What to look for in a blogger for your business

I’ve been a freelancer blogger for going on four years now. But though I just started taking on work for hire in recent years, I’ve been a writer for far longer than I care to admit. My passion for writing is so strong and encompassing that I have decided to share my skillset with others so they can have great content to help promote their business.

This said, as a freelance blogger for hire, there are some things I have learned along the way. My goal in this article is to help make it a bit easier for you to select the right blogger for your business so that you don’t waste time and can ensure speed to market.

Four things to consider when hiring a blogger for your business

So, you’ve decided that you need to hire a blogger to write content for your business. You recognize that blog content will help you boost your search engine rankings, increase traffic to your website, build credibility with your customers, and help you nurture and foster those relationships. But the fact is that not all bloggers are the same.

If you want to add SEO-optimized content to your website via a blog, here is what you want to look for in that freelance blog writer.

1.   Freelancer rates

Let’s not beat around the bush on this one. When you go to sites such as Upwork, Fiverr, or ProBlogger to hire a blogger, you will see many writers offering rates on the cheap to the higher end. And naturally, you’re going to scroll to those lower-cost writers. But I implore you not to do that. Many freelancers are out there offering bottom-of-the-barrel pricing to try and drum up business. But in my experience, especially as of late, these writers demonstrate one of the following:

·     They’re new to freelancing and trying to kickstart their business

·     They are using AI tools to generate content

·     They are not native English writers

Now, I encourage you to try new freelancers now and again. After all, we all need to start somewhere. But instead of trying to skimp on the cost of the content, consider the reason you are hiring a blog in the first place – to get more of the right customers to your website. If you want high-quality content, you should look for seasoned writers at the middle to higher-tiered rates.

2.   Ratings and reviews

Next, you want to look for ratings and reviews from previous clients. But, don’t limit yourself to freelancers with a 100% rating. I’ve been blogging enough that I am fortunate to have a 100% satisfaction rating on Upwork, but that doesn’t mean all of my clients have said they were delighted. Some constructive feedback I have received from clients has been justified, especially when I first started and learned about the freelance writing business.

But sometimes, writers get penalized for things out of their control. And some clients never give a 5 and don’t understand that a rating of a 3 or 4 can be the kiss of death. So, be sure to look for high ratings, but don’t eliminate a blogger just because they’ve had a bad job occasionally.

3.   Responsiveness

Look for freelancers who will communicate and get back to you promptly. Freelancers often have a lot on their plate and can get buried in their work (it’s happened to me, too). But, the best freelancers out there build time into their days to check for questions from clients to ensure seamless communications.

Now, it can be hard to judge the level of responsiveness right off the bat. You’ll often have to contact a few freelancers you have vetted, asking them a few additional questions to see if they are a good fit. Please pay attention to how long it takes them to respond and how they react to you. Just make sure you are reaching out at a reasonable time of day.

Many freelancers work nights and weekends, especially if their freelance gig is a side hustle, but that doesn’t mean they are always on. Remember, freelancers have personal lives, too, so try not to expect responses in the middle of the night, 24/7, or on holidays.

Also related to responsiveness is response time. Avoid asking freelancers to turn your content around in 24 hours or less. While this is certainly possible, it isn’t always realistic and may leave you with a piece that isn’t as good as it should be. Some writers benefit by stepping away from work for a bit to let their brains think and process.

When we return to the piece, we can often add more or fix areas that could be better. Now, this doesn’t mean fast turn-around times aren’t possible. I’ve been able to turn around content quickly on multiple occasions and pride myself on it. The message here is that while that can be a nice plus, don’t make it an expectation.

4.   Experience with SEO

Finally, one of the last things I recommend you look for is SEO experience. Per Hubspot, blog SEO is the practice of creating and updating a blog to improve search engine rankings. For me, when I deliver SEO-optimized content writing to a client, I ensure I have conducted keyword research (if the client hasn’t already provided a list of keywords), cross-linking and backlinking to reputable sites, image optimization (when applicable), and H1, H2, and H3 headers as appropriate.

The H1 header is critical for your SEO efforts as it formats headings on your blog in order of importance. The H1 tag comes first in the body of your content and shows search engines what content can be expected on the rest of the page. H2 tags are also important for your SEO efforts as they help break up the content in your article, making it more scannable by those important little bots.

I’ve hired excellent writers but didn’t understand how to incorporate keywords or H1, H2, or H3 headers. This created more work for me, and now I realize that with the right writer, this could have all been done for me (and likely would have come naturally for them).

Are you ready for a blog for your business website?

If you think a blog is the next addition you need to make to your website, then you are likely on the right track. Regularly adding content to your website helps demonstrate to the bots that your website is current and not sitting idle. This also helps to prevent security threats to your website. Still, it enables you to increase traffic and conversion by providing a user-friendly experience for your customers and prospective customers.

Upwork, Fiverr, and Problogger are my recommended websites to help you find high-quality writers for your business blogging needs. And, of course, I am available to help, offering tiered package rates and all of those things mentioned earlier in this post. I wish you the best in your SEO efforts and creating content that captures your customers and increases your revenues.