Your questions about content creation and working with freelance content writers in 2026, answered

If your content isn’t generating leads or revenue, you are only wasting your resources. And to drive those results, you need the right knowledge. “Why isn’t our content appearing in AI search?” “Why is our bounce rate so high?” “How do I find the right content writer for my project?” I keep hearing the same questions from business owners and marketers alike. That’s why, in 2024, I started sharing my honest answers in my monthly series You Asked, I Answer on LinkedIn and Facebook. To provide you with all the knowledge you need in one place, I have assembled the entire 2026 series here.

You Asked, I Answer #5

2nd June 2026

Is LinkedIn still worth our budget and effort after the latest algorithm update?

Is your target audience active on LinkedIn (this is different from just having an account)? Does it research vendors like you or products like yours on LinkedIn? Does it look for answers on LinkedIn? If yes, you should continue investing money and time in LinkedIn.

However, LinkedIn’s feed has changed. I have distilled the five most important practices you need in your LinkedIn strategy if you want to build trust with prospects before your sales team even speaks with them.

• Focus on relevance instead of virality. Your LinkedIn feed now shows posts not only from your network but also from people you don’t know. That is based on the information you share on your profile as well as on what content you engage with, and the same goes for your target audience. When you create content aligned with what they seek and consume, it is more likely to surface in their feed. The LinkedIn algorithm prioritizes content such as your perspective on challenges your target audience faces and deprioritizes posts like “Comment ‘Yes’ if you want our guide.”

• Invest in employee advocacy. Posts from people outperform those from company pages by a wide margin. Your employees are your gold. Who are your most active employees on LinkedIn? Who posts regularly, sharing information that demonstrates their expertise? Whose connections and followers include potential customers, media, thought leaders? Whose profiles include a strong headline and summary and a photo that reflects well on your company? Those are the people you need.

• Pick two or three topics that are most important to your target audience and post around them. If you love topic-hopping, bad news: LinkedIn’s algorithm favors topical consistency. For example, if you are a payroll software provider targeting European SMEs, publishing about payroll compliance and automation will do far more for your visibility than mixing payroll, company culture, cybersecurity, and leadership. Ask your employees to create their own content around those topics so that not everyone is just resharing the company’s posts.

• Build connections. Engage with people and brands relevant to your industry and target audience: liking every post and commenting on whatever rolls by aren’t building visibility or trust. And no more commenting on 40 posts a day. LinkedIn is taking action to stop engagement pods and automated commenting.

• Your profile and behavior are one whole. LinkedIn uses information from your profile, such as the About section and experience, to match content with audiences. So your headline, About section, and experience should reflect the topics you want to be associated with.

You Asked, I Answer #4

5th April 2026

“We invested in a beautiful new website. But conversions haven’t moved. Why?”

Your website may not be converting for different reasons, one of which is your messaging. Last week, I landed on a company homepage with this headline: “Our creators go beyond clicks. They inform us, inspire us, smarten us and sharpen us. We back them. We amplify them. We electrify them.” Yes, that is from a real website of a large company. The rest of the homepage only confused me more, and I quickly left. I was searching for specific information but instead of that, I got blabber in the form of inspirational fluff.

And now another real-life example from a software company whose homepage went 1,200+ words without clearly saying they sell something. The page looked like a luxurious catalog of various data products, all visually impressive, but nowhere did it plainly state that they sell them. And the CTA, “Get your free data advantage,” only created more questions than answers. I am sure the company is proud of its website design and product range, but that homepage is wasting prospects’ time.

Just for a moment, think about the last time you had a work-related problem you couldn’t solve. You spent days or weeks, maybe months, struggling, researching, testing options, trying to find a solution. Unfortunately, you couldn’t solve it. Do you remember that feeling? That’s how your prospects feel when they land on your website, and they would be happy to give you their money if they understand you can solve their problem.

If visitors can’t understand within 3 seconds that you sell something, what that is, and why they should care, you have lost them. And it doesn’t matter how premium your product is because they won’t stay long enough to find out.

People don’t come to your website for corporate poetry but with a problem and look for a specific solution.

You Asked, I Answer #3

7th April 2026

“What does an ideal website look like?”

Your website stops being an online brochure and becomes your best salesperson when you build it following these proven principles.

The answer to what makes an ideal website could fill a whole book. Yet, there are two pillars of a website that drives inquiries and revenue and not just exists online. Because the purpose of your website isn’t to exist, looking fancy, or to be generated in 30 minutes because the CEO wants to say the company is “using AI”.

The design of your website

• Remember Jakob’s UX Law: “Users spend most of their time on other websites, so they expect your site to work like the others.” Breaking from familiar design patterns can harm usability, so you need to balance what your ideal customers expect from a website with your brand’s distinct personality.

• The design shouldn’t interfere with your message but support it and make actions easy to complete. So avoid a newsletter pop-up and a “Download our ebook” pop-up firing within five seconds, an auto-playing video with sound, a chatbot window, and four different CTAs fighting for attention.

• Create a proper hierarchy, starting with the most important information. For example, begin with the benefits or results that are essential for your ideal customers, followed by proof, a strong CTA, and only then your company background.

• Your website needs to be fast as well as accessible to people with disabilities. Today, people have little patience for slow-loading websites, and even a few seconds’ delay can make them leave. And accessibility isn’t optional, either, so a clear contrast, readable fonts, and alt text are a must.

The copy of your website

• What are you selling? “Ideas from people we admire that will improve how you lead and work” sounds beautiful but doesn’t give any information on why anyone should care. Use clear words that your target audience understands and that make them visualize concrete things.

• How does your product/service help? Mention specific benefits throughout your copy, from the headline and subheadings to the CTA buttons. You need to keep reassuring your visitors that they have come to the right place.

• “You” not “We”. This is crucial because people are wired to care about their own problems first, so when they see “you”, their brain connects the message to their situation. So instead of “We provide scalable cloud solutions,” write “You scale your infrastructure, no downtime or surprise costs.”

• Your ideal customers are already thinking about risks and have objections: for example, your product is too expensive, they aren’t 100% certain of your reliability, or they are worried about the process. It is your job to mention those reservations in your copy and address them upfront.

You Asked, I Answer #2

3rd March 2026

“Despite the great portfolio and testimonials, I still can’t trust that the freelancer is the right fit for the task.”

How do you know a professional will be the ideal employee? You don’t.

You can run five rounds of interviews, assign a test project, call every reference on their CV, and still you won’t know. You will find out in the course of time, after the person has learned the ropes, joined different meetings, shared ideas, shown initiative and enthusiasm, and delivered results. It is exactly the same when hiring a freelance content writer.

Actually, when you hire an employee, the stakes are often higher because you invest months in onboarding, training, salary, and other employment costs before you see a return. Freelancers, on the other hand, depend on returning clients: their reputation and income rely on satisfied clients, so they are motivated to deliver high-quality work from day one.

The fear of hiring the wrong freelancer is usually related to bad past experiences or a horror story you have heard from someone else. However, not every freelancer is unreliable, and not every employee is a rockstar, either. Many freelance content writers are diligent and conscientious; many take pride in their work and enjoy helping businesses grow.

If it is difficult for you to let go of control, you can discuss it with the freelancer and together build a more collaborative process from the start. For example:

• Work in a shared Google Document so that you have access to the content in real time;
• Have weekly or biweekly check-ins to discuss direction and any immediate adjustments;
• Start with a smaller paid project before committing to a larger one.

Hiring a freelance content writer is a process just like hiring an employee, and it requires clear communication (on both sides), shared expectations, and a structure that works for everyone involved. There is only one way to build trust, and that is by working together.

You Asked, I Answer #1

6th January 2026

“Every conversation is about AI and new platforms. Where should we spend our money and time in the first quarter of 2026?”

If everything is a priority, you end up getting nothing done. Of course, priorities differ by business and individual situation, and they only crystallize when you have a documented content strategy that is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis.

Still, one major focus for 2026 should be ensuring your content is in health, not in disorder. This means updating, cleaning up, or retiring content that doesn’t align with your current business goals.

Because your company has evolved in the last five years, hasn’t it? Your products and services have changed. Your positioning has matured, and even your voice might have changed. Perhaps opinions or figures you shared a while ago don’t hold true.

Imagine your potential customers landing on your website and finding:

• inconsistent pricing,
• outdated offers,
• links that bring them to 404 pages,
• dozens of blog posts about early-stage startup advice, while your current marketing is meant for CMOs dealing with rules around data and privacy.

What do you think they will do? Feel confident they can trust you and buy from you?

That’s why it is smart to designate the first quarter or two of 2026 for an exhaustive content audit and a reassessment of your digital assets. It might be a mammoth effort, but it will pay off.

Featured image: Unsplash.

Do you have a burning question about content creation or working with freelance content writers? Email me, and I will answer it.