When people are looking to hire a content writer, freelancer websites are an obvious choice. You might choose to look at People Per Hour, oDesk, or Elance, although there are many other sites where content writers offer their services. But there are some problems with hiring freelancers randomly through these sites.

The Trouble With Freelance Content Writers

I started my business, Red Robot Media, by working through freelancer websites such as People Per Hour, so I have a good idea of how they work. It’s possible to secure content writers at good rates through these websites, and many suppliers are genuinely fantastic. However, there are some pitfalls.

Most of the content writers on freelancer sites are competing on price. This means that content writers who write good-quality copy will eventually be priced out of the market. The people offering cheap content will stick around longer, since they probably can’t get work anywhere else. Bear this in mind before you hire a content writer purely on price.

The feedback on the site can be inaccurate in some cases, and often, it’s very hard to gauge the quality of a content writer’s work before you hire them. To avoid wasting money, ensure you get credible references and solid portfolio pieces, which will help you assess the quality of your content writer’s work.

Perhaps the biggest problem when it comes to hiring freelance content writers is simply availability. A poor content writer will process a lot of work in a short space of time in order to be more available, but that often means the quality of their work suffers. A really good content writer may price themselves too low on a freelancer site, simply so they can compete, but they can quickly become overwhelmed by content writing assignments. That means they miss deadlines and delay the rest of your project.

How To Hire A Content Writer Through a Freelancer Site:

1. Draw up a watertight contract. Your content writer should be clear on what you want, when you want it, and how long your content needs to be. If they don’t know how long something will take, that’s a sign they’re not experienced enough to do the job properly.
2. Check the standard of copy your writer produces. A content writer who doesn’t natively speak your language will never be as good as one who does. Always pick someone from your own country who understands the quirks of your local language.
3. Don’t leave feedback until the content is in your hands and you’ve assessed its quality. Some freelancers will slack off if you leave feedback too early, and you shouldn’t be afraid of being honest if it’s not good enough.
4. Ensure you have more than one means of contacting your content writer. A verified telephone number is essential. Email, Skype, and Twitter are great until your content writer decides that the dog ate their laptop and they can’t reply to your messages anymore. (This happens a lot.)
5. Assess their specialist skills. If you need a technical content writer, ensure that the person has the right qualifications. If you need an SEO copywriter, ask them to explain how they construct SEO content.
6. Be critical. If your content writer proves to be unreliable, simply ditch them and look for someone else.

Using Content Creation Companies

The other option is to hire a content writer through a content creation company. Not all content creation companies are made equal, however. There are generally three types: content mills, contentagencieses and genuine content creation ccompanies thatwork for themselves.

Content mills and content agencies are fine, but hiring them can present some problems. Much like a freelancer site, you can never really be sure who you’re dealing with when you use a content mill or an agency, since they distribute jobs to huge pools of writers all over the world. Some agencies split one website content project between four or five writers, so you can sometimes find that the content you receive is inconsistent. In some cases, a different writer is assigned to each page of the site. That’s just asking for problems.

After working as a freelancer, I started my own content creation company. We decided not to be an agency or a mill: we work in a team, and nobody else shares our work. I am one of two people who work in-house, don’t distribute work to other content writers, and give all clients a personal phone number when we’re working with them.

If I were recommending a way to hire a content writer, this would be the method I would put in pole position. Perhaps I’m biased, but I think content writing is like any other service: the customer should be able to speak to the supplier, not a middleman.

How To Hire A Content Writer Through a Content Creation Company:

1. Choose a content creation company whose writers are named and traceable. Follow up links to social media – particularly LinkedIn – to check each writer’s references. They should have relevant qualifications, experience, or testimonials.
2. Look for names and photos. If you can’t see any writers’ names on the company’s site, it’s a sign that your content might be outsourced to third-party writers who may not be in the same country. That means you may never know who’s writing for you, and it introduces a layer of admin you will probably want to avoid.
3. Look for a content creation company with a proven track record. Check out their portfolio before you contact them, and don’t be afraid to ask for examples. Follow links in testimonials and ask previous clients if the comments are genuine.
4. Ask for a contract. A good content creation company will write down exactly what’s being offered before the project starts. They’ll also give you time to check the content before you pay for it.
5. Check their contact details. You should be able to contact your content writer on the phone, via social media, and via email. If contact details aren’t offered up front, alarm bells should ring right away.