5 Questions To Ask A Potential Content Writer
 

As a business owner or marketing director, you already have your agenda bursting with obligations. As much as you would love hand-crafting your blog, there is just not enough time for that too. The solution is to outsource this to a confident content Writer and spend your time on more strategic endeavors. However, how can you make sure you choose the best person for the job, and you are not just wasting money on copy-paste content? Here are the top 5 questions you should ask a potential candidate or agency.

1. What is your process, especially when starting off with a new client?

Content marketing is part of a broader strategy. The writer you hire needs to take some time and research your brand, understand your company’s voice and come up with ideas which are innovative and position you as an expert. If they are eager just to start writing and get the money, consider choosing someone else.
 

2. What digital tools do you use in your daily work?

Of course, excellent spelling and grammar are crucial for a content writer. However, humans are prone to errors, and they must be aware of this and use every Tool they can get to make their work as good as it can be. The recommended software includes plagiarism checkers, spelling tools, and even phrase checkers.  Since most of these tools are paid, if a content writer uses them it means that they take their job seriously and invest in offering the best results.
 

3. Do you think there is any difference between copywriting and content writing?

A content writer should be able to make a clear difference between copywriting which is sales-oriented and has a promotional tone and content writing, which is sharing information and knowledge.

This is an important distinction to make since people tend to abandon reading blogs which are too self-promotional. Of course, you can speak about your services or products, but in a context where these are useful, by neutrally explaining the benefits.
 

4. How comfortable are you with SEO requirements?

It’s not enough to have excellent content. To get on Google’s first page, you need to follow some rules which help search engines understand you are the expert in your field and deserve to be featured in prime time. Your writer needs to know a few things about headers, image optimization, tags and link building to rank the content.
 

5. What blogs or books do you read?

You can’t write more than you read if you are looking for quality. A top content writer is an avid reader, both in his field of interest as well as in general. Look for people who enjoy reading a wide range of styles to be sure they can adapt their voice. Also, ask about following top authors in your niche to see if they care about the latest news.
 

Bonus question

Ask them to write by hand the following sentence: “They’re pretty sure that their cat is lost somewhere out there.” because the devil is in the small things.