Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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A content writer turns briefs into articles, guides, case studies and ebooks your buyers trust, every week, on schedule. Clean samples are easy to polish, so we screen for writing on an unfamiliar subject under time, how they interview experts, and how much an editor has to change before a piece goes live.
A content writer proves themselves in published pieces and in how little editing they need. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 and 2
The style guide, the strongest existing content, the product and the questions buyers ask sales. Interviews two or three internal experts and publishes a first piece from an existing brief.
On track looks like a first piece live in the first fortnight, needing one round of edits.
How we test for it before you meet them
A timed writing exercise in our screen: a short piece on a subject from your brief that they have not written about before. We score accuracy and clarity, not flourish.
Weeks 3 and 4
Briefs, drafts, reviews and publishing on a weekly rhythm agreed with the content lead, with expert reviews booked in advance so pieces do not stall.
On track looks like pieces published on the agreed schedule for a month, with the next month briefed.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how many pieces they wrote a month at their last job and how they kept expert reviews on time. A former editor confirms it.
Weeks 5 to 8
Pieces built on interviews with product managers, engineers, customers and sales, so content says something a generic article cannot.
On track looks like pieces with original detail from your experts, approved without major rewrites.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a piece built on an interview and how they prepared the questions. Pieces assembled only from other articles are where we dig.
Weeks 9 to 13
A customer case study, a guide or an ebook, structured for skimming and accurate enough for a technical buyer, delivered on time.
On track looks like a case study or guide that sales starts sending to prospects.
How we test for it before you meet them
A reference call about one long piece: how it was researched, how many rounds it took and who used it after publishing.
After day 90
Strong writers start suggesting topics from what they hear in interviews and sales calls, refreshing pieces that are slipping, and owning a topic area.
On track looks like topic ideas the content lead adds to the plan, and a refresh list for older pieces.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask which topic they would write first for your buyers and why. A specific answer grounded in the buyer predicts the writer who grows into strategy.
Five responsibilities. If the seat is mainly pages and ads that must convert, it is a copywriter; if it is mainly search-led articles, it is an SEO content writer.
Well-researched pieces on the topics your buyers search for and ask about, written to a brief.
Customer stories built from interviews, with the problem, the approach and the result stated plainly.
Ebooks, reports and guides structured for skimming and accurate for a technical or specialist reader.
Getting substance from product, engineering, customers and sales, and turning it into clear writing.
Drafts, reviews and delivery on the agreed schedule, with as little editing as possible.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a content hire ends up writing ad copy or running the whole content program.
That seat ownsThe words that convert: web pages, landing pages, ads, emails and sales assets.
Hire it instead whenpages get traffic but not demos, and the problem is persuasion rather than depth.
That seat ownsSearch-led articles written to rank, measured on positions and organic traffic.
Hire it instead whenyou have keyword targets and the articles that go live do not rank.
That seat ownsThe content program: plan, calendar, distribution, writers and the results.
Hire it instead whennobody owns what gets written, for whom, and whether it works.
The title stays the same; the subject does not. Pick the one that matches your buyers.
Writes across topics for a business audience: articles, case studies and guides.
Writes for expert buyers in a technical field: developers, engineers, finance or security teams.
Specializes in case studies, testimonials and customer-led content for sales.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Clear, accurate writing on an unfamiliar subject | Polished samples and a timed exercise full of filler or errors. | A clear, accurate piece on our exercise in the time given. |
| Research and expert interviews | Pieces assembled from other articles. | Pieces built on interviews and primary sources, with original detail. |
| Output on a schedule | No sense of monthly volume or deadlines missed. | Steady monthly output, confirmed by a former editor. |
| Editing needed | Drafts that need restructuring before publishing. | Drafts that need one light round of edits. |
| Fit with your buyers | Consumer or lifestyle writing only. | Writing for a business buyer like yours, at a similar depth. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Content writing pay sits in a narrow band: Salary.com’s content writer, SEO content writer and copywriter benchmarks overlap almost completely. Subject knowledge moves the number more than the title, and the BLS band runs wider because it covers every kind of writer.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Average total pay, base plus variable
Content Writer
Salary.com base benchmark
$67,129 to $82,227 base
SEO Content Writer
Salary.com base benchmark, neighboring seat
$65,009 to $79,666 base
Copywriter
Salary.com base, Built In total, neighboring seat
$67,440 to $79,885 base$81,391 average total
Writers and authors
BLS, all industries
$58,230 to $101,950
Content Writer, SEO Content Writer and Copywriter bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Copywriter ring: Built In average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 8, 2026. Writers and authors: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 27-3043), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A content writer researches and writes the articles, guides, case studies and ebooks a company publishes for its buyers. In B2B the job depends on getting substance from internal experts and customers, writing it clearly and accurately, and publishing on a steady schedule. Good content writers also suggest topics from what they hear and refresh older pieces that have slipped.
Salary.com puts a content writer at $67,129 to $82,227 base, with a median of $74,207 (October 2026). Its SEO content writer and copywriter benchmarks sit in almost the same band. The BLS band for writers and authors runs from $58,230 to $101,950 across all industries. Writers with deep subject knowledge, such as security or finance, usually command more than generalists.
A content writer explains and informs: articles, guides and case studies that build trust over time. A copywriter persuades: web pages, landing pages, ads and emails measured on clicks and conversions. The skills overlap, but most writers are stronger at one. If you need depth and a publishing cadence, hire a content writer; if pages get traffic but not demos, hire a copywriter.
Freelancers suit occasional pieces on clear briefs. An in-house content writer pays off once you publish every week: they learn the product and the buyer, build relationships with your experts and need far less editing over time. Many teams keep one in-house writer and add freelancers for volume. We recruit the in-house seat, and will say on the first call if freelancers fit better.
Give them a short timed piece on a subject from your world that they have not written about, with a few source links and a brief. An hour is enough. It shows clarity, accuracy and research habits, which polished samples can hide, because samples are often heavily edited. Avoid long unpaid assignments: strong writers decline them and they reward free time rather than skill.
AI tools speed up outlines, first drafts and editing, and good writers use them. They do not interview your engineers or customers, check claims against your product, or know which detail your buyers care about, which is where B2B content earns trust. The writers worth hiring now are the ones who use AI for speed and spend the time saved on research and substance.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated writers, each with our timed writing exercise scored and their samples checked with a former editor. Interview speed decides the rest: good writers rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within a week of the first interview keeps them. Most can start two to four weeks after accepting.
Tell us who you write for, what you publish and how often. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for content roles, or send your CV and samples and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The content writer is one of twelve seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.