Blog Writing Service

Something worth reading is usually worth writing

There are already quite a lot of words on the internet. Adding another 1,000 of them isn’t necessarily going to achieve very much.

A good business blog answers questions, explains useful ideas and gives you somewhere to share knowledge and opinions that don’t fit neatly onto a service page. It can help potential customers discover your business through search, understand what you know and decide whether you’re worth talking to.

But first, somebody has to want to read it.

I’m Tom Rigby, a freelance blog writer and copywriter with 30 years’ professional writing experience. I’ve written across sectors ranging from finance, law and energy to healthcare, education, property and construction. I create researched, useful blog content that sounds like the organisation publishing it rather than the person commissioned to write it.

Whether you need a single article or an ongoing programme, I can help you find something worth saying and give it the words it deserves.

Your blog needs a reason to exist

Publishing regularly is useful. Publishing regularly for the sake of it isn’t.

Before writing anything, I want to know who we’re talking to, what they need to understand and what the article should achieve. The subject might come from a question customers keep asking, an industry development, search research or an opinion worth expressing. Sometimes it’s expertise sitting inside somebody’s head that hasn’t yet made it onto the page.

Depending on the audience and purpose, that might become:

an explanatory article that makes a complicated subject understandable;
a practical how-to guide that answers a customer’s question;
an interview that brings someone’s knowledge and experience to life;
an opinion or thought-leadership piece with something to contribute;
a customer story that shows your work in practice;
commentary that explains an industry development and why it matters; or
an evergreen article answering an important search query.

The format follows the idea.

The subject has to earn the article.

Because if there isn’t anything useful, interesting or original to say, adding another blog post to the internet probably isn’t going to improve matters.

Blog writing for people and search engines

SEO matters. So do readers. Fortunately, the two aren’t natural enemies.

Good SEO blog writing starts by understanding what people are searching for and why. The article then needs to answer that need clearly, accurately and usefully. Relevant search terms, descriptive headings and useful internal links help give the content structure and context. None of that requires repeating the same phrase every 150 words.

I can work from keyword research, an SEO brief or a content strategy supplied by you or your agency. Where required, I can also research search intent and competing content to establish what an article needs to cover and where you can add something useful.

That could be a clearer explanation, an overlooked question, a better example or first-hand experience that other articles lack. Where appropriate, I’ll also help readers find the relevant service, product or next step on your website.

The aim isn’t simply to get somebody onto the page. It’s to give them a reason to stay there.

Some subjects deserve detailed treatment. Others can be explained perfectly well in 600 words.

Words should be weighed, not counted.

Researching the things I don’t know

Thirty years of writing doesn’t mean I’ve spent 30 years becoming an expert in everything. It does mean I’ve become rather good at getting to grips with things I didn’t previously know much about.

My background in journalism taught me how to interview people, ask the right questions and find the interesting bit. Those skills are just as useful when writing about technical products, professional services or unfamiliar industries.

Depending on the brief, I’ll work from your source material, carry out independent research or interview the people inside your organisation who actually know the subject.

That last part can be particularly useful.

Your experts have the knowledge, but they don’t necessarily have the time or inclination to turn it into an article. A good conversation can uncover the examples, observations and opinions that give a piece substance and make it genuinely worth reading.

I do the writing. They get to remain experts in whatever it is they actually do.

Sounding like you, not me

A blog is part of your website, so it should sound as though it belongs there.

I’ll work with your tone of voice and brand guidelines where you have them. Otherwise, I’ll use your existing communications and conversations with your team to establish the right approach. That doesn’t mean every article needs exactly the same tone. A technical guide needs precision. Thought leadership needs a recognisable point of view. A company story may take a lighter approach. An explanatory article needs to make the complicated feel straightforward without becoming patronising.

Consistency matters.

Sameness doesn’t.

One article or an ongoing programme

Some clients need a single article. Others need regular business blog content without a monthly scramble for something to publish. I can help with both.

For an individual piece, you can give me a subject and brief, or we can work out the angle together. For ongoing blog writing, we can agree subjects, priorities and a realistic schedule in advance. Over time, I get to know your organisation, audience, subject matter and tone of voice, making the process considerably easier for everyone involved.

I can also work alongside your marketing or SEO agency, turning its strategy, keywords and briefs into articles people might actually want to read. Depending on what you already have in place, my blog writing service can include:

ideas, angles and subject development;
background, competitor and search research;
search-intent and keyword research;
content briefs and article structures;
interviews with subject-matter experts;
one-off articles or regular blog content;
SEO blog writing;
opinion and thought-leadership pieces;
editing and rewriting existing posts;
titles, headings and meta descriptions; and
internal-link recommendations.

You don’t need all of those things every time. If you have a detailed brief, I’ll write to it. If all you have is “we really ought to do something with the blog”, we can start there.

Why use a freelance blog writer?

The obvious answer is time.

Most businesses contain people with useful things to say. Those people are usually busy doing the things that gave them something useful to say in the first place.

A professional blog writer also brings some useful distance: the ability to see what needs explaining, ask questions an insider might overlook, research what’s missing and turn the resulting information into something clear and readable.

You also get consistency. Not simply in how often you publish, but in the standard, structure and tone of what goes out under your name.

I’ve spent 30 years interviewing people, researching unfamiliar subjects, finding the interesting bit and turning complicated information into readable copy. Which is, when you strip away the terminology, much of what good blog writing involves.

From initial idea to finished article

We’ll begin by agreeing the audience, purpose, scope and deadline. I’ll establish what material you already have, what needs researching and whether anyone needs interviewing.

For more involved articles, we can agree an outline before I start writing. You’ll then review the draft, provide feedback and check any specialist details before I refine the final version.

You’ll work directly with me throughout, so the person discussing your brief is the person writing your article.

Blog writing FAQs

How much does your blog writing service cost?

The fee depends on the scope, research and interviews involved. An article written from supplied material is a different undertaking from a technical guide requiring several expert conversations.

Tell me what you need, and I’ll provide a quote before work begins.

How long should a blog post be?

As long as it needs to be to answer the reader’s question properly, and no longer. A straightforward explanation may need a few hundred words. A detailed guide might need considerably more. The subject, search intent, competition and complexity are more useful guides than an arbitrary word count. The objective is to cover the subject properly without making the reader work through another 800 words simply because somebody decided longer was better.

How often should we publish blog posts?

Often enough to maintain a useful, realistic publishing programme. For some businesses that may mean weekly. For others, one strong article a month is more valuable than four hurried ones. The right frequency depends on your objectives, resources, audience and the number of worthwhile subjects you genuinely have to cover. Consistency is useful. Quality shouldn’t be sacrificed to maintain a publishing schedule.

Can you write about specialist or technical subjects?

Yes. Much of my work involves making complicated subjects understandable. I’ll use reliable source material and, where appropriate, interview your subject-matter experts. I won’t pretend to know something I don’t, and anything requiring specialist verification will be flagged for review.

Can you write SEO-optimised blog posts?

Yes. I can work from keyword research, content strategies and SEO briefs supplied by you or your agency, or undertake appropriate search-intent and competitor research as part of the project.

SEO should inform the article. It shouldn’t be allowed to ruin it.

Can you work with our SEO or marketing agency?

Yes. I can write to your agency’s keyword research, content strategy and article briefs while following your organisation’s tone of voice. We’ll agree which research, writing and SEO elements are included before work begins.

Can you write blogs regularly?

Yes. I can write one-off articles or provide blog content on an ongoing basis. For regular work, we can agree a realistic schedule and plan subjects in advance, giving you a consistent flow of useful content rather than a monthly scramble for something to publish.

What do you need from us?

A clear objective, an idea of the audience and any relevant background material are a useful start. Existing articles and brand guidelines help establish the tone. If the piece needs specialist insight, access to someone who knows the subject helps considerably. You don’t need to prepare a perfect brief before contacting me. Working out what the article needs to do can be part of the process.

Can you improve existing blog posts?

Yes. I can edit or rewrite existing articles to improve their clarity, structure, usefulness and tone, identify information that needs checking or updating, and recommend relevant internal links.

Sometimes a useful article needs a thorough edit rather than a replacement.

Need someone to write your blog?

If you’ve got a list of ideas, an SEO spreadsheet full of keywords or simply a blog that hasn’t been updated since everybody was talking about unprecedented times, tell me what you’re working with. Send me your website, the subjects you have in mind and any deadline. I’ll tell you honestly whether I can help.

Discuss your blog project