As a website in the pet space, you’ll need to write plenty of animal content to attract your readers. And that means you need an excellent pet writer to support you. But how do you choose a good pet writer? Are there any red flags you should consider when sorting through freelance pet and animal writers?
Do I need a pet writer?
Whether or not you need a pet writer will depend on the sort of content you’re planning to produce, as well as the volume. If you’re setting up a small cat blog because you love cats, you might find you can do much of the writing yourself. But when it comes to scaling your blog, or if writing really isn’t your cup of tea, you might decide that hiring a freelance writer to help is the best approach. You’ll definitely need an experienced animal writer if you:
- Are planning to publish more blogs than you can manage to write yourself
- Are writing on topics you don’t know much about
- Regularly need an expert’s opinion
- Don’t like writing
- Struggle to write interesting and readable content
If you say ‘yes’ to any of those, you might want to search for a writer who can help.
What does a freelance writer do?
A freelance writer writes for several companies and clients. They aren’t employed by any single company and aren’t paid a salary – instead you pay them per project, for as many projects as you need them for. They’re a really low-stress way to bolster your current writing ability without needing to invest in a salaried employee, as they’re responsible for their own tax and holiday pay. And because you form a new contract with each writer you can decide how long you want them for. The downside is that you’ll be paying them more per hour than you would a salaried employee, but since you’re only paying them for the hours they work, this still tends to work out cheaper for smaller businesses.
What does a freelance pet writer cost?
How much a freelance writer costs depends on their experience, qualifications, and the niche they work in. Freelance writers that write about animals and pets can vary in price due to the huge difference in qualifications they may have. At the cheaper end of the scale, you can get a dog-lover who has no formal training, but has been writing blogs for a long time. But it’s often worth spending a bit more to hire someone qualified – using a veterinarian as a pet writer may cost a little more, but it can be great value because their qualifications will help your article rank higher.
What else should I consider when choosing a pet writer?
Cost isn’t the only important thing when you’re choosing which dog or cat writer to use. There are a few other things you’ll need to bear in mind when approaching someone to help you write your pet blogs.
Qualifications
As we’ve covered briefly above, you might want to think about your writer’s qualifications, too. Which qualifications are important to you will depend on the type of blog you’re writing. Do they have any formal training in pet health – for instance, a vet nursing, tech, or veterinary degree? Do they have a professional grooming or behaviour qualification? Are they a member of any professional bodies, which regulate them and make sure they keep their skills up to date? Be aware that the internet has meant it’s possible to buy ‘certificates’ and ‘diplomas’ with very little training, so it can be a good idea to look up your writer’s qualifications and see what they’ve had to do to get them.
Experience
Of course, in some cases a person’s qualifications are not as important as their experience. If your blog will be focussing more on the day-to-day life with a cat, for instance, having a cat writer who has had cats all their life might be better than finding a vet writer who has never owned one.
Turnaround
Usually you’ll be looking for a long-term relationship, but if you have something in mind that needs a quick turnaround you should check how long it takes for your writer to get an article back to you. Good writers can be booked out months in advance, so you might want to take this into account.
Writing skill
You can have someone with oodles of qualifications and experience, but if they haven’t mastered the basics of writing then your blog is going to come off poorly.
Expertise
There’s another way that Google might see your writer’s expertise (other than ‘reading’ their qualifications) and that’s where else they appear. If your writer has written for similar publications, Google is going to rank them more highly than if they’ve never written for anyone before. A good online presence helps show Google just how knowledgeable your writer is.
So what does this mean for my website?
Of course, at TVCC we provide uniquely qualified pet writers – we’re all veterinarians, with a wide range of qualifications and interests. We’re also experienced writers, and our work can be found on other pet websites, which shows Google just how much they know. Our turnaround is pretty standard – 10-14 days – but we can negotiate a shorter turnaround if you need a pet blog sooner. Having so many animal writers available means we can easily scale up if you suddenly want to increase your blog output.
As for our writing skill, we let our articles speak for themselves. You can have a look at our past projects to see the sort of thing we’re capable of. Or, if you want a sample from a specific writer, take a look at their portfolio page or get in touch with us and we’ll send you some examples.
Conclusion – hiring pet writers doesn’t have to be hard
Unless you’ve got a lot of time, experience, and writing skill to boot, it’s likely you’ll need to think about hiring a pet writer for your blog. There are lots of things you should consider when choosing a freelance pet writer, but the main ones are their qualifications and their writing skill – a good combination of these should give your blog the boost you need!
