In a world where content is king, businesses are looking for creative ways to stand out from the competition and fill their site with engaging posts that will drive organic traffic.
That’s where ghostwriters come in. A ghostwriter is a freelance writer who allows their work to appear under your byline. Having the byline is crucial if you’re building a personal brand or want your team to get credit for all the content on your site.
Otherwise, there’s not much difference between hiring a ghostwriter and hiring a freelance writer to produce your content.
Why hire a ghostwriter?
There are a few reasons businesses choose to outsource their content creation.
First, they may not have the in-house resources to create the content themselves. Small companies may not have anyone on staff with SEO knowledge, for instance, or the ability to write engaging content.
Or the team may have the expertise on hand but not have the time or resources to produce a steady stream of high-quality, inviting content. That’s a lot of content to produce, even for a company with a marketing team.
Benefits of working with ghostwriters
There are a few key benefits of working with ghostwriters.
Ghostwriters can:
- Produce a high volume of content quickly and efficiently
- Create content on topics outside of your area of expertise
- Bring expertise in blogging, SEO, and what kind of content resonates with readers
- Help take the load off of your in-house team so they can focus on other projects
- Stay on top of content marketing trends and evolving SEO practices
Is it better to hire a ghostwriter or write blogs yourself?
Whether you’re better off with a ghostwriter depends on a few factors. If you have the time and resources to write blogs yourself, that may be the best option.
But if you’re looking for a quick and efficient way to produce high-quality content, working with a ghostwriter may be the better option.
Many business owners and marketing professionals start out writing their own blog posts but quickly discover that they don’t have time to write regularly in addition to running their business. If that’s the case, hiring a ghostwriter may be the best solution.
However, if you have time on your hands and don’t have the budget to hire good ghostwriters, you may be better off writing your own posts.
How to choose and hire a ghostwriter
It’s essential to take your time when choosing and hiring a ghostwriter. First, seek someone with experience and knowledge. It can be tempting to hire an acquaintance who writes well and will work cheaply, but if you want your content to pay off in search traffic, you need a ghostwriter who understands SEO, content marketing, and keyword strategies.
Secondly, look for experience in your industry or in a similar enough sector that they’ll understand your market.
Third, ask your prospects to submit several writing samples. Then check the samples for:
- Accuracy: Look for external links that back up any facts, and follow those links to ensure the source material is solid.
- Keyword usage: The keyword should be in the title, first paragraph, at least one topic heading, and sprinkled through the post in a way that feels natural
- Scannability: A good blog post will have short paragraphs, plenty of topic headings, and either subheads or bullet lists.
- Readability: Do you find the content engaging? Does the first paragraph make you want to keep reading? Is it easy to understand what’s being conveyed? Does the post have a satisfying conclusion?
How ghostwriting works
Businesses (or their content marketing agencies) provide ghostwriters with an idea, topic, or general direction for the content they want to be created.
The ghostwriter then does the research and writes the piece in the business’s voice. Once the draft is complete, the writer sends it back to the business for approval. At that point, the client can ask for revisions if they’re needed.
If you’re going to manage a ghostwriter yourself, you’ll need to develop your own content strategies and be very clear about your target market. Then, you’ll generate ideas for each post and tell the writer what topic and keywords to focus on.
If you don’t have the time or expertise to do that, consider hiring a content marketing agency. An agency will be able to help you develop strategies and topics for your blog posts and manage the ghostwriters so that you can focus on running your business.
How much does it cost to hire a ghostwriter?
Ghostwriters are usually paid by the word, and rates can vary widely.
ClearVoice surveyed writers and found that most intermediate-level writers were paid $0.11 to $0.50 per word. On average, expert writers were paid $1 per word or more.
You can often find very lower-priced writing services on freelancing sites — but keep in mind that you will get what you pay for. Many bargain-priced writers are beginners who are still learning their craft. Once a writer is good enough to charge the going rate, they will.
Since writers are being paid by the word, expect to pay a higher rate if you’re asking for work that doesn’t increase the word count. For example
- Sourcing royalty-free images to illustrate the piece
- Writing meta descriptions for the posts
- More than one round of revisions
- Searching for multiple internal links to include in a post
Where can you hire high-quality ghostwriters?
If you’re looking for an expert ghostwriter, ClearVoice is an excellent option. We have a network of over 20,000 professional writers, editors, and creatives — all vetted by our in-house quality control team. You can use our platform to post your writing jobs, review submissions from interested writers, and make your selections.
ClearVoice also offers a managed services option, where our team will handle the entire process for you — from sourcing to quality control to delivery.
Give ghostwriting a try
Hiring a ghostwriter is a great option if you want to add blog content to your website but don’t have the time or resources to do it yourself. Ghostwriters can provide high-quality, well-researched content in your voice, and ClearVoice makes it easy to find and manage them. So why not give it a try? Talk to a content specialist today to learn more.
