How to Hire Freelance Content Writers

Are you an individual or a business entity looking to hire freelance content writers? Most of writers or wordsmiths are asking you for upfront payment. Right! You have a hesitation whether you will have quality works after sending payments. Sometimes, you think of losing your money. You get in a dilemma- What will happen if your selected person goes away with your money? You cannot decide what to do.  Here is a solution for you. You just need to go through this small piece of writing.  Keep reading until you finish it.

  
On the other hand, content writers cannot be blamed for demanding upfront. Sometimes, a few dishonest people go away with their (content writers or copywriters) handwork. This is why the copywriters don’t want to go ahead without taking an advance or upfront payment. However, there is a way to break the deadlock.  

Before hiring a professional content writer or creative wordsmith, you need to find the right fit for you. 

Given below are the tips on how to find the right freelance content writers for your projects: 

Make sure you are hiring an experienced content writer 

Hiring a fresher for your project can put you in trouble. This is why hiring one having several years of experience is always good. To be sure that you are hiring an experienced wordsmith, you could ask him or her to send you the profile or portfolio link. 

Ask for the previous works 

Sometimes, previous works can help you make a decision. To do so, you just need to ask the freelance content writers to send their previous works done for other clients. 

Assign a small piece of writing containing less than 150 words 

This is the small yet giant step for you to find the right freelancer for you. Just assign your freelancers a small piece of writing on a specific topic selected by you. It will help you understand the quality and writing style of the content writers. 

If the writers can pass all these three steps, you can hire them as your freelance content writers. 

How to hire efficient freelance content writers     

Hire for a small SEO project

At the initial stage, you can them for a small SEO project requiring some articles, blogs, and PRs for link building. You can assign only for each type to check the quality and style. It means you can assign only 3 for the first term. 

 

How to pay for your first content writing project   

Just pay 50% (as upfront) of the total amount. Assigning only a small volume of work is always advisable.  As you pay 50% in advance, an assignment of a small volume of work lowers the chance of losing your money. Say for an example, if you assign 4 articles, pay for only 2. After getting 2 articles, you can pay for the rest 2- if the wordsmith can deliver you the quality work.   

How to assign content writing projects

If you have started working with a freelance content writer, you just need to start with a small step as mentioned above. You can increase the work volume with time.  You can start with 4, then 6, 10, 14, 20 and likewise. Don’t pay the entire amount before delivery. Always pay 50% in advance, not more than that. 

How to Find a Professional Content Writer

After Panda and Hummingbird algorithm update released by Google, quality content has been the king. It plays a significant role in digital marketing (both display and search market) to increase online (website, brand, listing, ad, etc.) visibility, improve online traffic and ensure higher conversation.

This is why finding professional content writers can ensure the success of your online campaign and give you a significant and stable web presence.

How to reach professional content writers

 

If you search online, you will get to see many professional writers working as freelance content writers or full-time copywriters. If you find a website, you can easily get the contact detail from the “contact us” section. Some of the copywriters have their local listings on “Google My Business”. From the list, you can find their addresses and contact numbers. Just make a list with the names and contact numbers. You can shortlist a few among these after talking to them over the telephone.

How to select a content writer for your project

This is really a tough task. However, if you follow some rules of thumbs, you can reach your target.

Ask some previous samples written by your shortlisted content writers 

Before selecting a content writer for your project, you just need to ask him or her for previous writings delivered to the clients. Ask for the same niche that you need for your copywriting project. If the writer doesn’t have the same niche, assign him or her very small piece of content from your project to check the quality and wiring style. 

Does he or she know how to write SEO friendly content?

Enquire whether your writer knows how to write SEO friendly content, maintaining keyword density, keyword proximity, keyword prominence, etc. Ask your wordsmith to include long-tailed keywords, relevant words, related words, frequently asked questions, and parallel search terms to get the best result.

Should I ask a writer for writing sample content?  

Yes, you should. However, it must not be a lengthy content. If you assign a lengthy content writing project, the writer will not write it. The reason is very simple. Many writers have bitter experiences. Many times, many creative wordsmiths (content writers) write very good sample contents and deliver these to the clients, but the clients simply go away with these and use for their digital marketing purposes without paying anything to the wordsmiths. As a consequence, the wordsmiths do not get paid for their hard labor and brainstorming works. This is why professional wordsmiths refuse to write sample contents. However, when you request them to write a few lines for your project just to check quality and style, they will accept. Therefore, you can assign a topic to write a few lines on it to have as sample content.

Decide your wordsmith or content writer 

You can request for sample contents from all of your shortlisted content writers. Check all files sent by them in detail. Separate the best writing from the others and contact the writer. Discuss with him or her about the work volume you have, the turnaround time (the time between the project assigned and delivery) and charges for all. Once everything is finalized, you can assign the project.

  

Should I pay upfront for getting content writing services? 

Once you find the right fit for your project, you can send him or her some amount as token money to some part of your content writing project done by him or her. The best thing is to divide the project into a few milestones and assign these- one after another. You can create the first milestone and pay for it. Once it is finished, assign the second milestone and pay the amount for it and likewise. Keep doing this, until it is completed. Thus, both you and the writer will have good control over the delivery and payment.

How to assign a content writing project 

The best way to assign a project is to break it in several milestones. Check each milestone after delivery. Ask for revision or modification (if you need) before assigning the next milestone. You are sure to have a satisfactory work and healthy relationship with your content writers.