3 Reasons You Should Hire Native Language Writers

There’s a constant discussion about whether or not content writing, especially on the Web, is really a global market. I think that term is extremely misleading personally, but won’t get into that for now. You can read more about my thoughts on the issue in this past post:

The “Global” Writers Market

Let’s first establish what I mean by “native language writers.” I don’t just mean native English speakers here. If you’re hiring writers for a German site, hire native German speakers. If you’re hiring writers for a French site, hire native French speakers. Get the drift?

Now, here are three reasons you should hire native language writers for your next freelance writing job:

1. Native language writers have a better understanding of your target market or reader base, because they can relate to them more easily than someone halfway around the world. It comes down to credibility. If I’m reading an article on launching a new business in the US, I expect it to be written by a US-based writer. At the same time, a UK-based reader would be able to trust an article on starting a business in the UK from a native writer, but a US-based writer wouldn’t do, because they wouldn’t have the same understanding of the topic. The same applies to most niches, from business to entertainment. If the writer can’t really relate to the reader and the trends going on around them, they can’t appeal to that reader as well as someone who can relate personally. Writing based entirely on research (often just casual Web-based research from sometimes less than credible sources anyway) tends to be much more basic and “dry.”

2. You have more legal protection when you hire native writers. Using the US as an example, if you hire native English-speaking writers also from the US, there’s no question as to which copyright and other laws the writer is bound by. By hiring writers elsewhere, there’s no guarantee that a copyright assigned to you will actually belong to you, you may not be able to sue if the writer resells the work or reuses it, and having a contract with them may mean absolutely nothing if the contract can’t be enforced in their locality.

3. In most cases, you’ll get better writing. Writing isn’t about getting the grammar technically correct. It’s about being able to influence, educate, or entertain. If your writer can’t write in a natural way for your target readers, you’re wasting money; no matter how little you pay.