New to SEO? SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, involves using keywords and phrases online. This helps search engines like Google find and drive traffic to you.

Perhaps, writing isn’t something you want to regularly spend your time on. There are many SEO content writers working for businesses like yours.

Do you want to get help from SEO content writers to drive traffic to your website? You want a content writer for SEO, but not just any writer. You want the best SEO writers. You aren’t the only one.

To find SEO content writers, its important to search on reputable sites with reviews. The most important things about a great writer are people first, and SEO second. If someone is great with SEO, but the article isn’t people friendly, it won’t be read. If the article isn’t read, then you won’t get more traffic to your website.

Forbes featured an article to help you understand the importance of age, quality, and consistency of writing for SEO. It isn’t enough to get the best content writers one time. Google ranks your website and drives traffic over time.

If you want to rank on the first page of Google for a keyword, it will take consistency and time. The top 10 websites on the first page of Google are on average of 2+ years old. The #1 slot is 3 years old on average.

Finding a writer may sometimes be similar to dating and getting married. If you want an SEO writer, know what topic areas, your communication style, and how often you want then to write.

There are many talented writers in the world. But not all writers can be effective SEO content writers. Here’s how to find the best SEO writers.

Find the Best SEO Content Writers

You love your business and serving your clients. That’s where your time is best sent. As a result, you are looking for SEO content writers.  You want articles that are great quality and SEO friendly. You are not exactly sure where to start.

As a business owner, it’s important to consider what problems you solve, what you offer, and who you serve. The clearer you are on these three items the easier it will be to communicate with your writer. You will be able to give them 10+ content ideas right away.

When you start thinking about writers, treat them no different than you would a member of your team in the office. They are an important part of your team. Set them up for success by giving them insight into your business.

Share with them your favorite types of clients and what they like. This will help them speak to your ideal clients just like you would.

What type of writers do you want? How often do you want articles published? How do you communicate? What are the goals of your business? This will help you start to think about what works for you and your business.

These are a few things to think about before you start looking for a content writer for SEO. These tips will help you find the writer that is best for you.

1. Shares Stories

When you are looking for a writer, ask them for examples. Not only do you get examples, but it will show you how responsive they are too. When you get the examples, the first thing you want to look for is are they great at sharing stories?

No matter what the topic is, writing is sharing a story. It’s sharing stories on everything from how to do something to someone’s life. When you review their work, determine how great of a fit their writing is for you and your company.

This initial step will help you determine who is and isn’t a great fit. If you want to take it further, you could request a sample from them for you. Many companies do this both as paid and unpaid.

2. Catchy Headlines

Catchy headlines are critical to content marketing. Many people will stop at the title if it doesn’t grab their attention. It will also impact your SEO rankings initially and over time.

A great SEO writer knows that click-worthy titles are a must. They also understand how to weave in keywords as they share stories throughout. Writing with SEO is an art and a science.

It’s sharing the content with the audience while weaving in the SEO so they barely notice. These skills are what will help your business rank higher on search engines.

3. Understands Language

A test article with a writer is a great way to see if they understand grammar, structure, and spelling. A great writer not only understands grammar but continues to improve their writing over time.

Communicating with an understanding of language improves the quality of your content. If you improve the quality of your content, it increases the credibility of your brand and business.

Likely, you buy from businesses you trust with high quality. People will look at your content in the same way. If you want people to trust you and your business, make sure you have quality content.

4. Creates Engagement

If you work closely with your SEO writer over time, they will understand your audience at every level. The more they speak to your audience in their writing, the more engagement will naturally happen. People reading will feel as if they are truly understood.

The teamwork between you and the writer is key to help them think about what content will serve and relate to the audience best.

Content marketing is a long term game. SEO isn’t a get-traffic-quick scheme. That’s why Google ranks age of the domain and frequency of content updates as one of the most important components of their algorithm.

As a result, take time with your writer and encourage them to take time too. It’s better to have 1-2 great quality articles released weekly than 5 articles with poor quality.

5. Shows Testimonials

When you start searching for your SEO writers, ask them for two types of examples. The first examples should be their writing samples related to what they will be writing about with you.

The second request involves testimonials they have on the ability to increase traffic and results. For example, a great testimonial from one of their clients would be:

• Having Wanda the Writer with our team involved increasing traffic by 200% in less than 90 days. In addition, the bounce rate decreased over 15%. Finally, we loved seeing the time spent on our site go up to 2 minutes (over a 100% increase.

Basically, you are asking them to ask clients for direct website impacts. Some other testimonials may include ranking for keywords in #1 and #2 slots. To keep it simple, ask them to ask clients their impacts in the last 90 days on traffic, bounce rate, and time spent on their website.

6. Team Player

The best writers will be team players. They will come to you with suggestions and corrections way before you even ask. With time, you want them to take initiative themselves with little to no direction. The same you would with any member of your team.

Over time, you may want to think about if you want them engaging with your audience on the articles online.

Ask them are there any areas you haven’t addressed? How is your communication? Do they have any content or website suggestions?

7. Costs Money

Last, but definitely not least is the cost. Likely, you will pay more for a quality SEO writer. This isn’t always the case. You may have someone starting off that is willing to accept less to learn. However, in general, expect to pay more for a great writer.

A cheap writer that doesn’t deliver will cost you much more in the long run with your time and trust with your audience. As a general rule, research low to high pay for SEO writers.

If you want to know what the writer wants, ask them. Ask them what they get for their other writing assignments and what results they deliver. A great way to possibly bridge a gap is by adding in incentives for longer or more articles.

You may get a great writer right away. However, expect to take some time finding the best writer for you. Patience pays off in the long run.

The Best SEO Writers

Searching for the best SEO writers isn’t always easy. Many writers may have full-time assignments from publications already. You might consider listing postings on various freelancer and job sites to start.

Some businesses put together a checklist to screen their writers. These 7 tips are a great place to start for yours. When you consider writers, think about if they are a fit with you and your team.

If you haven’t done this before, be patient with yourself and the process. You are learning something new too. Take the next step.

What action will you take next on how to find the best SEO content writers?

Learn more about places to list your business online for local SEO.