Two typewriters side by side

MSPs: How to hire a freelance writer

Paul GreenUncategorized

Your website is the single most important element of your MSP's marketing strategy.

Even in the age of social media, it's still your shop window; your album cover, if you will.

There are hundreds of different elements to a website, obviously; the font, the logo, the layout- the list is endless.

But there's no point having a nice shiny website with all the bells and whistles if the content itself is a bit rubbish. It's too easy nowadays for people to just click away and onto the next MSP.

A brilliantly well-written Home Page and About Us page - the two most highly-trafficked pages on any website - is crucial.

But even once that task's done, you can't just kick back and leave your masterpiece to look after itself, sadly.

Keeping fresh content flowing to your website regularly is incredibly important for two reasons.

First of all, nothing dates a website more than the last blog post having been written 5 months ago. Remember, this is your shop front, and you don't want it looking all dusty and sad.

But secondly, because how often you update your website with fresh content has a direct impact on how many people will even come across your website.

The more often you add new content, the more regularly Google will visit your site to reindex it. In other words, the Google machine is hungry. It likes lots of new shiny content to munch on. And it will reward you if you send it lots of new shiny things to munch on by bumping you up the search results.

So, you need to be posting new content at least a couple of times a month, ideally once a week (I've written more about what kinds of fresh content your website needs here).

'But Paul!' I hear you cry, 'I don't have time for that!'

Yes, I hear you. And on top of that, writing might not be your superpower. It might even be your kryptonite.

The answer then is to get someone else to do this job for you. And that someone is a freelance writer.

There are thousands of those just a message away on fiverr.com and Upwork. But therein lies the problem. How do you know which are the good writers, and which are the bad writers?

Well, it actually only takes these five quick steps to find out.

1. Put together a brief of exactly what you want

2. Give that brief to five different writers. Yes. You pay five different writers to do exactly the same work (short-term pain, long-term gain).

3. You get that work back from those writers and you compare their output.

4. You pick your favourite. I guarantee you'll just know instinctively who's the best fit.

5. Hire that writer.

It's that simple.

Any questions, any time (preferably about MSPs and marketing - I don't know a lot about DIY, for example), email me at hello@paulgreensmspmarketing.com . It's actually me on the other end (sorry in advance if you wanted to know how to put up a shelf.).