When most people hear the word “blog,” they can’t help but think of someone’s personal food review blog or maybe a doggy daycare posting about the naughtiest terrier of the week, but blogging is so much more than that – take BuzzFeed, for example. BuzzFeed is just one of many famous blog-based sites, and it gets over 130 million unique users each month.
Blogging predates modern social media platforms, but unlike many of the current microtrends, it has lasted longer than a couple of weeks and is evolving to stand out in today’s fast-paced world. And here’s the kicker: It’s not just for young people, the 18-24 group, or Gen Z internet addicts.
Blogging is an excellent way to build your brand and expand your reach without worrying about paying for a pop-up advertisement or cluttering someone’s email inbox – marketers who have blogs get 67% more leads than those who don’t. Skillful blogging helps drive organic, qualified traffic to your website.
How? Every time you post on said blog, the presence of your brand expands on the internet. In addition to that, it can boost your conversion rates, lead to long-term gains for years after a blog entry is posted, and enhance the identity specific to your brand.
There’s another benefit to blogging: Many successful businesses have shown that it helps build relationships and trust with their clients. Keeping an up-to-date blog with new information, whether or not it is promotional, builds a rapport over time that helps consumers understand your brand voice and trust in your ability to provide quality products or services. (Plus, nobody wants to buy from a website that hasn’t posted in over six months).
It’s clear that there are many benefits to blogging, but how do you find the time to do it? Many small business owners have their plates full enough already – forget about finding the time for writing and editing a blog regularly.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help. In the list that follows, we’ll help you find the best places to outsource blog writing. You already have enough to worry about – check out this comprehensive guide to discover our top picks when it’s time to hire a blog writer.
#1: WriteHQ
Price: $0.08 per word or $80/hour (with discounts for multiple posts or a contract)
WriteHQ is a woman-owned and operated startup that is based in the U.S. The company offers a first-time free consultation for whatever content writing you need. Their services include not only business blogging but also social media management, website content, ghostwriting for ebooks, and even product descriptions.
Some of the pros of working alongside a smaller company are that all content that is written is vetted through a highly trained and vetted team. You will never have to worry about work being outsourced overseas, and you can trust that every writer on the staff is ready to prepare exceptional work.
You’ll also to get much more one-on-one communication to personalize the needs of your brand. If you’re worried about your specific industry or brand being too niche, WriteHQ has a variety of writers from different backgrounds who have worked on pieces regarding hospitality, finance, business, health, insurance, luxury goods, tech, and other topics as well.
When working with WriteHQ, you can generally expect a three--day turnaround time for any given blog post. You’ll pay slightly more than you would if you sourced an individual freelancer from a marketplace like Upwork, but open marketplaces offer no guarantee of quality. WriteHQ, on the other hand, offers clients unlimited edits and full-service project management to ensure you get the final product you envisioned.
#2: Writing Studio
Price: starting at $0.20 per word
Writing Studio is a company based in New Zealand with around three-hundred writers to date. Writing Studio, just like WriteHQ, offers a variety of services including blog writing, SEO writing, eBook writing, press release writing, script writing, technical writing, and more.
One of the pros that Writing Studio offers is that it specializes significantly in subjects such as mental health, CBD and cannabis, healthcare, chiropractic, nutrition, fitness, dental, and pets. The company has professionals from those fields who are available to write in-depth on these topics (for a higher price point).
Despite this, however, other businesses that fall outside of these limited categories may not be the best fit for Writing Studio. It also tends to be a lot more expensive than other companies, with some services costing up to $0.40 per word.
#3: Scripted
Price: base plan starting at $199/month
Scripted is a platform where freelance writers are paid a flat rate to perform various content writing services like blog writing and social media work. The site works with over 80,000 writers currently, with 80% of those writers based in the U.S.
A pro of Scripted is that because there are so many writers available, you will definitely find a qualified writer for any job, and can personally choose. Each individual writer has a profile with previous customer reviews and work samples for you to browse.
However, a con of the site is that to even begin looking for writers, you need to subscribe to their plan at $199/month (it is important to note that this includes 100$ in credit to use towards content writing). If you don’t have the time or energy to browse through a large-scale marketplace, however, Scripted probably is not the right fit. When you work with a smaller agency like WriteHQ, you won’t have to worry about finding the best writer on your own – WriteHQ will take care of that for you.
#4: UpWork
Price: varies depending on the writer
UpWork is the largest freelancing website in the world, but it is not just limited to writing services. Its offerings also include graphic design and information technology (IT) work. Due to its popularity throughout the world, it is important to recognize that many freelancers using the platform are based overseas.
Instead of looking for a specific writer through a list, you post the work you need in the form of an ad (free of charge). You’ll specify a price range, and freelancers can apply to do the work for you. There are a number of filters to find someone specific to your industry, and you will decide whether they will be paid a fixed cost or an hourly rate.
There are many writers with lots of reviews and renowned talents at varying costs, but due to how large the platform is, almost anyone can apply to your advertisement. You should expect to spend significant time weeding out applicants to find the best fit for the work you need – in terms of cost, quality, and quantity. Upwork can also be a hotbed for scams, and many freelancer profiles do not reflect the actual identity of the person who will be completing your project. While UpWork can be a way to save money, quality might significantly suffer.
#5: ProBlogger
Price: $75 to post a job, commission rate varies
ProBlogger is a site that not only has a job board but also a website where you can also further learn about blogging through digital courses, podcasts and eBooks. The job board is open to many freelance writers of varying degrees of talent in writing. The platform boasts about 1,000 monthly writers who browse their job board.
ProBlogger is fairly similar to UpWork, although it’s focused on writing in particular. Like Upwork, you will need to take the time to post an advertisement on the site’s job board and then wait for individuals to apply for it. Darren Rowse, the owner of ProBlogger, has a Twitter account with 220,000 followers where he posts new job listings for writers around the world to apply for.
A major con of the site is that to post a job advertisement, you have to pay $75 for each job that you post, an amount which does not include how much you will pay the writer. And similarly to other freelancing websites, you will have to look through the applications to determine who is best suited for the specific job based on experience, grammar, examples, how much they charge, and more.
How to Choose the Right Blog Writer
Hiring a blog writer may seem like a daunting task. But for many business owners and marketing teams, it’s a lot easier than taking on the blog writer job yourself. Maybe you don’t have the time to weed through applications of varying qualifications for people around the world, whom you may not even speak with verbally. That’s why WriteHQ is different.
When you partner with WriteHQ, our working relationship will begin with a free consultation so that we can fully understand your brand’s blogging or other content creation needs. You will get to speak one-on-one with the company’s founder and CEO to determine a plan that’s uniquely tailored to your business. We’ll follow up with a detailed project proposal outlining what you can expect when you work with us.
You won’t be shelling out cash just to post a job listing or sifting through hundreds of underqualified applications. Instead, we’ll share just a business-to-business discussion about what we can do for you. WriteHQ will handle it from there on out. All of our writers are trained professionals and experts in writing, research, and editing. We make it a point to know what’s trending across the web, and we are ready to write blog posts that are on-brand, SEO optimized, made to boost conversion rates, and targeted toward engaging your customers.
Get in touch with us today. Let’s begin planning the next eye-catching post for your website.
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