How to Find the Best Website Content Writers: 4 Major Tips
If you’re looking to produce high-quality content for your website, it’s not enough to just find a talented writer or a professional content writing company. You need someone who will work well with you, spend time learning about your business, and can produce high-quality content on a deadline. To find the best website content writers, you have to ask the right questions—and make sure they know what they’re getting into with your project.
1. Identify what (and who) you’re looking for.
Before you can hire website content writers, you need to know what you’re looking for.
First, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are your content marketing goals? (e.g. increase newsletter subscribers by 10% each quarter)
- Are you looking for blog content? Website content? Or something else?
- Do you have a budget allocated for this?
- How much time do you need to set aside for reviewing/editing/approving content?
Then, gather some questions to find out what kind of results your potential writers have produced in the past.
- Do they specialize in specific content writing services? (e.g., web content writing, SEO content, white papers, blogs, technical writing)
- If so, how long have they been doing it?
- What kind of results has their work produced over time (e.g., increased traffic)?
- How do they match up with your core values? (e.g., Will you enjoy working with them?)
2. Ask more questions to learn how you’ll flow.
When hiring a writer, make sure to ask all the right questions so that you’re getting people who understand your business needs and will be able to meet them.
- How do they manage their workflow?
- How do they handle edits and revisions?
- How are tasks assigned?
- How are deadlines set and tracked?
- How is the progress of each task tracked by team members and managers?
- How is feedback given and received by managers and team members?
3. Get clear on your vision.
Content creation is one of the most difficult things to complete for your business. Oftentimes, this is the #1 hold-up in website design projects. While you may be hiring someone to do the writing for you, it can also be helpful to define the initial direction of your website content by filling out a simple website content questionnaire.
- Remember: Your input is the foundation upon which successful brand identities are built.
- This questionnaire will help you identify and articulate the overall goals for the content of your project.
- The results will provide your writer with a clear understanding of your vision.
4. Get clear on your audience and goals.
When updating or building a website, it’s important to have a clear idea of your goals when creating content. This will help you decide what kind of text you need, and it will guide your search for writers. If you have a very clear idea of what kind of content you want, then finding writers should be much easier. For example:
- “I am looking for a writer to update my homepage content so that it’s easier for potential customers to understand what I do.”
- “I am looking for a writer to create one informational blog post per month about X topic.”
- “I am looking to shift my marketing strategy from B2B to B2C and need to update the content to serve this new audience while maintaining SEO best practices.”
If you are not sure what type of content a potential client/customer would expect on your website or what purpose it serves, then finding good writers might be challenging. One way to help with this is to create a buyer persona.
Think of your ideal client/customer: What compelled them to purchase your product or service? Why do they buy from you?
If your business model allows it, I highly suggest reaching out to an ideal customer. It will be worthwhile asking them some questions you’ll find in a buyer persona worksheet. Or, you can fill it out on your own. That way, even if your writer will do the discovery for you, the initial buyer persona will give them a good idea of how to craft content that’s tailored to your website’s ideal audience.
Finding a long-term relationship with website content writers is key.
The longer someone writes for you, the more likely they are to know your brand just as well as you do – and will produce valuable content. For this reason, finding the right website content writers are key to achieving your goals and maintaining a profitable website in the long term.
When looking for the best website content writers, keep these tips in mind:
- Finding someone who fits with your business is important because they will be working with you on an ongoing basis—so it makes sense to find someone who will add value to the culture of your company.
- Look for someone who can provide quality content consistently over time so that ideal customers continue coming back for more!
The search for website content writers can be a challenging process, but once you find the best match, it will be so worth it. Need a hand with this process? Let us know!