Author: Vidya Prabhakar
Freelance writing is an increasingly popular trend in content creation. India has the advantage of a large English speaking population and professionals acquainted with different writing techniques. As a result, plenty of SEO content writing work is being outsourced to India. Potential clients often search for specific positions and scour through writers’ resumes since it is a specialized line of work and requires trained and qualified people.
Why do companies look at hiring freelance web content writers?
There are a number of reasons for this, chief among them being:
- Freelancers have a repository of knowledge and expertise
- Hiring freelancers is a way to reduce payroll issues and overhead costs
- Freelancers offer specialized services with quick turnarounds
- The company gets to focus on its areas of core competency
From the profile description above, it is simple to think of a web content writer as a creative writer who is able to come up with keyword rich SEO write-ups in no time! It also leads to typecasting a freelance writer and tag his job description to include:
- Writing content from scratch
- Writing content based on factual information provided by the client (brochures or ideas or a service)
- Editing and proofreading the write up
- Following the client’s brief to the T
With more and more people trying their hand at freelance writing, it is becoming evident that mere knowledge of English and typing skills are not sufficient to qualify as a content writer. Nor is it enough to be familiar with using search engines to come up keyword rich web content. Web content writing requires basic skills, talent, training and experience.
The primary screening and pre-hire requirements for recruiting a web content writer are:
Basic eligibility
An aspiring web content writer needs to have
- Some basic degree or qualification. Employers also screen his other interests to evaluate the “life” he can bring to a write up.
- Experience in writing SEO content .The types of assignments he/she has handled gives an idea of the content writer’s competence.
- Sample of work – A short sample on an agreed topic will give an idea of ability to follow a brief / instructions, style of writing and knack of appealing to a wide-ranging audience.
Language skill
A good grasp of English alone is not sufficient to be a web content writer. The job requires talent, creativity, knowledge and training in good measure. Language skills mustl include good grammar, punctuation and an extensive vocabulary. The writer will also need to have the ability to present information as a cohesive whole that is informative and interesting to read.
Researching capability
It is important for a web content writer to have research capabilities to come up with pertinent information. It is easy to get fragmented information but deciding which of that is relevant and how to piece it together sets a good content writer apart from others. A sample article of the client’s choice allows them to gauge the reliability, research capacity and relevance of the information presented. Content writers are rated for the quality of links referred to, access to hard-to-find information and presentation of data
Assessment & Training
Once a writer meets the three aforementioned requirements, the next step is to assess him. An assessment validates his basic qualities, language skills, research capabilities and overall competence in taking on a project. Assessments need to be structured in a way to determine how effectively the writer uses online research tools to gather information and his ability to present the information in a well-organized and succinct fashion.
Training is a key factor in ensuring quality content for a website. This is achieved by familiarizing the writer with the company’s philosophy, culture, product and style. This allows the content writer to understand the target audience and design his work accordingly. Other types of beneficial training programs include workshops for writers and editors involving industry experts who can offer some insights plus inputs from customers and customer service managers on industry expectations.
Identification, assessment and training are the keystones to ensuring quality content for a website and to have readers coming in for more.
About the Author:
Full Name: Vidya Prabhakar – Vidya is a Chartered Accountant and a Psychology postgraduate. She has worked in finance, banking and the content development industry. Reading, writing, baking and needle crafting are among her many pursuits.
(Chillibreeze offers communication skills training and testing to companies all over India. Read more about our corporate workshops and testing services. For more details email us at testing at chillibreeze dot com)
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- Hiring in India-Pre hire assessment & testing methods
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