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Content is king - that's what most SEO experts will tell you. The more content you have, the more search engines will love you. The better content, the more websites will link to you. The more informative content, the more your audience will see you as an expert in the field. It's all true-strong articles can give you a big boost in business, credibility, and traffic. But if writing isn't your strong point, where do you get all that content? Most people hire article copywriters for content jobs large and small. If you're thinking of hiring an article writer, here's some advice on what to expect. Expect cheap writing from cheap writers. There are plenty of copywriters out there who will write your articles for under £5 each. But if you've ever tried to write an article of your own-even a short one-you know it's not a £5 job. A single one-page article can take hours to write, when you factor in research, proofreading and editing. So how are these authors getting away with charging so little? Simple: they're either from a country with a low cost of living, or they're cutting and pasting from other articles on the Internet. With the first option, the writer is probably not a native English-speaker, and you may get a fair share of mistakes in grammar, spelling, and syntax. The second option is worse: it could get you in serious trouble for plagiarism. At best, you'll have to take the articles down; at worst, you could be booted off search engine results or face legal troubles. The bottom line? If the price sounds too good to be true, it is. Figure at least an hour or two per well-written, original, researched article. Then ask yourself: is this price realistic for the time I expect to be spent on these articles? You get what you pay for, and well-written content will pay for itself ten times over. Expect writers to send samples. When considering prospective writers, always ask for a few samples of prior work. Look for good organization, catchy headlines, and knowledge of subject matter. Is the article fun to read? Did you find it informative and helpful? Is it written with online readers in mind? Does it have any grammatical or spelling mistakes? However, it's not a good idea to ask your candidates to write a brand-new sample article as part of your hiring process. Experienced writers won't work for free, and those are the ones you want to hire. You should be able to judge a writer's ability based on samples they already have. Expect research to be included. Most writers aren't experts in every industry they write about. That's what research is for-and good writers know how to find the information they need. Don't hold back from hiring a writer if they've never written in your field before; if they've written on a wide variety of topics already, chances are they're strong researchers as well. If you're paying a good price for the article, expect the research to come at no extra cost. In addition, expect writers to be willing to provide you with links to their sources if you ask in advance. Don't expect a writer to know as much as you do about your industry. That said, if you have an especially technical topic, or want articles written with an expert audience in mind, expect some back-and-forth while the writer gets the facts right. In topics such as medicine or law, make absolutely sure a professional vets all the content before using it. Expect them to know more than you about writing. You shouldn't have to put up with grammatical or spelling mistakes-especially if you're paying top prices for premium content. A few writers will take your job then farm the project out to a £5 writer. It's always best to start with a small project before hiring a writer to take on the bulk of your work, just to test them out. For best results, give writers a two to four-article job, and then pick the best one for the rest of your work. Expect quality to go down as keyword density goes up. An article with a 4% keyword density won't win any prizes from your readers-no matter how good the writer is. Any more than a 2% keyword density, and readability will start to suffer. Remember that search engines might bring you traffic, but people ultimately matter- they're the ones spending the money and clicking on your paying links. Keyword-stuffed articles may bring you higher rankings until the search engines catch on, but they'll turn your readers off in a hurry. Find a good writer who writes with your readers in mind and includes keywords judiciously, and your business will do much better. Expect to give writers keywords if you want them included. Make sure you've done your keyword research before hiring a writer. Keyword analysis is a job for SEO specialists, not article writers-although many SEO firms will have a writer on staff. A good writer is worth a lot to your business. Spend some time
testing out candidates before settling on one. Finding the right
writer could lead to a very profitable partnership for both of you.
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