Looking out to hire a blog writer for your team? Need to know how and where to find the best candidates? Here is a comprehensive guide to finding the best blog writers. Read on!
How to hire a blogger?
A blog writer or a blogger writes for a company’s website or blogs that are hiring freelancers or remote professionals to promote their products or services. He or she produces content in a written format through online and digital mode or video material called vlogs.
In today’s world there are innumerable bloggers but to hire a blog writer suited for your company, you must be skeptical and judgmental in selecting the right person. Verification of the qualities, skills, and qualifications is crucial by asking the appropriate questions to the potential candidates.
In this article, we will provide a comprehensive guide on the steps to be adopted to hire a blog writer along with the rates to be offered as per the best practices and world standards.
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Hiring market for blog writer
The job outlook of blog writers for hire is being predicted to be quite stable. A growth of 8% is expected to occur within the year ranges from 2016 to 2026 for freelance writer blog professionals. It is more than the normal 7% as witnessed in other similar occupations.
More and more online businesses and websites are inclined to hire a blog writer proficient in writing articles of good quality content for driving organic traffic. Keyword research and usage for SEO optimization for increasing visibility in the search engines are also some of the key driving factors for hiring blogger individuals.
A freelance blogger for hire along with an SEO specialist determines the success of a website in the competitive market. With an average salary of about USD 62K per annum, you can hire a blogger to promote your products or services.
The biggest advantage is you do not need to provide extensive training to a blog writer for hire. On the job training is sufficient to tune in the freelance writers blog specialists into the domain and culture of the recruiting firms.
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Top 15 job titles that companies are hiring blog writer
Recruiting firms and online businesses are nowadays offering various job roles and titles when they hire blogger for promoting their business and target potential customers. We will now focus on the key 15 job titles offered by companies to the blog freelance specialists.
1. Blogger
Responsible for creating articles or content as per the keywords provided by SEO specialists. Adhering to the topic content and heading as per the instructions from the curator. The average salary is USD 62K per year at an experience level of 5 to 9 years.
2. Content Writer
Entrusted to create quality content for websites, blogs, banners, promotions, advertisements, etc. The person is multi-talented with the know-how of SEO optimization techniques, keyword research ideas, and producing content based on the company’s domain of work. The salary of a content writer varies between USD 60 to 65K per annum with an experience of 5 to 10 years.
3. Author
Specifically focusing on writing poems, stories, and personal experiences of any genre. They are capable to write articles of considerable length and are extremely talented when it comes to writing and blogging. The yearly salary is almost USD 65K.
4. Editor
Capable of proofreading and rectifying articles by focusing on grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, revise and modifies contents to ensure its more appealing to the readers. The salary is usually between USD 65K to 70K per annum.
5. Curator
Entrusted in maintaining the artifacts in a museum or an art gallery, drawing sketches of the plans and the orientation of the place. The salary of a curator varies between USD 45K to USD 50K per annum.
6. Content Manager
Responsible for creating online content for promoting products or services of a company in the social media platform. He or she managed a team that devises strategies for brand visibility and identity. The yearly salary is almost 65k for an experience of 5 to 9 years.
7. Copywriter
Employed for writing content for promoting products, services, brands or selling a business in the form of advertising or marketing techniques. The salary for an experience level of 10 to 19 years, is USD 90K.
8. Brand Ambassador
Representing a company’s brand and helps to increase and promote brand awareness thus influencing sales. The salary usually varies from USD 55K to USD 60K per year.
9. Influencer
Expert in influencing the target potential audience of a company’s products or services for purchase. They even answer the queries of customers related to the brands. Their salary varies with experience starting from USD 30K to USD 100K per year
10. Social Media Manager
Knowledge in social media algorithms, advertisement, and marketing strategies, campaign management, and drafting content for the same. He or she must be well versed with the prominent social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Salary is usually in the range of 60K to 62K for an experience level of 5 to 9 years.
11. Head of Content Marketing
You can hire a blog writer highly experienced in creating promotion strategies for websites and online businesses through SEO optimizations, quality content, keyword research expertise as head of business development. The salary of the person usually is above 80K per annum with an experience of 10 to 12 years.
12. SEO Specialist
Experienced and knowledgeable on the various SEO techniques, methods, and best practices along with the different search engine algorithms. Proficient in researching and searching keywords for the blog content, best fit for generating organic traffic. The salary varies between USD 60 to 65K per annum at an experience level of 5 to 10 years
13. Marketing Managers
Capable of overseeing a team entrusted in traffic generation across various search engines. They are expected to be proficient in managing and coordinating various marketing and SEO activities. Salary is usually USD 80K to 85K per annum.
14. Director for Marketing
A person in charge of the Marketing department of a business unit and reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer. Contains a team of experts proficient in blog and content management and SEO optimization. Salary ranges from USD 90k to USD 95k per year.
15. Chief Marketing Officer
A person can rise to the rank of a Chief Marketing Officer after gaining substantial experience in blog writing. The officer is in charge of the end to end marketing activities of an organization, driving strategies, creating objectives, and striving to achieve the same. Salary is usually USD 110K to USD 120K per year.
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Qualifications to look for in blog writer
Verifying the educational qualifications is very vital while hiring bloggers for your website. The degrees you must check and validate in blog content writers are enlisted below for your assistance and knowledge.
- Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, English, Communication or related field
- Experience in working with major domain and hosting platforms like WordPress, Weebly, etc.
- Master’s Degree in Journalism, English, Communication or a related field is an added boon
The best colleges and universities offering degrees related to article blog writing are illustrated below.
- Northwestern University located in Evanston in Illinois. The tuition fees are almost USD 27K per year
- The University of Southern California at Los Angeles, CA. The yearly cost of the courses is almost USD 36K per annum
- University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The annual fees of the university is USD 26K approximately per year
- Stanford University in California. The yearly tuition fees are almost USD 17K.
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The tuition fees are USD 11K per annum
- Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem in North Carolina. The annual fees are almost USD 27K.
- Cornell University at Ithaca in New York. The net annual fees are USD 29K
- The University of Georgia at Athens. Students are expected to pay a fee of USD 16K approximately per annum
- The University of Florida in Gainesville. The fee structure is less about USD 11K per year.
- Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. The tuition fees are almost USD 22K in a year
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Skills to look for in blog writer
Online businesses and websites must verify writing, research, and soft skills when they hire a blog writer. Let us now understand the technical and soft skills that you need to check while recruiting freelance bloggers.
- The blog writer must be able to write the articles in alignment with the company’s service or brand
- Research and analysis skills are vital aspects to verify in blog writers since it is a driving factor for an enriched content
- Understanding the importance of SEO and the various SEO optimization techniques is vital to check in freelance blogging
- Planning and organizing the daily activities with proper time management and meeting deadlines is crucial for blog writers
- Knowledge of advanced grammatical usage is important for you to check in a blog content writer
- Awareness of the latest trends related to the article topic is important to state accurate facts, and figures
- Professional blog writers must write blogs enriched in quality content with proper keyword usage
- Blog post writers must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- The freelance blog writers mainly work in remote locations at their homes or co-working space. They must be capable to handle the majority of their work independently.
- Check whether the freelance bloggers for hire are able to interact comfortably and easily leveraging the audio and video conferencing tools.
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Certifications to look for in blog writer
Verifying learning courses attended and certifications obtained related to blogging is vital when you hire a blogger to promote your business. This will ensure recruiting the best professional blog writer for your website. Enlisted below are the certifications to be checked on bloggers for hire,
- Courses on Affiliate marketing and blogging from the Blogging University, especially for beginners
- Search Engine Optimization Specialization offered by the University of California
- Inbound Marketing Certification, Content Marketing certification, Email marketing certification from HubSpot
- Certification from Content Marketing Institute or CMI. To obtain the certificate, the candidate needs to attend 8 core classes and 50 elective classes
- Courses on digital marketing offered by Marketmotive through instructor-led training, self-paced videos, and simulations on SEO, analytics, email marketing, etc.
- Udemy, America’s leading online course provider, offers several courses related to blog writing. Some are paid, and some are free. The courses can be attended and at the end, they provide certifications and accreditations on completion of the curriculum.
- Courses on copywriting and web blog writing are offered by the American Writers & Artists Inc. or AWAI. They also conduct assessments after the completion of each course and grant the relevant certification
- Learning courses and certifications on blog writing techniques granted by the Blog Academy
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Rate per hour of blog writer
Now the next big question is “How much do I pay to a freelance blogger?” The hourly rates for freelance writing blog professionals vary with different regions of the world, and years of experience mainly.
In the US, the average hourly rate of a freelance blog specialist is almost USD 23.44. A freelance blog writer with 20+ years of experience is almost USD 50 per hour. For an experience of 10 to 19 years, the rate is nearly USD 30 per hour.
If you desire to hire blog writers within 5 to 9 years of experience, you need to pay an hourly rate of USD 26 approximately. Further down the experience level, the hourly rates are USD 20 for 1 to 4 years of experience and USD 16 for entry level blog freelancer.
In the UK, the average hourly rate is USD 20.21 which may rise as high as USD 54.10 with an increase in the skillset and years of experience. In India, you can hire freelance bloggers at a very cheap rate. It’s almost ranging between USD 6 to USD 10 per hour, but the skills and qualities are similar to that of the other blog post writer experts residing in the US and UK.
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Top 10 job boards to find best blog writer
How to find writers for your blog? – A mandatory question among recruiting firms intending to hire a blog writer. In this section, we will discuss the top 10 job boards where you can find freelance bloggers. So if you are worried as to where to find writers for your website or blog, check out the list below,
- Upwork – One of the largest job boards to hire a professional blogger from the millions of freelancers registering their profile on this website.
- unremot.com – Enables you to gain access into a global workforce for hiring a blogger within minutes of search, collaborating through video calls, messaging, and chats.
- Indeed – The popular job website containing profiles of professional bloggers for hire. You need to appropriately write out the blog writer job description for attracting profiles.
- AngelList – Recommended job board specifically to find writers for your blog. They support a huge talent pool enabling recruiting companies to sort and search for the best professional blogger for hire.
- Fiverr – If you need freelance blogs services, Fiverr is the right place for you to hire bloggers.
- ProBlogger – Another popular job board for companies to search for a talented resource pool of freelance content writers.
- Craigslist – Great place to hire a blog writer for various positions in your company
- Facebook – If you are looking for the best social media platform to hire writers for blogs, Facebook is the perfect place for you.
- LinkedIn – One of the biggest professional networking websites connecting companies and interested candidates, ideal to find blog writers.
- HireWriters – You can hire writers for blog or website from the company, one of the premier firms when it comes to providing best freelance blogs services.
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Top 10 companies hiring blog writer and salaries offered
Companies that hire blog writer for writing articles and blogs hiring for either operating through full time or part-time remote mode of employment are highlighted below,
- Buzzfeed, an independent and popular digital media company
- Lifewire, a company specializing in producing gadgets for the betterment of people’s lives
- BKA Content, a content creation, writing and editing company
- Investopedia, a website providing education in investment and financial information
- NerdWallet, a finance company that provides insights and information on banking and investments
- Screen Rant, a leading online publication firm in the US
- com, providing video and audio content on various subjects
- The Balance, a company focusing on providing insights on financial investments
- Valnet, leading online publishing, content creation, and distribution firm
- Onward Search, recruitment, and staffing agency
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Top 10 interview questions for blog writer
When you hire blogger to promote your business through them, it is essential to ask the right questions. Here are the top 10 interview questions to ask while you hire a blog writer
1. What the key components of a good blog or article?
Rationale: To check whether the candidate has the right acumen for producing quality content.
Expected Answer: The candidate must mention plagiarism-free content, keyword usage, grammatical correctness, researching on the content, etc.
2. Do you know how to perform target audience analysis?
Rationale: To verify whether the candidate can analyze the target audience and understand their requirements.
Expected Answer: If the candidate mentions about collaborating with the marketing and sales teams for visualizing the target audience, then you can tick mark the candidate.
3. What steps do you follow to create quality content?
Rationale: Helps to understand the experience knowledge level of the candidate on handling blog topics and strategy followed.
Expected Answer: Understanding the objectives, identifying the audience, awareness of the brand, inculcating ideas, and penning down the article is the expected answer.
4. What is your strategy in setting the correct tone for your content?
Rationale: Verifies the past experience of the candidate, credibility, and writing skills
Expected Answer: The person for hiring as a content writer website or social media specialist must be aware of aligning the content with the brand, audience, and the channel of communication.
5. Which are the sources you check while researching for blogs?
Rationale: To ensure the candidate possesses the acumen to search in reliable and authentic websites for the right content.
Expected Answer: If the candidate explains the answer with an example, citing prominent websites then you can consider the person to be a freelance blogger for your company.
6. What are the strategies for promoting a blog?
Rationale: The question helps to check the candidate’s knowledge on leveraging techniques for increasing the visibility of the blogs.
Expected Answer: The candidate must mention social media algorithms, search engine rules, and how those are to be embedded in the blogs.
7. Name some prominent content management systems
Rationale: Proves the experience level and awareness of the candidate of working in various content management systems
Expected Answer: Ensure the candidate specifies the popular CMS systems like WordPress, Weebly, Magento, etc.
8. Mention the techniques you follow to judge the effectiveness of the content?
Rationale: Ensures the candidate is capable of analyzing the performance of the content and work on the improvements suggested
Expected Answer: Analyzing the ranking in the search engine results, the organic traffic, the engagement, and the call to action are the expected answers.
9. Describe your blogging style?
Rationale: Helps you to judge whether the candidate has a unique style of blogging to increase the traffic.
Expected Answer: Check whether the candidate describes an approach for writing through sections, sub-sections, research, keyword usage, etc.
10. What is proofreading and editing?
Rationale: Helps to understand if the blog writer is familiar with the techniques of editing and proofreading own or someone else’s content.
Expected Answer: The candidate must mention tools like Grammarly, spell checks, paragraph formations, sentence length, etc., for correctness.
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