How to Find a Web Content Writer for Your Online Business

You’ve already taken the first step, haven’t you? Whether you found this article by searching for answers on Google or clicked through to this article while navigating the site you’ve already performed the most necessary online journey essential to the task of finding a web content writer. But of course it doesn’t stop here. You need to know how to find an online wordsmith that not only knows how to be found online you also need to know if they are capable of serving your website marketing plan in the best manner possible. This individual will need to know how to create interesting, informative, and engaging content that will draw in organic traffic while garnering the interest of other websites that will want to link to this content. To make this distinction, you will have to recognize the good and bad traits. In today’s post I’ll walk you through each so that you can make an educated decision when hiring/contracting a web writer to manage the content on your website.

How to Identify a Good Content Writer to Improve the Traffic and Backlink Profile of Your Website

1. They Have a Portfolio of Proven Articles Serving Various Industries, Including Yours

While it is nice to find a web writer that focuses solely on your industry such a thing is very uncommon. That being said, you want to at least be sure that they have written successful online content for your niche, or for an industry somewhat related to yours. The more diverse the portfolio, the more likely this will have happened. A great online writer will know how to take what they have done in the past and translate it to your target market.

2. They Can Prove the SEO Success of Their Articles by Showing You How Their Work Ranks in Search

It doesn’t matter how well the content included within their portfolio has been written, if it doesn’t show up in search engines for relevant keyword search phrases then you may as well hire a slam poet from your local coffee shop. There is a huge distinction between a “writer” and a “web writer”. Web writers are good writers that also understand the dynamics of search engine optimization (SEO). When they write a landing page or blog article for your website, they will know how to write AND optimize the content so that it can be found in search. They will know how to identify topics, or alter the ones you provide them with, and transform it into content that is in fact being searched online on a regular basis by your target consumer. How will you know if they are capable of this? Have them tell you to perform a keyword search on Google for a common keyword phrase and prove that an article or two that they have written has had SEO success (in other words, an article that shows up on Google Page One). You will weed out many ineffective online writers this way.

3. They Understand How to Incorporate Rich-Media into Your Content

Google requires more than textual content in today’s day and age because people require more. For many online queries searchers want to be delivered not only a webpage of virtual black ink, they want to see photos, images, info-graphics, and video as a means to answer their questions about a product or service. Google crawlers look for this sort of complementary content and will reward those online businesses that have included it within their content mix. With all else being equal, Google will choose to give rank to the website that includes this content, over the one that doesn’t. In addition, interesting and original photos, graphics, and video attached to articles are instrumental in earning the interest of other webmasters who you hope in turn will reference your content from their own site with linked attribution. Your web content writer will be instrumental in making this happen. They will advise you on how to add rich-media to the content they plan and write so that it adds value to your webpages, blog articles, and social media posts. If you have a photographer or graphic designer on staff they will work with them hand in hand to accomplish your content marketing goals. Great web content writers do not exist in a silo, they integrate into your corporate culture, no matter how big or small.

4. Avoid Web Writer Cattle-Call Services Such as Elance & oDesk

This assertion makes me pretty unpopular with more than a few writers out there. I get that. However, I’m here to serve your business interests, not the state of affairs for the aspiring writers out there, even though they should understand this stance. It certainly makes me unpopular with the services that have served to devalue the talents of the same writers that may be upset with me making the statement in the next sentence. But by all means, you as an online business owner should avoid using services such as Elance, oDesk, and god-forbid Fiverr to fuel your content marketing campaigns. These services have taken advantage of the fact that many writers cannot book paying gigs on their own, and so they collect them and put them to task in arenas they have no business working in. Again, a writer is not the same as a “web writer”, at all. Very few of these individuals will have the portfolio apt to your online needs, nor have the SEO knowledge to get your website content found on search. Elance, oDesk, Fivver, the plague…avoid them all.

5. Avoid Overseas Outsourcing

Various versions of online search performed for SEO writing services will unearth company after company in the likes of India and the Philippines pitching quality content for a fraction of the price you pay in North America. You get what you pay for. Correction, you get even less than what you pay for. Simply put, the work is always subpar at best because the writers do not understand the language nuances so necessary for communicating to your local customer base. Even if I nailed Rosetta Stone Spanish I would never dare to pitch my web writing services to an online business in Spain that communicated to its customers in Spanish. Save the overseas outsourcing for basic business needs (web development, logo design) if you absolutely must, but never do so for the most valuable part of your ongoing online marketing plan – content.

By being aware of the above you will be able to identify what to look for and look out for when securing the services of a website content writer. I encourage to dig up as much information as you can, performing thorough searches for freelance web writers online on Google, within social media channels, and within your own personal network. With that aside, feel free to send me an email or drop me a line if you have any questions whatsoever on the matter and/or if you are looking to get started on your new content marketing plan today.

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