5 Qualities to Look for in Your Content Writers
Although our content agency has a highly trained and experienced team of full-time writers, we do occasionally consider a freelance writer for one-off jobs or to take on some seasonal workload and assist our in-house team. Through our website and social media profiles, we regularly receive resumes of content writers, including freelancers, interested in working with MintCopy.
We love to hear from our fellow writers out there and welcome this ongoing stream of job seekers in the content writing community. A quick perusal of a writer’s resume will usually tell us right away, whether we should even ask to see their writing portfolio, or simply throw the resume in the trash. Unfortunately, we cannot help lament the quality of writers that are becoming a growing majority!
Nine out of ten times, when we hear from an individual who professes “years of experience” in journalism and digital content, the portfolio is a showcase of just that—old, tired years of writing for the print media with no evidence of writing for the web. Other times, we come across the so-called new-age writers that boast an “uncanny knack of knowing exactly what Google wants”. Truth be told, can Google even define exactly what they want? Not to mention the lifestyle writers that are so caught up in adding style and attitude to their content pieces that they throw good grammar, spelling, punctuation and structure out of the window. It is not a happy scenario and we want to do all we can to change it. If this means hosting training workshops, webinars and online tutorials to help writers “unlearn” what they believe they have mastered, and start to learn what really works for digital content marketing, we are ready to do this.
Essential Qualities of a Digital Content Writer
If your organization or marketing communications agency is looking to improve your content writing team, here are the top qualities to look for as you scout and recruit new writers:
- Skilled storyteller: The first step to telling a good story is being able to put yourself in the audience’s shoes. A piece of writing is only as good as its perceived value to the person reading it. Read the 5-Step Formula to Tell a Great Story.
- Fresh obsessed: The wealth of information online is both a bane and a boon for us writers. There is a difference between doing online research for ideas and information, and simply recycling and rewriting the same old, same old. Audiences like and share fresh writing, not regurgitated scrolls of text. Learn How to Make Your Content Pop!
- Stickler for precision: Google’s search algorithms change periodically, but what remains a constant is for online content to be precise, concise and meaningful. Only then will it earn and deserve greater visibility on the search engines and go beyond your platform to other shared ones. Are titles and headings compelling and truthful? Are keywords used strategically and naturally? Are calls-to-action clear and easy to follow? Is spelling and grammar 100% accurate?
- NOT a rambler: There is a fine line between storytelling and rambling. Your writers have to remember that they only have 3-4 seconds to grab a visitor’s attention online. An introduction to a piece plays that critical role. It is easy to fall into the trap of “repeat and fade” when a customer brief specifies “target keywords” and “word count”. However, the audience does not care about that—clarity, relevance, value and insight is what counts. Learn the Right Way to Identify Target Keywords.
- Cares about your customers: …As much as you do! To meet and exceed your customers’ expectations, your writers must truly care about what your customers want to see in the content you provide. In order to do this, they must go above and beyond the brief to step into the customer’s shoes and do what all content must do—solve a genuine problem, add value, entertain and be relevant.
If your marketing organization or communications agency needs hands-on training for SEO writing techniques and industry best practices, talk to a leading copywriting agency in Canada. The SEO writers at MintCopy are experienced in writing for a range of different industries and audience segments.
Call 1-888-646-8003 today or email us to learn about our range of copywriting services in Canada.