In today’s competitive market, it takes a competitive, standout rate to attract and hire high-level specialist writers.
As of the 2020s, we’re seeing an era like never before where our clients need the best content writer for their industry.
Brands need to build trust through their published content.
Brands need to give value through their published content.
Brands also must retain traffic and gain sales through that content, or their content will fall flat and be considered a waste of ROI.
Well, content must be incredible to do all of the above.
Back in 2018, our highest-selling level of content was expert writing.
A few years before that, it was general writers.
Today, it’s specialty content, our most expensive writing level (legal, financial, technical, medical, and other top-tier specialty industries).
This level is the most expensive for a reason.
Not just any writer. Not just a good writer. And not just an expert writer…
But a specialist who knows their industry, and will write and research great web content with care and skill.
We’re announcing a (fairly small) specialist rate increase from 24c/word to 28c/word, a necessary change to hire and pay specialty writers more. This price update is live now. In today’s blog, we explain why.
Why Specialist Writers Are in High Demand
A talented specialist writer in your industry is similar to a Chupacabra…
Or, it can feel like it, when you’re trying to attract and hire that type of writer.
At Express Writers, we’ve done the work to attract and hire these types of writers.
Here’s just one of our monthly bills from Indeed.com, a platform where we hire and interview writers on a regular weekly basis.
These days can cost us anywhere from $1,000 – $2,500 a month to hire a handful of writers, depending on the level of writer we’re headhunting.
Of course, the client doesn’t pay this. They simply pay our per-word fee.
We also pay editors. And managers. But the client doesn’t pay that, either. They pay our per-word fee.
The crux of our payment margins and payouts is always the writer. We know that without the writer, Express Writers is, well, writer-less and therefore powerless.
[bctt tweet=”.@ExpWriters has raised specialist writer rates. Why? In today’s market, it takes a competitive, standout rate to attract and hire high-level specialist writers. ? These writers produce the kind of content our high-level brands want and need.” username=””]
It takes great writers to produce the kind of content our high-level brands want and need.
Not to mention (as we’ve talked about on the blog before), but Google’s own rules for quality now demand the same. Google doesn’t keep this a secret – they disclose exactly what they’re looking for in their SEO starter guide:
And as we’ve reiterated before on the Write Blog, here’s one of the biggest giveaway statements from Google’s SEO starter guide on why good great content matters.
Two driving forces behind what constitutes good SEO content can be traced back to these clear acronyms in Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines:
- E.A.T. (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Three top factors Google uses to rate content quality.
- Y.M.Y.L. (Your Money or Your Life): Content that can potentially impact a reader’s financial, physical, and/or mental health and happiness in the medical, financial, legal, and technical industries.
Our specialty writer rates are mapped specifically to Y.M.Y.L. guidelines, which are the highest level Google reviews. According to the guidelines, Google pays the most attention to these pages because they’re the ones that can most profoundly impact a person’s life. Especially in pandemic times, this matters more than ever.
Source: Google’s Guidelines, section 2.3
Google says YMYL pages are the ones that can “impact the future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety of users.”
These pages include:
- Shopping or financial transaction pages
- Medical information pages
- Legal information pages
- Financial information pages
- News articles and/or public/official pages important for informing citizens
- Any other topics that can deeply affect users’ lives, i.e. child adoption or car safety information
Because of their importance, these pages have incredibly high page quality standards. ?
They must be authoritative, factual, and written by experts.
That’s where our specialty expert writing level comes into play.
Our specialty experts are handpicked with an advanced degree, 5+ years in their field, a senior/leadership role (example, Lead Software Engineer), and, the skill of online writing under their belts as well.
We’ve found these practitioners-turned-content-writers are in high demand. In fact, it’s truly hard to hire one who knows their industry, and can write. When we do find one, we have to act quickly and bring them in, mentor and train them, and prep them to take on client assignments.
Did I mention Chupacabra yet?
Still, we find and hire them.
But today, we’ve learned we simply must raise the rates to pay these writer-extraordinaires more income.
It’s more than worth it.
Here’s the kind of resume/writer we’re now attracting at these higher pay rates.
Example: Senior Technical Writer, Corey O., hired August 2021.
Our Rates Are Live
Our specialist rate increase from 24c/word to 28c/, a necessary change to hire and pay good writers more, is now live in the Content Shop.
Go view pricing here. This applies to technical, medical, and other in-depth verticals.
Trust Plays a Part – and Here’s How Your Content Writers Need to Actively Build That Trust
Don’t forget.
The epidemic of misinformation in 2020 took a toll on consumer trust when it comes to content in just about every form, from search engines as well as traditional, owned, and social media.
People are wary these days. What does that mean for your brand content?
In short, writers must take a few extra steps on every piece they write to make sure it’s kosher in the 2020s.
- Double check all facts. Be responsible for ensuring you’ve found and are verifying content the brand consumers can trust.
- Ditch the traditional sales pitch and write with a value focus. Customers aren’t buying into overpromises and flashy offers. Content marketing is outperforming cold calls and advertising techniques by prioritizing value first. Expert writers must know how to deliver on this.
- Back up all claims. Not only must you research your facts, but, you have to have solid links and sources for your claims. A Weebly blog won’t cut it. You need authoritative sources – like the legitimate, current Edelman study we quote above.
- Find credible sites. This is mentioned in the former point, but, it’s worth a point by itself. If you’re going to provide trustworthy content, you have to link to trustworthy websites that have established online authority. Use Alexa’s Site Rankings to help you know a website’s true credibility. This takes a few extra minutes, but is worth it.
- Flow and comprehensiveness must be there. Many experts that have been in the field and haven’t written online content are used to structuring essays. No matter how long you’ve been a practitioner, you still need to learn and shape the skill of online writing so that the flow and comprehensive nature of a long-form blog, ebook, or guide, for example, is there.
Need more guidance on ranking in the 2020s? Grab our free checklist on How to Rank in the Top of Google.
Remember, in today’s untrustworthy atmosphere, readers can smell B.S. a mile away.
Brands are now responsible for being honest with their consumers in their website, on their blog.
Google is clear and upfront about how important trustworthiness and authoritativeness is in their accessible SEO starter guide:
Go Forth, Trust Your Writing to Us, & Succeed
In short:
We need to increase rates to be more competitive in today’s content market, and that’s going directly to the writer.
We’re pleased to bring this experience to you.
Great writers mean great content.
Great pay means great writers.
And you can rest in peace, knowing your content is in good great hands.
Because good is not enough – it now takes great.
Ready?
Go Content Shopping now for specialty writers.
