A blog can be a great way to share information with your target audience and increase your online visibility. For businesses, it can also be a useful marketing tool, helping you drive traffic to your website, build brand loyalty and generate promising leads. However, to reap the benefits of blogging, you’ll need to regularly post high-quality, SEO-rich content. If the prospect of sitting down to write a lengthy article each week sounds daunting, there’s good news. By outsourcing blog writing, you can acquire engaging, publish-ready content whenever you need it. Let’s take a closer look at how blog writing services work and how you can benefit.
The Ins and Outs of Outsourcing Content
When you outsource content, essentially you hire a third party to create that content for you. This process typically involves several steps: needs assessment, agency selection, information transfer, content creation and delivery.
Needs Assessment
Whether you’re outsourcing for the first time or you’ve worked with a blog writing service for years, it’s important to understand your needs before ordering content. Consider your requirements, such as:
- Volume
- Deadlines
- Budget
- Quality level
- Writers with specialized backgrounds
Agency Selection
Service providers can range from individual freelancers to large agencies that offer multiple services. For example, besides writing, agencies such as Crowd Content offer editing, SME and project management services. The content writing service you choose should be able to satisfy your needs, delivering the quality you expect at the scale you need.
Information Transfer
What you’ll get out of a blog writing service depends, at least in part, on what you put in. That means you should provide detailed information that tells the writer exactly what you want and need from the deliverable. This may include:
- A title
- The subject/topic
- Primary and secondary keywords
- Length requirements
- The target audience
- A tone and/or voice to aim for
- Specific points or subtopics to include
- Citation requirements
- Suggested resources
- An internal style guide
Content Creation
After your provider receives your order, including any specific instructions, the writer can begin creating your blog posts. In some cases, the content creation process may also involve editing and/or review by a subject matter expert.
Delivery
When content creation is complete, you’ll receive the deliverables, which are typically publish-ready posts that can be uploaded immediately to your website or blog. However, reputable services leave room for revisions, as needed, especially if a writer hasn’t met the project’s requirements.
The Cost to Outsource Blog Writing
The cost of blog writing services varies widely, depending on factors, such as:
- The agency providing the service
- The writer’s experience level
- The complexity of content
- The length of the content
- The quality level of the content
- The need for a writer with a specialized background
- The addition of SME or editing services
- Whether you choose a self-service marketplace or professionally managed content services
For example, if you request a simple blog post from a writer who’s just starting out, you may pay as little as $5. An in-depth article by a writer who has extensive medical knowledge, with subsequent review by an SME, may cost upwards of $1,000.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Blog Writing
If you’re not sure whether outsourced blog posts are worth the cost, consider the benefits you can reap from hiring a professional writer. By outsourcing your blog content, you can:
- Enhance the quality of your content: By outsourcing your content to a professional writer, you’ll get engaging, high-quality blog posts written with your target audience in mind.
- Get access to subject matter experts: If you’re trying to establish a reputation as an authority in your space, having accurate content is crucial. Services, such as Crowd Content, maintain a pool of subject matter experts who can verify the accuracy of written content and give their stamp of approval.
- Save time and increase productivity: Maintaining an in-house team of writers isn’t always practical or affordable. Outsourcing blog content frees up your team to do other work.
- Increase your online visibility: Good content writers can seamlessly weave SEO keywords into your content, so you can improve your search rankings without sacrificing readability.
- Enjoy a wide range of writing styles and perspectives: Giving readers the same perspective week after week can be a turnoff. When you outsource content to writers with varying perspectives, backgrounds and writing styles, you’ll keep your blog interesting, so readers come back for more.
- Find a cost-effective solution: As the saying goes, time is money. Unless you’re a trained writer, penning blog posts yourself may not be the most cost-effective way to get content. Outsourcing to a professional can ultimately save you money.
Common Blog Writing Outsourcing Options
If you plan to outsource your blog content, you have plenty of choices. Common blog writing outsourcing options include:
- Individual freelancers: Freelancers can range from self-taught writers to experienced professionals who’ve spent decades in the industry, and the cost of services typically varies accordingly.
- Specialty writing services: If you operate in certain niches, such as medical or legal, you may need writers who have a background in a specific field.
- Gig-based sites: Here, companies can find pools of qualified freelancers. Although it’s typically an affordable option, the writing quality on gig-based sites may be inconsistent.
- Content marketplaces: Content marketplaces match clients with qualified writers. They’re similar to gig-based sites. However, marketplaces can often handle requests with rapid turnaround times, and their writers are usually vetted.
- Managed content services: When you sign with a managed content service, you’ll often have a single point of content. This content manager handles everything from creating a team of qualified writers to performing quality control.
- Agencies: Agencies often offer several options, so clients can choose the service that best suits their needs. For example, clients at Crowd Content may opt for the self-serve marketplace or choose the hands-off approach of managed content.
Why Should You Choose a Content Marketplace?
When you choose content writing services through a content marketplace, such as Crowd Content’s, you can cut out the middleman and order blog posts directly from a professional writer with the experience and expertise to get the job done right. If you have multiple orders, you can even create your own team. With Crowd Content’s blog writing services, you’ll select from a pool of more than 6,000 preapproved writers with a multitude of specialties. Better yet, Crowd Content’s simple interface lets you request the content you need 24/7 — even bulk orders — so you can get publish-ready content at the scale you need when you need it most. And, that’s a smart move
