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7 Critical Things for Hiring Business Blog Writers - WEBITMD Agency

Written by Janet Lee | March 3, 2017

In today’s business world, blogs are essential for two vital marketing components: communicating with customers and search engine optimization. Let’s get to the point and avoid some flowery intro. This is what your blog should do:

  • Tell your story
  • Allow readers to form emotional or personal bonds with your products or services
  • Educate
  • Entertain
  • Engage brand reputation
  • Help organically rank your website in the search engines
  • Convert readers into buyers

While years ago blogging content and quality may not have been vital to a business’s success, today they must look and sound as professional while hitting the above mentioned points. To achieve such blogging status you’ve got to have a skilled writer who knows how to take your content to the next level. To accomplish this, there are numerous factors that must be taken into consideration when choosing a person to be your business blogger. If you’re in charge of finding the perfect person or team who can execute a flawless blog strategy, there are two main options: a Google-partner digital marketing agency specializing in content marketing, an in-house hire, or a freelancer (even a team of freelancers). Whatever option you take, here are seven critical factors to look for.

Create a Conversational Tone

If you want to have a great blog that leads the way in content marketing, your business blogger needs to create a conversational tone with the readers. In doing so, your writer must have a unique style, exuberant personality, and knowledge of the industry so they can convey the key points in numerous ways. When all this comes together, the blog’s readers are then able to form an emotional connection to your brand, which is the ultimate goal of digital marketing because it leads to sales.

College Degree in English, Journalism, or Related Field

To ensure you’ll have a blogger who excels at doing research, meeting deadlines, and exhibiting high levels of creativity, make sure your writer is one who has a college education from a respected university. If possible, look for bloggers who have a Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, or a related field in the Humanities such as Philosophy, Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, or Business Administration. Put zero stock in for-profit universities–they will give a golden retriever a degree if the dog has the money. Only hire from fully accredited universities.

A Thorough Knowledge of SEO

Needless to say, even the best blogs must rank high on search engine results in order to be effective. Since SEO agencies realize this, it may be to your benefit to find a blogger who has previous experience in this area of digital marketing. In addition, knowing how to utilize content marketing to get the results SEO agencies consider to be excellent requires having a person who knows how to write the content so that it ranks as high as possible. Keyword strategies, Google best practices, and ranking for mobile are crucial if you want your content to even be visible.

Owning a Unique Voice

With so many blogs out there in the business world for people to read, it’s tougher than ever to have one that stands out from the competition. However, while it may be tough, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. To have the best chance of standing head and shoulders above the competition, find a blogger who has a unique voice and is able to convey information in a way unlike anyone else currently writing business blogs. In fact, using a bit of levity and a casual, friendly style will often make the blog feel open and honest, allowing it to meet the needs of the audience.

Entertain and Educate

While the blog needs to have information that is pertinent to the audience it’s attempting to reach, it’s also vital that it be entertaining and educational in as many ways as possible. To accomplish this, it’s recommended that most blog posts be between 400-1,000 words. By staying in this range, readers will be able to digest the information during a coffee break, and it will also work best if it’s divided into several sections and includes lists which point out important facts or figures. When you can find a blogger who can do all this and more, chances are you’ll have a blog where readers can’t wait for the next posting.

Writing to Cross Markets

Even though it’s important to be as specific as possible with your blog, it’s also a good idea if your blogger can write in a way that reaches as many cross markets as possible. In doing so, you’re assured of widening your audience and keeping readers interested from one post to the next. In addition, you’ll also increase the reach of your brand, ensuring continued growth for your business.

Flawless Writing

With so much blogging competition today, you need to have a blogger whose writing skills are impeccable. Needless to say, each posting should be completely free of grammatical errors, and should be worded in such a way that avoids repetitive word usage. By being able to put their English or Journalism degree to work for you and your blog, your readers will find themselves captivated each and every time by the wonderful words that flow from your blogger.

As competition among business blogs continues to increase, finding a writer who can captivate, inspire, and motivate your readers with each posting can be quite a challenge. However, by taking these factors into consideration, you’re likely to discover a business blogger who not only takes your blog to new horizons, but keeps it there week after week.