We’re sure you already know that organic marketing by way of SEO articles and other content takes some 3 – 6 months to show results. In addition, the gurus tell us that only you start to get real results once you have more than 400 pieces out there. Don’t underestimate the power of previous posts – older posts still produce leads. And so the SEO-show must go on. And on.
If you’re one of those copywriters who has written hundreds of articles on the same product, the thought of doing the same for new clients is horrible. Just horrible. You know it has to be done, but each article you must write is draining your will to live. Desperate times call for desperate measures: it is time to get help.
Writers Wanted. Apply Within
Even so, no copywriter worth their salt will let just any writer take over the task. So how to find an acceptable candidate?
- Run a contest in-house – you might have top writers on your team and not even know it.
- Ask your peers who they use for their company’s content creation.
- Google (duh).
- Look on LinkedIn.
- Advertise on an online freelance platform like Upwork or Fiverr.
Once you start looking, you’ll see that content writers are everywhere, but without proof it’s hard to tell which ones are genuinely skilled. Previous samples of their work are well and good, but can they write your material in the way you want it?
Sadly, some portfolios are fake, something you won’t know until they’ve written a specific piece for you. It could be a small paid task, just to be sure they can work with your material. It will also prove their ability to work within guidelines, keep deadlines, and produce consistent quality. It goes without saying that there should be synergy.
Talent Spotting
As an overly-experienced article writer, you’re probably so used to doing it that you never think about what goes into each article. Here’s a short checklist of must-haves when assessing a freelancer, a writing agency or someone in-house happy to give it a bash.
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Reputation Protection
Do they approach from a marketing perspective? If the writer understands the importance of protecting online reputations, they will appreciate the importance of providing content of a consistent standard delivered on time. No over-promise-under-deliver. There’s also the small matter of including keywords in a natural way instead of keyword stuffing.
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Quality Control
Will you get individually written by native-English writers? Zero plagiarism. No spinning. Will the articles arrive freshly edited and proofread?
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Reliability
The thing with writers is that they might go AWOL. One minute you’re getting a steady stream of articles, the next they are nowhere to be found. Until they come back from their walkabout. To prevent disruption to your publishing schedule, you could keep a store of articles, outsource to many freelancers, and have an editor to manage the process. It makes sense to keep this team as small as possible
In the End
But once you’ve found a reliable writing service it won’t be the end though, will it? Just imagine: once the endless stream of SEO articles is someone else’s responsibility, you’ll be free to focus on Other Important Stuff. You would be free to fly wordsmith, fly!
