Hiring A Blogger? Use This Handy Checklist

Businesses both big and small understand the Internet is where it’s at for profits. Sure, you can have brick and mortar stores, but almost any demographic you’re pointing marketing to has an online element you need to consider.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can do it all yourself because you have a laptop in your home office either. Today’s savvy consumer wants to be informed, entertained and even courted by the content you put out there. That means you need to have a steady supply of fresh, relevant content and a professional blogger to write it for you. Make no mistake. There’s loads of people who call themselves seo experts, professional bloggers, expert content writers or some mishmash of all those terms.

You need to cut through all the rhetoric to find bloggers who can get the job done right the first time and drive traffic and sales. Use these benchmarks and you won’t get stuck with a bad writer and poor results.

They need to be reliable

Of course, anyone that applies for the job will tell you they are dependable, but you need verifiable proof. Getting a good head of seo steam up with any new blogging campaign takes about four months of constant effort. Hire a blogger who shows up and adds blogs sporadically and you won’t get the results you need to drive your business forward. References are a great way to check on this all important aspect.

They need to listen

Some bloggers want to tell their clients what’s good for them and while they should have some input through their experience, they need to listen and get a good feel for what the company is trying to sell and who they are targeting as a market. A blogger with a big head won’t be of value. Although smaller business owners might not have experience with this kind of Internet marketing, they should hire someone who will be working toward their goals.

They need to be specialized

It happens too often that small businesses are looking for someone with specific experience in their field. For example, a plumbing site will advertise for a plumbing apprentice who can write blogs. That’s putting the cart before the horse. These businesses are much better off hiring a blogger who knows how to research out the subject matter at hand and enough about seo and content writing to make the blog work for both readers and the search engines. If you need a manual written, you should hire a technical writer; for blogs, you’ll need a professional that understands the techniques and text to get a business noticed and convert visitors to sales.