When you work in a niche industry (or you're creating a new market all of your own) you need well-written SEO content and marketing materials that not only contain the right level of technical knowledge, but can also be easily understood by a general business and/or consumer audience.
Finding the right freelance writer for technical niches isn't always easy - so what should you prioritise in your search?
I've been freelancing for over 12 years (and agency-based for 5 years before that) and I've written on just about every subject you can think of. Here's my thoughts on how to find a specialist freelance writer who can do justice to your product or service, no matter how niche it might be.
Expert, or Expert Writer?
First things first, I would always recommend hiring an individual whose day job is writing. That might sound obvious, but especially in science and technology copywriting niches, there's often a tendency to look for someone who has worked in the sector for years, who also happens to be OK at writing.
That's fine if your only priority is technical knowledge. But if you want your content to be written to a high standard AND you want it to perform well in search results and social media, it's always better to focus your search on someone whose primary experience is in writing.
Necessary Knowledge
That raises the question: How can you find a freelance writer with technical knowledge? If you're in a niche like science, technology, engineering, R&D, or even if you need knowledgeable content about finance, property, tax, insurance etc, where do you look?
Experience is a good start. If a writer has been freelance for a good number of years, it's an indication that they can tackle a wide variety of topics to a very high standard. You can also look for concrete evidence such as:
- Examples of relevant past work
- Sample pages written to your brief
- Testimonials from previous clients
I'm happy to provide any of the above (samples are limited size and must be paid for if used later) and if your niche is one I have not encountered before, I'll put in the research time to learn what I need to know in order to give you good-quality content.
What is Technical Copywriting?
In your search for a freelance specialist copywriter, you might be tempted to search for a 'freelance technical copywriter' instead. Do this and you might stumble into the wrong type of copywriting, making your search much more complicated.
That's because 'technical copywriting' is a specific term used for certain kinds of documents, e.g. owners' manuals and assembly instructions. There's some crossover between technical copywriting and more general copywriting for websites and for print, but it's not the phrase to use if you want a writer with science or technology experience.
Why Hire a Versatile Writer?
All of the above leads me to make this suggestion: Instead of hiring a specialist freelance writer, find an experienced writer who is capable of quickly learning everything they need to know about your product, service or niche.
That way, you get content written to a consistently high standard comparable with the best writing in other sectors, from a writer with broad experience who will not get bogged down in technical jargon specific to your industry. The finished content will be much more accessible to the reader, helping you to win business from consumers and B2B customers who are not necessarily experts.
Why Hire Bobble?
Obviously I want you to hire me, or at least make an enquiry so I can tell you (honestly) whether I think I can write to a high standard in your niche. With a total of 17 years of prolific copywriting behind me so far, it's very likely that I have written for your industry (or something very much like it) before, but I also love learning about new subjects, including science, technology and other academic topics.
(The ego part: I've been a Mensa member for over 30 years, with an IQ in the top 0.5% of the population. I studied towards an MPhys Physics with Astronomy at the University of Manchester and passed every semester until I switched discipline to become a writer instead. It's genuinely quite unusual to find a writer with a solid background in science and the ability to learn about new technologies and niche innovations very fast.)
I write for a number of SEO agencies, who outsource their client blog writing to me, which means in a typical month I single-handedly produce content for about 30 different subject areas. The feedback I receive more often than any other is surprise from the client, who wants to know how the SEO agency was able to recruit a writer with a high level of expertise in their very specific niche industry.
"Thanks so much for the content, it was spot-on - client wanted to know where we managed to find an expert at such short notice!"
If you're looking for a specialist freelance writer or you need a niche copywriter for a very technical subject area, contact me today and I'll let you know if I can help.
