As a small business owner, venturing into the freelance industry may be something you have considered. 

Whether you need someone to run your blog and bring more traffic to your site or you are looking for someone to create SEO-optimized content for your website, a freelance writer can help you achieve your business goals.

With millions of freelancers in the United States, it can be difficult to choose a qualified candidate. And with so many choices at your fingertips, how do you make the right decision?

Read below to learn how to hire a freelance writer for your business and give your content production a significant boost.

5 Tips for Hiring Freelance Writers

There are several things to take into consideration when searching for and hiring a quality freelance writer. Here are five tips to help you as you begin your search.

1. Analyze Qualifications

No two freelance writers are the same. Each will bring their own set of skills and expertise to the table.

To ensure your writing project is successful from the get-go, you need to look for qualifications in a freelance writer that match your needs.

Ideally, the freelance writer you choose to work with should have a strong grasp of the English language and be able to write professionally and authoritatively about the topic at hand.

Further, if you need content written for your website, you want to look for a writer who has previously written web content and has SEO experience.

Keep in mind that most freelance writers do not hold a creative writing or journalism degree. When it comes to hiring a freelance writer, expertise is often held to a higher standard than educational background.

One of the best ways to analyze a writer’s qualifications is to request samples of their work. 

This will allow you to get a sense of their tone of voice and writing style, while also ensuring they’re able to meet the needs of your writing assignments.

2. Request Recommendations

If you want to increase your chances of getting a good freelance writer to work with, consider speaking to your friends, colleagues, and professional connections.

More people are using freelance writers to complete writing tasks, so there is a good chance that someone in your circle has hired a freelance writer. 

If they have had a good experience with a writer, they may be willing to recommend their services to you.

3. Establish a Communication Plan

Regardless of whether you are hiring a local freelance writer or a freelance writer who lives across the country, a communication plan must be developed that works for both you and the freelance writer.

You need to be able to contact your freelance writer to receive progress updates, discuss new ideas, and send revision requests. 

At the same time, your freelance writer needs to reach you if they have any questions regarding the assignment.

In your communication plan, it should be decided how you will contact one another. This may be by email, phone, Skype, or something else entirely.

If you’re working with a freelance writer through a platform like WriterAccess, you can send direct messages to your writer on the website.

You may want to consider a platform like Slack that will help you reach your freelance writer (and vice versa) while keeping your projects organized.

Honestly, communication can make or break a project. Sometimes, the fastest way to kill a good working relationship is just having mismatched expectations about when someone will respond—or how detailed they should be. Don’t underestimate the awkwardness of too many pings or, on the flip side, going days without a word. Set those boundaries early. That little upfront effort saves a lot of weirdness down the road, trust me.

It’s also worth noting that everyone has a preferred way of keeping in touch, and sometimes it doesn’t match yours. Maybe your writer loves Slack, but you’re buried in emails and dread adding another app to the mix. Just talk about it. Even a quick check-in call at kickoff can iron out bumps before they show up as missed deadlines or passive-aggressive edits later. It shouldn’t be complicated—“how do you like to keep in touch?” works just fine. Small details, but they end up mattering more than you’d think.

And speaking of small details, don’t forget about time zones. It sounds minor, but the classic 3 a.m. Slack ping because you forgot your writer’s halfway around the world can get awkward fast. Just double-check everyone’s working hours while you set up your plan—nothing fancy, just a line in an email. Saves a lot of accidental misfires and keeps things smooth when deadlines get tight.

Also, as projects get bigger or more complex, the occasional video call can help cut through confusion. Written messages can miss the mark, especially with tricky topics or feedback that might sound sharper over text than you meant. A quick screen-share or chat can sort out miscommunications that would’ve taken hours of back-and-forth to clarify. Not every update needs to be a meeting, but sometimes talking face-to-face (even virtually) saves everyone a headache.

4. Create an Onboarding Process

Your freelance writer may not be a full-time employee for your business, but this doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t ensure they are familiar with your business as a whole.

Create an onboarding process for your freelance writers so they can learn more about your company and what you do. 

This doesn’t have to be as elaborate as it is for your full-time employees, but it is important they have a good grasp of your company culture and have access to the information needed to complete their assigned tasks.

This type of onboarding process is even more important if your freelancer is creating content about your products or services. 

If this is the case, make sure they have access to a company style guide, a list of FAQs, product videos, persona profiles, etc.

5. Define Costs

When defining the pay for your freelance writer, it is important to keep in mind that you will essentially get what you pay for. 

So, to ensure you receive quality work, you will want to provide reasonable pay.

Reasonable pay rates will not only attract the right kind of writer, but they will be more motivated to produce quality content that matches or exceeds your objectives.

You can pay by the word or by the project, but make sure it is stated upfront.

Try to find some middle ground as you define the costs for your project. A rate set too low will turn good writers away, but a rate set too high can have a negative impact on your bottom line.

How to Find a Writer Online

When it comes to finding a freelance writer online, it is not that much different than finding a full-time employee.

There are dedicated job boards and gig boards that allow you to post jobs for freelancers to respond to. 

You can also promote your work through social media, such as LinkedIn. Just make sure you are willing to sift through a lot of resumes to find a qualified candidate.

If you would prefer to avoid the time it takes to examine resumes, there are also freelance writing platforms that have already taken the time to vet freelancers, such as WriterAccess, allowing you to post jobs for relevant candidates to pick up.

On platforms like WriterAccess, there are thousands of writers looking for work. 

These writers are at various levels in their careers, and when they sign up, they are assigned a star rating. This allows you to work with writers based on their level of experience, writing abilities, and requested rate of pay.

You may also be interested in these articles:

• How to Hire a Freelance Designer? 6 Things to Know
• Freelancer vs. Self-Employed: Understand Now the Main Differences
• Freelance vs. Contract: What’s the Difference and the Best Choice for You?

Wrap Up

Regardless of whether you are looking to hire a freelance writer for regular assignments or a specific project, it is a very cost-effective way to ensure your business receives well-written and high-quality content.