Does Your dental website lack personality, fail to project you as an authority, or is void of quality content?
If so, you may consider hiring a content writer.
In an ideal world, collaborating with a freelance writer can help you grow your business, build your brand and ultimately, get more patients through your door.
The problem is that hiring the wrong freelancer can cost you your reputation, and you may even fall foul of stringent medical advertising guidelines, as laid down by your governing body. This is why it’s so important to get it right – particularly in the dental space.
The question is, what characteristics and traits should you look for when hiring a content writer for your dental website?
If you’re new to the world of content collaboration, don’t worry because I have you covered in the guide below.
Hiring the Right Content Writer For Your needs
Step #1 – Outline your content requirements from the get-go
Before you even begin to search for dental content writers, it pays to outline and detail your writing requirements.
For example:
What type of content do you need?
Is it on-site web copy – treatment/procedural pages? Or is it regular blogs?
What topics do you want to cover?
What about the style and tone of the content?
What is the outcome you’d like the content to achieve?
The greater clarity you can bring to the project, the easier it will be for writers to see if they align with your expectations.
Step #2 – conduct an extensive search
It might sound obvious, but before hiring content writers in the dental niche, you need to know where they hang out.
A good place to start is, of course, Google. So type in something like:
“Dental writer for hire” or “hire freelance dental writers” and see what comes up. You may get sponsored sites like Upwork or Fiverr, but also, your search should throw up independent individuals or companies who write dental content.
Once you’ve found them, it’s just a case of clicking through to their website and dropping them a line.
Alternatively, with sites like Upwork and Fiverr, the process is slightly different. Here, you’ll put in a proposal for work, and individuals will respond. Then it’s a case of sifting through them, making a shortlist and connecting with individuals on the platform.
Either way, provided you use step #1 and outline your requirements in detail, it should filter out many applicants who might not be a good fit.
Step #3 – Assess dental industry knowledge
Essentially, dental freelance writers should have a solid understanding of your industry, including terminology, procedures and many of the common challenges patients face.
It may be that some are qualified dentists who are currently on a sabbatical. it could be an ex-dental assistant or dental technician who has previously worked in the industry but has had a career change. It could also be someone who has never worked in the dental field but has written extensively about it.
Either way, all likely sound good on paper; therefore, you should ask to see samples of their work.
Remember, just because they’re a dentist and have the background knowledge, it doesn’t necessarily mean they always have the skillset to write the content you need.
Essentially, look for samples demonstrating their ability to write engaging, informative and factually accurate dental content.
Step #4 – Check out references and testimonials
Any dental content writer worth their salt should be able to provide references and testimonials. So do check them out. You may even want to contact those references to understand the writer’s scope of knowledge, reliability, work ethic and overall writing style. Once you have all this information, you should now have a solid shortlist of qualified dental writers for hire.
Step #5 – Set them a trial piece
So, you now have your whittled-down shortlist, but before hiring a content writer to collaborate with, you need to see if they can produce the goods. With this in mind, you might want them to write a test post or article.
The content should be paid at a rate commensurate with agreed terms and is a good way of ascertaining whether they are up to the task, as well as matching your exacting requirements.
As a tip, ensure the test blog/article or post is pretty specific; this way, you can see how the writer interprets the brief. Naturally, you’ll need to check for factuality but also look for tone. Does the style match what you require? Does it portray you as an approachable expert in your locale? Does it engage with your potential audience?
If the dental content writer gets these fundamental things right, you’re on to a winner.
Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for revisions and don’t forget to give feedback. Writers responsive to feedback will be more likely to deliver satisfactory results.
Hiring a content writer – The key takeaway
Each writer may have different strengths and areas of expertise, so it pays to choose someone with skills that align with your requirements. By going through this process and following the above tips, your chances of hiring a content writer who can deliver high-quality content for your dental practice or business just got easier.
If you’re struggling to find a suitable dental content writer for your needs, contact me at [email protected] or visit my website at www.dentaldale.com to learn more about how I can help.