Should I Outsource My Blog Writing?

How Can I Ensure I Get Professional, Reputable Writers?

First, look for blog writers who have honed their writing skills through some sort of professional training, but don’t overlook any “hidden gems” who may be relatively new to writing but have excellent references.

And while on the subject, ask for writing samples, especially if they have written for blogs before. Plus, they should be able to provide references.

Then, focus on blog writers who are familiar with your company’s specific niche. They should have a background and/or experience writing on similar subjects (plus an openness to learning/researching to round out any gaps) in an informed, confident, and engaging manner.

What is Your Budget to Pay Writers?

When doing gig postings on LinkedIn, it is extremely important to be clear on how much you can pay writers and be upfront and honest about it. Pay transparency helps mitigate disparities between different marginalized groups by making sure all have access to the same information. It also saves time and money from repeated back-and-forth emails, conversations, or meetings to determine alignment based on rates.

Where pay details might exist within a range or be nuanced, provide as narrow of a range as you can and outline what those nuanced details are. Freelancers continue to advocate for this level of transparency and appreciate those companies and organizations that provide this. In addition, both sides can find out if they are a good fit for one another quickly.

What Are Your Content Guidelines?

When outsourcing your blog writing, create content guidelines beforehand so writers have a firm grasp of the brand’s identity and the tone you want to convey. The more information they receive about which SEO keywords to include, the audience you’re trying to reach, and the story you want to tell, the easier it will be to craft quality content that engages and inspires.

Although we want the content to drive more traffic and sales, forming a strong emotional connection with your audience first is key. You want to create an active community of readers by making it clear who you are, what you value, and why your story stands out.

Can Your Marketing Team Create High-Quality Content?

Think about whether your marketing team can produce high-quality blog posts before outsourcing. Quality blog content can have a big effect on a company’s online presence and reputation, but it takes time, skill, and research to create it. In addition, it’s important to keep in mind Google’s EAT criteria, which stands for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness and is used to assess the quality and relevance of content for search results.

If your team doesn’t possess the skills or the spare capacity, outsourcing could be a wise option, providing access to a diverse range of perspectives and expertise that can ensure fresh and engaging content that connects with your target audience.

What Are My Exact Requirements?

Hiring the right talent is crucial for your business to grow. Before I outsource blog writing to someone, I should be clear about the exact knowledge and experience I am expecting in a writer, whether I am looking for specific expertise or want someone who can write on any topic.

Having this clear perspective before headhunting makes outsourcing much easier. For example, if I want someone to write on medical topics, I will simply set the filter of writers with a medical background.

Ultimately, the decision to outsource blog writing is based on a careful analysis of the needs and the goals, as well as the resources and options for outsourcing.

Do You Have a Comprehensive Content Strategy in Place?

Many companies make the mistake of hiring blog writers before they have a legitimate content strategy in place. Unfortunately, that’s the recipe for wasted time, money, and energy.

Building a collection of blogs that drives the right traffic to your website for the right reasons and nurtures them through your buying funnel does not happen by chance.

You’ll need to reverse-engineer the results you want by researching your competition, the keyword landscape, your ideal customer, and the process they go through when deciding. Then you’ll need to test, track, and adapt as you go.

You never want to just start blogging and pulling topics out of the blue, or worse, asking writers to choose them. That’s like building a house without a blueprint and telling each construction worker to build it how they want.

Quality blog writing is expensive—a sound strategy helps to ensure it’s worth it.

Do You Have All the Resources?

Ensure you have the resources and expertise in-house to produce high-quality blog content that engages your target audience and supports our marketing goals. If this is not doable, or if producing blog content in-house is taking away from other important business tasks, outsourcing may be a viable option to consider.

However, it’s important to evaluate potential outsourced providers carefully to ensure they can deliver quality content that aligns with your brand and business objectives.

Who Will Be Your Content Creator?

Since they are the most knowledgeable about their offerings and most driven by their vision, the best blog writers would be company executives and business owners. Why does this almost never happen? No time—just about everyone in the company already has a lot to do. No inclination—not everyone enjoys writing, and few possess that combination of imagination and online marketing savvy to keep producing effective blog content.

So… the question becomes WHO. Does our company have an individual who is able and willing to be our content creator? Can we afford to—and are we willing to—relieve that individual of a sizable chunk of their current duties?

Do you have In-House SEO Experts?

If the answer is no, then outsourcing articles to an industry expert is an excellent option, as they will not only contribute high-quality content for your blog but also deliver optimized posts that will, eventually, result in good traffic. Let’s face it; there’s no point in writing a blog if people will not read it. Getting it optimized to rank on page one of Google search is a huge plus.

Can Outsourced Writers Help My Business Become a Trusted Source?

Today, business owners considering outsourcing writers must consider budget, content goals, managing an outsourcing process, and whether a writer can ethically leverage artificial intelligence (A.I.) resources and craft a deeply relatable brand story so customers will connect with their product and services.

Will outsourced writers have the creativity and originality to attract a company’s ideal audience through consistent messaging aligned with their brand?

As the way we work and communicate changes even more dramatically, companies will need to evaluate whether outsourcing writing is the path to attaining long-term customer loyalty. More than ever, customers will value writing that communicates real human connection, emanates empathy, and establishes trust.

Should a Company Look to AI to Write All of Its Content?

Before outsourcing, a company should honestly ask itself whether it has its own internal capability to produce good quality, accurate, engaging, attention-grabbing, business-generating, revenue-attracting, customer-retention, and media-ranking material!

Writing is a skill, especially good creative writing, that achieves even a few of the goals I have mentioned above. Not everyone can do it, and despite the hype, AI alone certainly can’t. It’s a tool, not a ground-up-to-grave solution, and it only knows what it knows, if that makes sense.

Just as a human can’t know everything, neither can AI (research how it gains knowledge), but what a good human blogger knows is whether, linguistically, technically, commercially, and emotionally content “feels” right. That’s the skill you pay for. So respect all those talented blog writers out there!

What Exactly Are We Outsourcing?

I think it is important that companies ask themselves what they are really outsourcing. Working with multiple clients has taught me that companies do not just want content writers.

Some want a person to keep their SEO content engine running and drive more search traffic. Others need a storyteller who can turn an in-house subject matter expert’s insights into gold. A few do not even know what they need; they’re just sure that their blog could be a customer acquisition channel.

If you must outsource your blog writing, you need to understand what it is you’ll be paying for and how it complements your in-house resources.

Can Company Content Be Written In-House?

If your field is complex and requires knowledge and expertise, outsourcing blog writing might be more difficult. Having an in-house writer who understands the field and industry can create content that is more informative, accurate, and relevant to the target audience. However, outsourcing can also provide benefits such as fresh perspectives, new ideas, and a scalable solution for producing more content.

Ultimately, the decision to outsource or keep content creation in-house depends on the company’s goals, resources, field, and content marketing strategy.

Will Hiring External Writers Help You Quickly Achieve Your Goals?

Before outsourcing your blog posts, you should first count the cost. Will hiring external writers help us achieve our content marketing goals faster and more successfully than creating blog content in-house? The answer helps to measure the ROI of your content marketing investment.

For example, if you work with writers who consistently produce high-quality content and know how to blend your brand’s messaging and voice into their work, you’ll see a significant return on investment.

These writers are often subject experts or researchers with first-hand niche experience and can build trust with your audience on your behalf. You risk losing control over your brand voice and messaging consistency and having fewer conversions if you hire people who don’t possess these qualities.