In this blog post you are going to learn about the qualities to look for if you need to hire a dependable blog writer for your business.

What is a blog?

A blog is different from a website.

Initially blogs were like journals. People would create random entries and then publish them.

On the homepage there appears a chronological list of all the posts that have been recently published, most probably in datewise descending order, with the latest blog post appearing at the top.

In the early days the Internet hadn’t yet been commercialized. It was mostly run by volunteers or hobbyists. There were a few business websites, but most of the content published on the Internet came from people who simply liked spending time and sharing their thoughts.

Seeing the opportunity to provide a platform that would allow people to publish their thoughts easily, many companies introduced blogging platforms.

I remember in the early days, there was Blogger.com and even MovableType.

Many more services were started, and then came WordPress in 2003. It completely changed the way the world blogged.

WordPress is a complete blogging software that you can install under your own domain. This way, you don’t have to blog for another platform.

After the launch of WordPress, blogging took a new turn.

It became so popular that right now almost 35% of self hosted websites use WordPress as the platform. As a CMS, WordPress has captured 62% of the market share.

Why have a business blog?

Do you know that business websites that also have a blog have 434% more indexed webpages and links? Websites that have blogs get 97% more incoming links compared to those websites that don’t have a blog.

Initially, when businesses got interested in blogging, it was mainly for SEO. The structure of a blog is such that it is good for your search engine rankings provided you can publish content on regular basis.

This still remains one of the primary reasons why businesses publish blogs, but now, there are many more reasons why they do so. Some of the reasons I am describing below:

Business blogging improves SEO/search engine rankings

I must say that merely having a business blog doesn’t improve your SEO. What actually improves your SEO is the way you cover your topics.

For example, if I want to improve my search engine rankings with my business blog, I shouldn’t publish whatever comes to my mind.

I should stick to content writing, online copywriting, SEO, blogging and content marketing, because they are related to my field.

Your business blog helps you because the way it arranges content.

Google likes fresh content and on your blog, you publish content regularly, and hence, give Google fresh content to crawl, index and rank.

Google prefers topic density – how much you have covered your topic – and since you are continuously talking about your business field, it increases your topic density.

How much your business blog improves your SEO rests on how often you publish content, what is the frequency, and how well you cover your core topics.

Your business blog increases your brand visibility

What is brand visibility on the Internet? It means how easily people come across the name of your business or conversations around your business.

Since you give Google more content to index from your domain, more content about your domain is found on search engines and hence, you increase your brand visibility on Google.

When you publish more content and then share it on your social media profiles it gives people a reason to reach out to you, express themselves, and even repost your content on their own timelines.

Brand visibility on social media.

The more you express yourself, the more people talk about you and the more they talk about you, the greater is your brand visibility.

Your business blog gives people something to share on social media

This is an extension of what I have written above. People are not going to simply talk about your business on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter just because your business exists.

Why would they bother unless they are getting something out of it?

Publishing your business blog doesn’t mean you continuously harp about how great your business is.

You publish content that helps people.

You publish content people will be interested in.

Hence, when you publish content people can make use of, content they are looking for and content that helps them, they share that content on social media.

Your business blog establishes your authority

As I have written above, you cannot continuously talk about how great your business is unless there is some context.

I use my business blog to talk about various content writing and blogging issues.

In this blog post I’m talking about how to hire a blog content writer if your business needs one.

What qualities to look for when you need a blog writer?

It means I know what qualities a blog writer must have to help you publish a successful business blog, and I’m sharing this knowledge with you.

This helped me establish my authority on the topic.

What’s the benefit?

Would you rather work with a novice or someone who knows what are the best qualities of a blog writer?

Your business blog brings more inbound traffic

Content marketing is all about encouraging people to come to your website or blog rather than tricking them into coming to you through advertising, which is intrusive and annoying.

Since business blogging increases your brand presence on various channels, it becomes easier for people to find you.

For many years I haven’t used advertising. All my traffic comes from either Google or other websites where my links are present. A big chunk also comes from my newsletter.

That’s all inbound traffic.

I’m not catching people off guard with my pushy advertisements.

I put up lots of content out there. People find that content. Then they come to my website.

More businesses these days are aiming for that.

Why should you hire a blog writer instead of writing for your own blog?

I’m covering this topic just for the sake of covering it otherwise, I never convince people into doing something they haven’t thought of or they don’t want to do.

If you want to write for your own blog then go ahead.

There is nothing to stop you.

After all, it is your own blog.

You want to hire a blog writer because you want to hire him or her. You know your need.

Clients who approach me to write for them do so for the following reasons:

• They are looking for a better writer.
• They are looking for a content writer or a blog writer who can write convincingly for their audience.
• They need a blog writer who can maintain a balance between SEO writing and conversion-rich writing.
• They need to publish content regularly and consistently.
• They need a blog writer who can write for their industry as an expert does.
• They need someone with a fresh perspective.

You may have your own reasons why you need to hire a writer for your business blog.

Anyway, if you plan on hiring a blog writer, listed below are some qualities you may like to look for.

5 qualities in a blog writer you may like to look for, for your business blog

Frankly, there are thousands of content writers and blog writers you can find on the Internet. This is good as well as bad.

Good in the sense that there is no dearth of writers you can find.

Bad in the sense that since it is so easy to find a blog writer, it is very difficult to find a good, reliable blog writer (because pretty much everyone can offer his or her services to you).

Whenever I’m pitching my own blog writing services as a content writer, what makes my clients hire me is the fact that I have a business website.

This means my stakes are higher. It makes me dependable.

I haven’t just randomly created my profile on one of the freelancing websites. I have stuck my neck out.

This doesn’t mean I am trying to put down people who get writing assignments from freelancing directories. They have their own reason. I have my own reason.

Anyway, aside from the fact that you should hire a blog writer who is really serious about his or her services, listed below are some qualities you must look for.

1. Your blog writer must have the ability to write for your audience

What does that mean?

Maybe someone is a good writer but he or she can only write in a style he or she is comfortable with.

Remember that when content is published on your business blog, people assume that you or someone representing your business, is writing for the blog.

So, your blog writer must be able to write the way the people in your industry like to read.

He or she should be able to seamlessly use and incorporate industry jargon.

It goes without saying that the writing must be error free in terms of spelling, typos and grammar.

He or she should be able to mix conversational style as well as your official “voice”.

People in your industry must be able to read your content easily but at the same time feel reassured that they are reading someone highly educated and well-versed with your industry.

The writer must also be able to understand the business side of writing because only then he or she will be empathetic towards your needs as well as the needs of your customers and clients.

2. Your blog writer must be passionate about his or her writing abilities

Why is it necessary?

First of all, as a writer I know that when one has passion, it shows through between the lines.

What you write is important, but what you don’t write but still convey is even more important, and that comes only with passion.

Second, a passionate writer does not plagiarize. Of course exceptions are always there, but a writer who is passionate about his or her writing ability will be very uncomfortable at the thought of having to depend on someone else’s writing.

3. Knowledge of SEO

Writing search engine optimized content isn’t as simple as it seems.

No matter how good a writer you are, there are thousands of factors that have a direct or indirect bearing on the SEO of your writing.

Although there is no scientific way of proving whether your writing is going to fare well on search engines, there are certain formats, certain ways of using your keywords or search terms, that can definitely improve your search engine rankings.

Your blog writer must know how to

• Write content around your keywords.
• Organize content in various chunks for better SEO.
• Write Internet friendly and mobile friendly content.

One needs to maintain a balance.

Though, many SEO experts these days are saying that you shouldn’t focus much on your keywords, in the same breath they also say that the keywords matter.

Not just the keywords, but also the related words.

Your blog writer must be able to weave an interesting and engaging narrative using your keywords.

4. Your blog writer must be able to research independently

Research is very important when writing quality content. Research gives you validity.

It helps you link to authoritative sources.

For example, what are the best strategies to improve your blog’s search engine rankings? It helps you if you can link to some useful insights from an authoritative blogs such as Search Engine Land.

5. You need a blog writer who is going to be consistent

Consistency is hard to get and frankly, unless you have worked with your blog writer for a few weeks or a few months, it is impossible to know whether he or she is going to be consistent in terms of quality and deliverability or not.

Nonetheless, initial communications and a few assignments can give you at least some idea of how consistent the blog writer is going to be.

I have had personal experience with people who are very consistent when seeking work and then suddenly they vanish when I give them some work.

This is a good indication to stay away from them.

It is better if your blog writer has a stake in the work

This is something that I have mentioned above.

When you work with me, I have a stake in my business.

I have a website.

My full business depends on how I deliver.

This is my livelihood.

This is not a random profile existing on some random freelancing website.

Hence, having my own content writing business website, having my own blog writing website, makes me responsible.

Similarly, look for a blog writer who has a higher stake in the work he or she does.

Of course, these rules and qualities are not written in stone. Some blog writer may have them all and some may have just a few of them.

It is going to be your own calling.