Ranker Review – Get Paid To Write List Articles

Ranker is a very popular site, among the most trafficked in the United States. Their main content is based around ranked lists of things like movies, bands, electronics devices, cars.

If the topic is popular enough to generate a click-worthy headline, there's probably at least one Ranker list devoted to it.

Most lists are created based on votes from readers. Ranker hires content writers to flesh out the lists with information and turn them into informative articles. Additionally, they post news and well-researched essays on a wide variety of entertainment and pop-culture subjects.

Working For Ranker

Writers are expected to produce 5-10 articles per week. Based on my brief perusal of the site, it looks like many of the articles posted don't include that much actual writing, but a few are more in-depth.

Writing list articles is generally a lot easier when you don't have to pick the items for the list yourself, mostly because it greatly reduces research time, so Ranker's reliance on user votes should help speed things up a lot.

The hiring page says writers are expected to pitch their own ideas for articles. Some will be accepted; others won't, but regardless, you'll need to generate plenty of headlines.

Additionally, writers are given article assignments based on ideas from the editorial staff on a fairly regular basis.

From the sound of things, this is not the sort of job where you can browse through a pool of articles and do whichever ones seem most appealing. Your workload will be dictated by the editors at Ranker, and you'll presumably have strict deadlines to meet.

Bottom line – this is a lot more structured and intense than most freelance gigs, which could be good or bad depending on your personal work preferences.

The editors at Ranker do take your interests into account before assigning articles, which is good, and you can expect your workload to increase over time as you gain more experience and demonstrate your reliability.

Ranker Pay Rate

The hiring page doesn't disclose any information on salary, but according to information I found elsewhere during my research, most writers make in the neighborhood of $15 per hour.

The amount you bring in each week will probably vary to a degree, depending on the number of assignments you get, and required word counts.

Most professional freelance writers would agree that $15 per hour is on the very low side. If you're working for yourself and getting high-paying clients, you can earn much more than that. But, a company like Ranker might be useful for getting your feet wet in the industry.

Scheduling with Ranker

Ranker doesn't provide any upfront information on scheduling, but it sounds like you can probably choose to do your writing whenever you want, as long as you hit your minimum number of articles every week and turn in your work on time.

All writers are expected to produce at least five articles per week, and since there's a possibility of being assigned with as many as 10, you might have to put in quite a few hours, depending on your writing speed.

Requirements to Apply

Ranker's editors are looking for writers with good research skills, excellent writing chops, and varied interests.

You need to be the kind of person who spends a lot of time thinking about movies, books, and TV-shows. They want individuals who have strong, well-informed opinions about subjects that could potentially attract significant pop-culture interest.

Tech Requirements

As with all writing jobs, you'll need a computer with a solid internet connection, and access to a decent word processing program.

Application Process

To apply for a freelance writing job with Ranker, just go to their hiring page and send them the following:

• Resume and completed application
• Cover letter that showcases your writing personality
• One writing sample. It should be a list article, and it should be on a topic that would fit with the kind of content Ranker is known for.
• 5 list ideas that you might actually want to write, with a couple of example items for each list.
• A selection of sub-topics you would want to write about on a regular basis. Be honest and share some of the weird things you're really into, because they're looking for folks with broad and unique interests. -The number of articles you can handle in a week. It needs to be at least five.

Feedback

I used Glassdoor, and Indeed to find opinions from current and former Ranker freelance writers.

Glassdoor has quite a few reviews for the company, and overall the score there (3.7) is pretty decent. The Indeed profile has very few reviews, but more of them are from freelance writers, and the score (3.0) is somewhat lower.

From reading through the comments, it sounds like this job is a little bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the editors are apparently easy-going and helpful. They encourage writers to retain their natural voice, and are very open to new ideas.

On the other hand, the pay is fairly low, especially considering how popular and successful the site is, and some writers have a very hard time getting enough work.

Apparently there's a lot of competition among writers for assignments. It takes a significant time investment and a history of consistent performance to build up trust with the editors.

Where To Apply To Write For Ranker

If writing for Ranker sounds like something you'd be interested in, go here to read more about the job, and submit your application.

Remember, you'll need to write a suitable list article as a sample if you don't already have one in your portfolio.