, is very important. Although personally I feel with every new project you gain new experience as a content writer one needs to be acquainted with how to write well on different subjects and for different businesses. As you gain more and more experience you develop a knack for quickly understanding the demands of the business and coming up with appropriate content. The content writer who writes for the web very well knows that he or she has to write both for the search engines and the human visitors because search engine traffic is important and so is the conversion rate — they are both interdependent for a small business at least.
How professional is your content writer?
Again, a business website indicates that a content writer is a professional. Make note of the basic content organization on his or her website. It is important how much time he or she has spent on creating his or her business website because that shows how seriously he or she takes his or her business. The layout must be clean, contemporary and without too many distractions.
Does your content writer have a blog?
Personally I believe that every content writer worth his or her salt must have an active blog. It is about writing after all. When you share your thoughts on your blog you demonstrate your writing prowess as well as your expertise. It also shows that you are a natural communicator and you can use your words perfectly well. It also shows that you keep yourself update with whatever goes on in the field of content writing.
How much does your content writer charge?
Getting a cheap content writer may save you money but in the longer run, if he or she doesn’t write well, this decision will certainly cost you more in terms of money and time. Too many businesses have been shut down simply because the owners tried to save costs on crucial things. Your website content is as important as your website so don’t make decisions based on simply the cost. Do your research and find out how much normally content writers charge. If the content writer you have shortlisted charges too less it means he or she is going to make this up by doing shoddy work. Even if he or she lives in a developing country the cost of living is rapidly rising everywhere. So he or she will have to make some compromises in order to work for the wages and the result will show in the performance of your content.
But it doesn’t mean you need to pay inflated rates. Be reasonable. Both cost and performance are important.
How does your content writer respond to your queries?
You can make out a lot from the sort of answers your content writer gives to your queries. Are the answers professional and thorough or are they vague? Does he or she know what he or she is talking about? Try to read between the lines. How much time does he or she take in responding? All the small things can make a big impact on the overall performance.
It is very important that you select your content writer after a lot of scrutiny because the content he or she provides you is going to stay on your website for a long time, doing business for you. It represents your business, after all.
