Thinking about hiring a blog writer for your small business?
They can be a great resource…if you really need one. Here’s how to tell if hiring a blog writer is the right move for you.
When it comes to bloggers, I am—admittedly—biased. After all, I am a blogger.
But since blog posts require bloggers to write them, you’ll have to forgive the self-indulgence.
I also want to be honest, with you and myself. And truth is: a blog writer isn’t necessary for everybody 100% of the time.
WHAT?!
You heard me.
Every business has different needs, schedules, target audiences, and topics…. I’d be doing you a disservice if I made a blanket statement across the board about whether you need a designated blog writer or not.
Blog, yes. But a blog writer? The best I can do is “maybe.”
Do you need a blog writer?
If you have a website (and you should!), you need content.
Sometimes “content” means blog posts. But it could also mean videos. Or infographics. Or a podcast.
If you’re one of those people that doesn’t have a need for blog posts, you wouldn’t need a blog writer.
But say you do have a blog full of text posts. Is hiring a blogger the only way to be successful? To know for sure, ask yourself a few questions:
1. “Do I Have Time to Write a Blog?”
Writing a blog is hard work.
You’ll need to make time for brainstorming topics, researching keywords, coming up with an outline, writing the actual article, more keyword research, optimization, and making sure it doesn’t look too janky.
If business is going well and you’re busy, congrats! But it probably doesn’t leave you much time for blogging. Be honest with yourself about how much time you have to devote to writing a blog and doing it right. (Remember, the optimal length is between 800-1,000 words.)
2. “Do I Know How to Write?”
I’m gonna level with you. If you don’t even know the basics of English grammar, blog writing may not be for you.
This doesn’t mean you have to sound like a college-level physics textbook. But people should be able to figure out what the heck you’re trying to say.
If you’re a terrible writer, don’t worry. Not knowing how to write doesn’t mean that you’re a moron. Some of my favorite people can talk in front of a crowd and sound like the most articulate experts around, but when they write an email? Hoo boy.
Chances are, however, you’re a better writer than you think, but if you think you’re terrible, you won’t blog. And the point is to get some blog posts written, capish?
3. “Do I understand SEO?”
Without targeting the right keywords, you won’t get any traffic. And you won’t know what the right keywords are without research.
You don’t have to be a Google guru, but you should have some basic knowledge and a few tools. Access to Ahrefs or Google Analytics. Knowing that high traffic for a particular keyword is good and a high difficulty score is bad.
This isn’t to say that all blog posts will fail unless you do the research. Miracles can happen. But they happen a little easier when you stack the odds in your favor.
Say Hello, and Let's Get To Work Together
“Yeah, okay, I’m gonna need a blog writer.”
You already have the expertise about whatever it is you do. But if you lack the time, the skill, and the research chops to learn how to write your own blog posts, you’ll have to hire a blog writer.
Luckily, this is America, so you have choices!
1. In-House Bloggers
Hiring a designated in-house blog writer requires the most commitment (and the biggest investment), but it can really pay off if you want to publish multiple pieces of quality content every week.
The biggest benefit to an in-house blogger is the amount of information they’re exposed to. They’ll not only have first-hand knowledge of the product or service you offer, they’ll be intimately familiar with your unique business and how you operate. (You may be able to get some social media work out of them.)
The biggest drawback, of course, is that you’ll be hiring an entirely new employee who will need a paycheck and all the benefits that go with it. This might not be feasible for you right now.
2. Freelance Bloggers
Your next option would be to hire a freelance blogger to work remotely.
These positions are typically part-time, but the details are generally quite flexible.
You can find someone to write articles from topics you provide. You can hire someone to generate their own topics. You can give them free reign to publish for you or you can ask them to submit their work to you for approval.
At Clarity, we usually generate both keywords and content, but every so often, a client will request a topic and we’ll run with it.
Freelance bloggers are significantly cheaper than hiring an in-house writer, but they won’t be quite as familiar with your business. They will learn about it over time (I know I have!), but don’t expect an English major to turn into a paralegal just by writing.
Be patient and provide them with guidance and you’ll see great results!
3. Blog Editors
If you want to retain more control without sacrificing on quality or spending a lot of money, consider hiring a blog editor to rework your articles into something that’ll get attention from Google.
You’ll have to write the initial content, but they can assist you with keyword research and edit your work to make sure the final draft reads well.
This is especially helpful for those of you in extremely specialized industries (i.e. law or medicine) or trying to sell a proprietary product. It’s impossibly time-consuming for a freelance blogger to round up all of that specific information through research alone. (The internet is full of contradictory information. I’ve heard both “red on yellow, friendly fellow” and “red on yellow, kill a fellow” and still don’t know which one is right.)
Instead, you simply write down what you have to say and the editor makes it look all shiny.
Do you need a blog writer?
The decision to hire a blog writer comes down to many factors—your skill level, your schedule, your resources—but ultimately, you should ask yourself two questions.
- Do I want to have a blog?
- Do I want to write a blog?
If you want to have one, but not write one, then, yeah. You need a blog writer.
Maintaining a blog isn’t a hands-off endeavor, so you’ll want to choose a blog writer who can wrestle it into submission and still make it look like a walk in the park.
Whether you go with an in-house employee, freelance blogger, or blog editor, make sure you pick someone who knows how to write, research, and optimize your posts so they have the best chance of getting in front of your ideal audience.
This is America, danggit. You deserve to have it all.
Clarity Creative Group is a digital marketing agency located in beautiful Orlando, Florida. Okay, I just looked it up and it’s “red on yellow, kill a fellow.” Just in case you find one stuck between your door and your door jamb, like I did once.
