Content Marketing

8 Essential Dos and Don’ts for Hiring Freelance Writers

8 Essential Dos and Don’ts for Hiring Freelance Writers

Table of Contents


1. Determine Quality of Writer
2. Request for Samples
3. Prices & Quality Co-Relation
4. Communicate Your Expectations
5. Responsibility to Provide Full Information
6. Hiring Native Speakers
7. Checking Originality of Articles
8. Retaining Exclusive Rights

Determine Quality of Writer

Whether you are looking to resell, integrate it on your website, or make submissions to article directories, outsourcing can be the perfect solution to your content requirements. A good writer can take your content to new heights and give your work a professional touch. On the other side of the spectrum, a poor choice can burn a hole in your pocket. You mustn’t compromise on quality, so make sure you hire an experienced, established freelancer who can deliver.

Request for Samples

Never hire a writer without first examining the samples of their work. The Internet is brimming with writers who promise quality content at steeply low prices. None of it is worth falling for if you have not evaluated the writer based on his or her samples.

Prices & Quality Co-Relation

Don’t pay exorbitant fees for articles with poor quality. It’s critical to assess the quality-cost ratio while outsourcing article writing. High prices don’t guarantee elevated standards of writing. Keep in mind that sometimes, hiring a writer based solely on rates, might result in multiple revisions and corrections from your end.

Communicate Your Expectations

Having complete clarity of what you need from your outsourced writer is essential. This should include your expectations from the article, style of writing, the article’s purpose, etc. Failure to do so might result in an article that does not meet your needs. Be detailed and clear in your instructions to get the content you need.

Responsibility to Provide Full Information

Your writer can’t deliver what you want if you don’t provide comprehensive information about your needs. Writers do not have extrasensory perception, so don’t assume they automatically understand your expectations. Supply all essential information upfront to prevent any misunderstandings or mistakes.

Hiring Native Speakers

When feasible, hiring a native speaker is a wise move. This isn’t meant to underrate the abilities of non-native writers, but the quality of work can significantly vary. Writers from different countries may be willing to accept lesser pay due to different living wages, which can affect the quality of their work.

Checking Originality of Articles

Though you may have explicitly asked for 100% unique articles, it’s still crucial to check the originality of the content before making the payment. There are several plagiarism checkers, like CopyScape, to help you with this. Authenticity and uniqueness of content are vital when it comes to SEO rankings.

Retaining Exclusive Rights

Make sure to communicate you want exclusive rights to the articles. This will ensure your outsource writer understands not to resell or reuse your articles for their personal use. The last thing you want is to suffer from the repercussions of duplicity of content.

FAQs

Q1. How to determine the quality of a freelance writer?

Q2. Why should you ask for writing samples?

Q3. How to correlate quality with the price of articles?

Q4. Why is communication important when hiring freelance writers?

Q5. Why should you keep exclusive rights to your articles?

Conclusion

Hiring a freelance writer may seem a complex process initially but understanding these essential dos and don’ts can guide you through easily. Begin with recognizing the quality of writer, examining the work samples and correlating the price with quality. It is also pivotal to communicate your requirements lucidly, provide complete information, considering hiring native writers, checking originality of the articles and to retain exclusive rights to the articles. Following these guidelines would ensure that you get the best out of your outsourced writer and sail smoothly through the content creation process.