Hire the best Blog writers

Hiring the right blog writer for your business requires a lot more than reviewing their portfolio and making sure their hourly rate fits your budget. By knowing which factors to consider, you can hire the ideal blog writer who supports the business’s goals and is a great fit for your team.

Essential information for hiring a blog writer

Blog writers do more than write. So before you hire a writer, you may want to familiarize yourself with several aspects of the job, such as what they do in a typical day and how much their skill is in demand. Knowing the essentials will increase your chances of attracting and choosing the right talent.

The role of a blog writer

A blog writer is a specific type of content writer. Their primary role is to write content for your blog that engages, educates, and entertains. This requires that the writer understand the subject matter, your different audience segments, and your business so well that they sound like experts.

However, in order to create blog content, a blog writer often engages in several tasks outside of writing.

Demand for professional blog writers

After numerous experiments, businesses that want to create quality content are realizing that artificial intelligence (AI) can’t take the place of a good blog writer.

AI is great for generating ideas, speeding up research, and perhaps generating a first draft. However, content still needs to be polished by a skilled human for readability and accuracy.

AI aside, trends suggest that demand for blog writers remains strong. In an Upwork report of in-demand skills, many of the top 10 skills by category could increase demand for blog writers.

One of the top 10 in the admin support category is market research, for example. Having more market research could boost demand for blog writers who could:

• Summarize the research into an internal presentation
• Write a blog post from the report data
• Turn the data into a report used for attracting new customers
• Create social media posts promoting the report

Cost of hiring a blog writer

The cost of hiring a blog writer varies depending on several factors including the writer's experience, their location, and the project’s length and complexity.

For example, if you want an article that covers a new propulsion technology, you may want to hire a blog writer with a background in aircraft engineering. Such a professional—with their writing experience, technical background, and industry knowledge—may cost more than a generalist.

Due to multiple variables, a blog writer’s rates can range from a few to more than $100 an hour. On Upwork, the average cost of a blog writer ranges from $15 to $35 per hour.

PRO TIP: Determine costs by looking at more than the hourly rate. Compared to someone less experienced, an experienced blog writer who charges a higher rate may be more cost-effective as they may work faster and deliver higher-quality work.

Choosing the right blog writer

Choosing the right blog writer for your team depends as much on your business’s goals as it does the talent’s hard and soft skills.

Here are a few essential qualities to consider when choosing a blog writer who produces high-quality, engaging, and effective content that meets the business’s needs and resonates with its target audience:

• Meeting deadlines. How does the blog writer ensure they deliver projects on time? What do previous clients say about their reliability?
• Adaptability. How well can the blog writer adjust their writing style and tone to match the brand's voice and target audience? How flexible are they in writing different types of content?
• Communication skills. How well does the blog writer craft compelling narratives? How responsive and collaborative are they? How open are they to receiving feedback?
• Continuous learning. How does the blog writer keep their skills updated? How are they improving productivity by using technology like AI?

FAQ when hiring a blog writer

As the saying goes, there are no bad questions. Here are answers to questions businesses frequently ask when hiring a blog writer.

What should I look for in a blog writer’s portfolio?

• Fit with your brand voice. Ensure the blog writer is adaptable enough to align their style and tone with your brand's voice and target audience.
• Relevant experience. Has the blog writer created the types of content you need? Do they have industry experience or background that would help them write content that your audience will find valuable?
• Testimonials or feedback. Get an idea of what it’ll be like working with the blog writer by reviewing what their previous clients or employers say.

How do I assess a blog writer’s SEO and writing skills during the interview?

Whether you’re interviewing the blog writer remotely or face-to-face, here’s what to look for when assessing a blog writer’s SEO and writing skills.

• Creativity. Discuss potential article ideas with the blog writer to assess their ability to generate fresh, compelling content that your audience may enjoy.
• Storytelling. Review samples to see how well the blog writer creates an engaging narrative.
• Flexibility. Give the blog writer different personas and ask how they’d adjust their writing style to match your brand voice and different audiences.

How can I determine if a blog writer is a good fit for my team?

Team fit can affect your team’s and the blog writer’s performance whether they’re a full-time employee or an independent professional hired for a project. Their fit also matters whether they’re working onsite or remotely. Here’s what to consider when determining whether a talent is right for your team:

• Communication and responsiveness. Perhaps offer a small, paid test project where you can observe the blog writer’s ability to understand and execute the project and their responsiveness to questions and feedback.
• Growth mindset. During the interview, uncover how the blog writer keeps their skills updated and stays creative. Ask how they’re using tools and technology to boost their work quality and productivity.
• Collaboration. Determine how experienced the blog writer is in collaborating with other members of a writing team and cross-functional partners. 

What questions should I ask references provided by blog writers?

When hiring independent blog writers for a project, you may not always have time to talk to references. If you contract talent through freelancing platforms like Upwork, you’ll be able to see feedback from clients on past projects. If you can talk to references, consider asking these questions:

• How well did they produce content that met expectations? See how well the blog writer understood the scope of work and their willingness to ask clarifying questions when needed.
• How well did they work with the team? See how supportive, professional, and responsive the blog writer was working with other writers, editors, designers, and cross-functional partners.
• How likely are you to work with the blog writer again? Look for red flags about the talent’s ability to work respectfully with others, be flexible with project changes, their work quality, and reliability.

How important are soft skills in a blog writer's profile?

Soft skills are capabilities like communication, collaboration, and the ability to adapt to change. Soft skills are very important in a blog writer’s work because these skills play heavily in their day-to-day output.

How to hire the best blog writer for your needs

These suggestions are for hiring independent blog writers on a project basis. For more, be sure to check out interview questions to ask writers.

Craft a blog writer job post that attracts qualified talent

A job post describes your project scope, budget, and talent needs. Although you don’t need a full job description as you would when hiring an employee, aim to provide enough detail for a freelancer to know if they’re the right fit for a project.

Job post title

Keep this clear and simple by describing the problem you’re seeking to solve. The more specific you are, the better your chances of attracting the right talent. For example:

Generic title: Blog writer

Specific title: Financial blog writer who can speak human

Add keywords that your ideal talent is likely to type into a search bar when looking for projects. In the examples below, the keywords are highlighted in green:

• Quirky blog writer with a dry sense of humor needed for my weekly political blog
• Technical writer needed to develop a monthly blog on large language models
• Music-loving blog writer needed to create 10 SEO-optimized posts

Job post description

Your blog writer job post description should include:

• Scope of work. List all of the deliverables you’ll need such as: An 800-word blog post about tips for planting vegetable gardens in San Diego, CA, and a short email promoting the post to your subscribers.
• Project length. Is this a one-off project that’ll take a couple of weeks? Something that needs a quick turnaround? Or ongoing work?
• Background. If you prefer experience with certain industries, languages, cultures, and audiences, mention it here. 
• Budget. Set a budget and note your preference for fixed-price vs. hourly contracts.
• Other tasks. This may include self-editing and proofreading, posting articles on your website, researching SEO keywords.
• Qualifications. These are must-haves that may include items like being a native English speaker, having a journalism degree, and having the ability to start on a certain date.

Post your blog writing job

Upwork makes it very simple and quick to post a job on our platform. It just takes four steps and a few minutes.

Step 1: Sign up

If you haven’t already, sign up to instantly join Upwork for free. It takes just 30 seconds and then you’ll be able to access the world’s largest marketplace of global talent.

Step 2: Tell us what you need

Tell us what you need in a sentence or two.

Step 3. Tell us your budget

Choose hourly rate or fixed price. If you’re not sure how much to pay, no problem. We’ll show you a price range based on talent who’ve completed projects like yours on Upwork.

Step 4: Review the job post

Within a couple of seconds, you’ll get a great starting draft that’s designed to get you paired with the right talent faster. From there, take a couple of minutes to add relevant details about the company and work.

Then click “post job” and it’s done!

It’s really that easy on Upwork, so find your ideal blog writer now.