As the internet is powered by 150 million blogs and counting, there aren’t 150 million clever and hard-working writers out there.
Finding a great content writer who can contribute both quality and hard work to your blog is absolutely a search for a needle in 150 million haystacks. When hiring content writers, a few simple pieces of criteria will allow you to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Here are five things you absolutely need to consider when you want to boost your blog with good writers.
1. Check Out Their Range
When you’re hiring content writers, you should look beyond their language and editing skills. You should look into what they could do for you both now and into the future. A writer who is a little less talented than your ideal but who has range about a wide variety of topics could be better for you in the long run.
You should have someone on staff who can write about technical or specialized concepts, who can editorialize about entertainment, and who can write listicles. While it might seem like you should have someone who can specialize in each field, it’s good to have a few jills-of-all-trades on staff.
If your site becomes popular, you could end up getting asked to write some sponsored content for different sites and products. If you have someone who can write with an authoritative voice on multiple subjects, you could deploy them to a variety of projects.
Once you open up your site to sponsored content, you never know what lucrative contract could come around the bend.
2. Double Check For Plagiarism
While you might get a lot of great applicants who give you fantastic writing samples, some people just know where to look for the best content. You can’t be bothered to scrub through the entire web looking for the best of the best but some people can.
Double check what you get from new applicants for plagiarism. You want to make sure that the great work coming from your new applicants is truly original. That’s how you know you’re about to hire a fantastic writer.
Make sure you offer a good and fair rate of pay. As many people cobble together multiple gigs from multiple channels, you need to pay everyone fairly so that you can keep people faithful. That’s how you get strong content from good writers.
Otherwise, you’re going to have to settle for mediocre nonsense from subpar writers.
3. What Other Languages Do They Speak?
As the world and the economy as a whole become more globalized, it’s more and more valuable to have a multilingual staff. While not all of your writers need to speak and write in more than one language, you should put a premium on those who do. Give them some simple language tests and a few test assignments, but once they pass, be sure to reward them.
Very few content writers are fluent enough to write in a foreign language. You should covet any who are and who are willing to work for you. Give them good assignments and first crack at deciding what subjects interest them the most.
Over time, you’ll see that when you give foreign companies quality writing, you’re able to start building a niche among brands and sponsored content abroad. Once you take advantage of that market, you can really build the reach for your site beyond your local borders. Few brands are truly global and those who are seeing huge success in every way.
4. Do They Have Connections With High DA Sites?
When you’re hiring content writers, see who they have been writing for over the years and who they’ve built positive relationships with. If they’re still able to get their work published at high DA sites, you might want to consider hiring them for this reason alone.
Getting your writers to appear on high DA sites reflects positively on your own site. If they’re able to include links back to your site on those higher domain authority sites, you can get more quality clicks. You’ll improve the SEO for your own site which will allow you to attract bigger clients for your own sponsored content.
IF you can get your content writers to write special assignments for high DA sites they work with, it’s a win-win situation. Writers get to be paid for work on high domain authority sites and you get links that could turn into high-quality leads. Additionally, you could offer services to other sponsors to pay your writers more and make a higher profit for your brand.
5. Ask About Their Trajectory
You should always have a conversation about how working for you fits into the career trajectory of any of your writers. While it’s nice to think that you’re the center of your writers’ universe, you need to be realistic about their wants and needs. Your writers are on a path and you’re a part of their journey.
You just need to know what part.
If you can help to nurture your writers’ career, they will give back by always giving you the best performance they can. When you build a strong rapport and give constructive feedback to your writers, they will stay faithful and work for you long after they need to. Once they’re established, they’ll lend the power of their own name to help build your brand in exchange.
Hiring Content Writers Is a Challenge For Every Site
Even the Huffington Post has a hard time finding strong writers who can write on a diverse range of topics with any sense at all. Hiring content writers is a constant struggle. You can make it easier on yourself by making sure you provide as much support as a digital workplace can for your writers.
Follow our guide to ensure that you provide a great company culture for every hire you make, whether remote or in your office.