Let’s face it, when you’re hiring a writer for your website, you need to know that he or she is going to give you special service. If content is king, then quality content has to be the emperor! Your copywriter’s work needs to be fresh, original, correct and in keeping with your company branding strategy.

First Impressions Count!

When people arrive at your website, you want to excite interest rather than a dersive snigger. No-one’s going to trust your company or see it as being professional if the text of your website is written in a slipshod way. Even if you’re a brilliant writer, you may not have the time that’s needed to write your website copy yourself. What should you look for?

Get a writer who is a native English speaker

Even the best second-language writers are likely to make mistakes. After all, hardly anyone is as good at their second language as they are at their first. Getting a native English speaker to be your writer isn’t a guarantee of high-quality work, but you’re much more likely to get correct, coherent English from a website writer who is an English-speaker.

Always ask for samples of past work

It’s possible for writers to cheat by passing off other writers’ material as their own, but taking a look at past work will be a good indicator of your copywriter’s abilities if they’re being honest. Ask for several samples. Here’s why:

Make sure that your writer does all work in person

There are tons of writing agencies and sub-contractors out there. Why should that be a problem? You need consistency. Writing style is like a fingerprint, and a writer who sounds good but then gets someone else to do the work isn’t going to deliver what you expected.

Many agencies don’t admit to the fact that they’re using subcontractors and they often handle such large volumes of work that they don’t check it properly before sending it in. If you hire an agency to write your copy, THEY choose who does the writing, and YOU lose the power of choice.

How do I know this? Because I have written for plenty of agencies in the past. Everyone has to start somewhere! Odd and useless fact: a lot of these agents are men who pass themselves off as women online. Why? Heaven knows!

If you choose me to do your writing, you’ll be sure of personal service, good communication and a person who really is who they say they are!

Ask for a custom sample

Ask your website writing applicant to give you a customised sample at no obligation – obviously you can’t ask for anything too extensive, but it’s one more way of checking whether this writer really is going to create the kind of website copy that you have in mind. Be very specific about what you want and check if the writer fulfils your brief. Then check the originality of the work by using plagiarism software. Some ‘writers’ just look for something that looks appropriate and then copy and paste. That’s a great way to get search-engine penalties or even legal hassles.

Keep your money safe!

If you pay in advance, you risk paying for something you’re not satisfied with or that never arrives. If you don’t, the freelancer risks spending hours on your project and not getting paid. How can you both be sure of honest dealings in the early stages of your business relationship?

Begin by using an online platform that holds escrow-type payments for you. You pay the platform, but the platform doesn’t pay the freelancer until you’re satisfied and release the payment. Your writer should know about such platforms. There are additional fees, but it’s a good place to start. Once you’re sure of each other, you can move into a trust relationship and leave the platforms and the project fees behind.

Try me!

I’m not going to promise you the earth, but I will promise to do my best and to keep trying until you get the website copy you’re looking for. Because I live in South Africa, you get a currency advantage if you’re in the EU, US , Australia or New Zealand. Get your website copy, blogs, press releases and so on from an experienced native English writer at a very affordable price. Contact me!