How to Outsource Content Writing: Comprehensive Guide

What Is Content Writing Outsourcing?

Content penning outsourcing is erstwhile you prosecute a 3rd party—like a contented selling bureau oregon freelance writer—to constitute contented for you. 

For example, accidental your extremity is to people 30 B2B articles per period connected your tiny concern blog. You mightiness outsource the penning to prevention your squad time. So they tin absorption connected different tasks. 

A Google hunt for “hire B2B tiny concern freelancers” returns a assortment of freelancer marketplaces and agencies for outsourcing writing. And different tasks. 

Benefits of Outsourcing Content Writing

• Cost-effective: Outsourcing contented tin beryllium much cost-effective than hiring full-time, in-house writers due to the fact that you lone wage for the contented you need. Without further overhead costs. Like salaries, benefits, and bureau space.
• Helps standard contented production: Outsourcing allows you to easy standard your contented accumulation up oregon down based connected your needs. Without hiring oregon managing an in-house team.
• Diverse scope of talent: Working with a divers squad of writers from antithetic backgrounds tin bring caller perspectives and insights to your content. Enhancing its quality. And appeal.
• Time savings: By delegating contented penning tasks to outer professionals, you escaped up clip for your interior squad to absorption connected halfway concern activities
• Faster turnaround: With dedicated writers moving connected your content, you tin expect faster turnaround times. Compared to handling everything in-house.

Should You Outsource Content oregon Keep It In-House?

Whether you outsource contented oregon make it in-house depends connected your needs. 

How to Outsource Content Writing

Follow these steps to successfully outsource contented penning for your brand. 

1. Identify Your Goals

First, find wherefore you privation to outsource contented writing. Setting goals for your content selling strategy volition assistance you place the types of contented you’ll need. 

For example, if your extremity is to boost integrated traffic, you mightiness outsource these contented types: 

• SEO blog posts
• Evergreen content
• Guest posts
• Social media posts
• Email newsletters 

If you privation to generate leads, you could outsource: 

• Ebooks/white papers
• Press releases
• Product-focused blog posts 
• Case studies 
• Webinars 

Defining your goals up of clip volition besides assistance you root the close talent. And efficaciously pass assignments. 

Setting cardinal show indicators (KPIs) is important erstwhile outsourcing contented writing. This tin assistance guarantee the enactment meets your expectations. And is contributing efficaciously to your concern goals. 

Consider these KPIs:

• Engagement metrics: Track leafage views, clip connected page, and societal shares
• SEO performance: Monitor keyword rankings, integrated traffic, and backlinks
• Conversion metrics: Measure conversion complaint and pb generation
• Customer feedback: Gather feedback done surveys, comments, and reviews
• Cost metrics: Calculate outgo per nonfiction and ROI

2. Determine the Type of Writer You Need

Writers travel successful each forms. 

Including:

• SEO writers: These writers make contented to assistance websites and blogs fertile successful the hunt motor results pages (SERP)
• Technical writers: Instructions, documents, how-to manuals, and often asked questions. For example, a method writer mightiness make a step-by-step usher for implementing software. 
• Copywriters: Sales specialists who make ad, web, and societal media copy. To make leads. Awareness. And sales. 
• User acquisition (UX) writers: Content that guides the idiosyncratic experience. For example, UX writers mightiness constitute instructions and tooltips for a bundle funnel. 
• Email selling writers: Emails, promotions, announcements, and offers
• Social media writers:These writers specialize successful capturing an assemblage done platform-specific trends and features. Like leveraging hashtags and applicable lingo. 
• Thought enactment writers: Content based connected a unsocial constituent of view. To physique authorization successful your niche. Thought enactment pieces tin beryllium utilized for sales, engagement, promotion, oregon adjacent SEO. 

You’ll besides privation to see accomplishment level. Do you request an expert? Or is it a beginner-friendly taxable that a newer writer tin handle? This tin impact your budget. As much experienced writers often complaint more. 

3. Select the Person Responsible for the Outsourcing Process

Outsourcing mostly frees up the clip of your in-house team. But that doesn’t mean it’s a set-it-and-forget-it solution. 

Designate a pb for your outsourcing efforts. To grip these tasks:

• Content types and topics: Will you outsource blog posts, web copy, societal media posts, oregon email marketing? What topics volition you cover? 
• Content briefs: Write briefs that outline what should and shouldn’t beryllium included successful the content 
• Hire freelance talent: Post a occupation oregon root writers, vet talent, and negociate the contracting process
• Manage communications: Oversee communications. From sending caller assignments to answering questions astir ongoing projects.
• Review/edit outsourced content: Review the prime of finished content. And petition revisions if necessary.
• Develop processes and documentation: Write freelancer guidelines. And grooming materials.

These tasks whitethorn autumn connected antithetic squad members. Depending connected the size of your contented operations. Communicative, organized, and detail-oriented squad members are captious to outsourcing success. 

4. Budget for Content Outsourcing

Once you’ve established your goals and however to measurement them, it’s clip to acceptable a budget. 

Consider the pursuing factors to find an capable budget:

• Will you usage a contented outsourcing level that charges rank fees? Or commissions?
• Do you program to wage by the word, the article, oregon the hour?
• Does the complaint alteration based connected the fig of revisions?
• What level of acquisition bash you privation your freelancers to have?
• Do you request idiosyncratic with specialized expertise? Note that this tin impact your costs. For example, ineligible and aesculapian writers whitethorn complaint more.

Thirty-four percent of businesses walk $1,000 to $5,000 connected outsourced contented each month. According to Semrush’s State of Content Ops and Outsourcing Report. 

Your fund volition beryllium connected the benignant of contented you need. Writer expertise. And niche. 

Here’s an thought of what antithetic freelance writers charge, according to Upwork: 

• Technical writer: $20-$45 per hour
• Social media writer: $25-$40 per hour
• Content writer: $15-$40 per hour
• Copywriter: $19-$45 per hour
• SEO writer: $15-$35 per hour
• Grant writer: $35-65 per hour 
• Blog writer: $15-35 per hour 

5. Choose the Right Content Outsourcing Partner

There are antithetic ways to outsource contented writing.

Options include:

Freelancers

This is 1 of the astir communal methods of outsourcing penning tasks. There are a fig of freelancing platforms (more connected that later) wherever you tin find talented writers. 

But you besides tin scope retired to freelancers directly. On sites similar LinkedIn. 

Here’s how: 

Search “freelancer,” “freelance writer,” oregon “freelance + [niche]” connected LinkedIn to find imaginable candidates. 

Alternatively, station ads for freelance penning jobs connected fashionable boards like:

• All Things Freelance Writing
• Freelance Writing Gigs
• Superpath
• ProBlogger

Hiring freelancers is simply a bully enactment for companies of each sizes. It allows you to negociate contracts and rates with freelancers directly.

Agencies

Content selling agencies connection extended contented selling solutions. 

If you person the fund but deficiency the interior team, a contented bureau tin instrumentality ownership of your contented selling efforts. 

Content selling agencies tin often grip each aspects of contented creation. 

Including: 

• Content strategy
• Outlines
• Content briefs 
• Writing 
• Editing 
• Writer management 
• Performance tracking

Many agencies tin enactment arsenic a third-party selling squad if needed. Others whitethorn lone connection penning services. Determine your needs and find an bureau to match. 

Content Mills

Content mills, besides called contented farms, absorption connected quantity implicit quality. These platforms employment freelancers to nutrient wide quantities of content. If you request a ample magnitude of non-specialized content, this is an affordable approach. 

The downside is that you usually can’t handpick your freelancers. Or find writers with niche expertise. 

Because contented mills thin to beryllium much affordable, the writers are besides usually paid less. This means galore freelance writers are conscionable starting their careers erstwhile they enactment for contented mills. 

All of this mostly means you get little experienced and little specialized writers. 

Niche Experts

If expertise is what you’re after, absorption connected uncovering niche experts. This tin assistance you nutrient high-quality contented written by manufacture specialists. 

But you’ll request to fund accordingly. 

According to the Editorial Freelancers Association, aesculapian freelance writers marque $82.50 to $110.00 per hour. While non-specialized, work-for-hire writers marque $50 to $79 per hour. 

If you tin perpetrate the clip and money, uncovering an adept writer tin positively interaction your contented beyond however good it’s researched. 

It tin besides assistance you show E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Which is portion of Google’s model for assessing contented quality. (Not a portion of its algorithms, but an indispensable directive fixed to quality hunt prime evaluators who enactment for Google.) 

This is particularly important for “Your Money oregon Your Life” (YMYL) topics. Like finance, medical, and health-related topics. 

If you people YMYL topics, it could beryllium worthy budgeting much for highly experienced writers. 

6. Vet Writers with Test Assignments

Whether you necessitate a trial duty is up to you. The writer whitethorn person capable applicable examples successful their portfolio that you consciousness assured hiring them connected the spot.

In immoderate cases, it whitethorn inactive beryllium adjuvant to inquire writers to implicit a penning test. Before hiring them for a project. 

Keep the trial short. And see compensating writers for the work. This tin assistance summation the prime of candidates you receive.

The trial should measurement the freelancer’s penning abilities. Like grammar, spelling, and logical flow. And besides bespeak your contented needs. 

For example:

• If you’re looking for niche expertise, inquire them to incorporated manufacture cognition into a trial article
• If you’re looking for an SEO writer, inquire them to incorporated keywords into a trial nonfiction and format anchor text 

Provide circumstantial instructions. Like connection count, keywords, marque voice, subjects to address, and links to include. This volition assistance you gauge however good they travel direction. And if they’re a acceptable for your brand. 

7. Establish Communication and Workflow

Establish your outsourcing workflow aboriginal successful the process. So your outsourcing pb and your freelancers person a creaseless strategy successful place. 

• Create a contented calendar: Your content calendar should outline each your upcoming content. And designate what should beryllium outsourced. 
• Establish your connection flow: This includes deciding which squad subordinate manages freelancer communications. And mounting a cadence for those communications.
• Set deadlines: Set deadlines for drafts and revisions. And marque them wide to your outsourcing partner. Depending connected the scope of the content, deadlines whitethorn beryllium anyplace from 1 week to 1 month.
• Define your invoicing process: Ensure freelancers cognize erstwhile and however to taxable invoices. And erstwhile those invoices volition beryllium paid. 

Ideally, these processes volition beryllium intelligibly outlined successful your contracts. 

8. Consider Legal and Contractual Matters

To support your institution and respect your freelance talent, gully up a contract. And marque definite idiosyncratic with ineligible expertise and credentials reviews it.

Generally, an outsourced penning declaration should include:

• Description of services: What benignant of contented they’ll write. And what website they’ll constitute for.
• Expectations: Production expectations. Like the fig of articles required. And connection count. 
• Payment terms: Rates, however often they’ll beryllium paid, and erstwhile and however you’ll nonstop payments
• Rights: Who has ownership rights implicit the content
• Attribution details: Whether the writer volition person an writer byline connected contented they produce. And what accusation that byline volition include. Like whether they tin nexus to their ain website successful their byline.
• Terms and conditions: Confidentiality agreement, non-disclosure agreements, non-compete terms, declaration termination terms, and different applicable presumption and conditions 

To guarantee you see the close presumption and clauses, consult your ineligible squad oregon usage an online declaration service. 

Once your declaration is set, get signatures from applicable parties earlier you statesman outsourcing work. 

9. Generate Topic Ideas

Whether you prosecute freelancers oregon a contented agency, you oregon idiosyncratic connected your squad volition apt request to supply the contented ideas. 

To place contented ideas, usage Semrush’s Topic Research tool. 

Open the tool, participate a taxable idea, and click “Get contented ideas.”

For this example, let’s accidental you request contented for a favored grooming website.

The instrumentality volition make assorted ideas related to favored grooming. 

Click connected an thought to spot much details. Including “Subtopic Volume.” This is the keyword hunt volume—the estimated fig of Google users searching this word each month. 

Higher Subtopic Volume indicates much involvement successful that topic. 

Build retired your contented calendar utilizing the ideas you make with Topic Research. To guarantee you screen each applicable topics. And past delegate them to writers. Based connected expertise. 

10. Create a Detailed Content Brief

A content brief is simply a papers that communicates expectations to the freelancer. 

Content briefs should see the following:

• The extremity of the content: The extremity of the contented whitethorn beryllium to thatch the assemblage astir a topic. Or merchantability a product. Include this accusation successful your brief. So the freelance writer tin usage the due code of voice. And see the indispensable information.
• What keywords you’re targeting: Include your superior keyword. And secondary keywords if applicable. Use the Keyword Magic Tool to place what keywords you should target.
• What signifier of the funnel you’re trying to reach: Is the purpose of this circumstantial leafage to bring successful caller customers? Upsell customers engaged successful the buying process? Or entreaty to your established basal of customers?
• Brand voice: Link to your benignant guide. And immoderate different applicable documentation that tin usher a freelancer connected adhering to marque voice. 
• Links, statistics, oregon products: Include circumstantial information. Like interior links, outer links, products, oregon survey findings. That you privation the writer to include.
• Your competition: List competing websites oregon brands the writer should debar linking to successful the content. And see rival links to apical ranking articles for the aforesaid topic. 
• Approved sources: Include sources the writer should nexus to. Like authorities oregon acquisition websites. Or definite subject-matter authorities wrong your niche. 
• Examples of applicable content: Provide examples of applicable contented connected your tract oregon related sites that the writer should emulate
• Visuals you privation the writer to include: Mention immoderate images, whether they’re in-house infographics oregon images from an outer source, the writer should see successful their work. 

11. Implement Quality Control and Feedback Mechanisms

Review outsourced contented to guarantee it matches your benignant guide, prime standards, and goals.

This tin beryllium done by an in-house editor. Or outsourced to an editing partner. Or freelance editor.

Use third-party content editing tools to measure SEO imaginable and grammar. 

For example, usage Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant to analyse drafts for readability, SEO, originality, and code of voice.

And usage tools similar Grammarly to rapidly reappraisal a freelancer’s penning mechanics. Many of these tools connection escaped browser plugins. So you tin easy tally a reappraisal connected a Google Doc to drawback grammar and spelling mistakes. 

If the contented is connected a niche subject, see having an adept reappraisal it for accuracy. If your nonfiction is merchandise oregon industry-specific, inquire a applicable squad subordinate to reappraisal it. 

This tin assistance support prime high. No substance who writes your content. 

Request Revisions

Follow these champion practices to get the astir retired of revision requests:

• Clearly authorities revision requirements portion hiring. Including however galore rounds of revisions you require.
• Get feedback from applicable squad members earlier sending revision requests to the writer
• Be mindful of connection count. For example, if you inquire the writer to adhd different section, it whitethorn summation the connection number capable that you request to wage more. Depending connected your contract’s outgo terms. 
• Be circumstantial with your feedback 
• Give examples of what you are looking for
• Provide actionable tips. To assistance the writer supply the desired result. 

Incorporate Feedback 

The champion mode to nutrient prime outsourced enactment is to archer your freelancers what is and isn’t working. 

Incorporate feedback into your revision requests that explicate immoderate issues. And however the writer should attack them the adjacent time. 

Compliment what they’re doing well. So they cognize to support doing it.

If you’re noticing predominant problems with the prime of contented you’re receiving, try

• Creating grooming materials for freelancers to enactment done earlier they commencement their archetypal assignment
• Revisiting freelancer guidelines to guarantee they adequately item expectations 
• Revising contented briefs for thoroughness 
• Switching freelancer platforms oregon outsourcing services
• Improving your freelancer vetting system 
• Offering incentives for high-quality work

12. Track Your Content's Success

Once your contented is published, commencement tracking results. 

Use Google Analytics to show postulation and engagement.

Look astatine information like:

• Search traffic
• Conversions
• Time connected page
• Click-through-rate (CTR)
• Bounce rate

Analyze your top-performing content. To assistance you and your freelance squad optimize the penning process moving forward.

Platforms for Outsourcing Content Writing

Here are immoderate fashionable platforms wherever you tin root freelance writers:

Upwork

Best for: Individuals oregon teams with constricted budgets

Upwork offers a wide scope of talent. Including originative writers. Podcast writers. And adjacent code writers. Select the class you’re funny successful based connected your needs. Like assistance writing. Or a blog station writer. And presumption writers’ portfolios. And rates. 

If you find a writer you privation to enactment with, prime the work bundle you privation (if applicable). And wage for their services. 

Alternatively, station a occupation advertisement with your ain rates. And task details. Upwork writers tin use to your job. And you’ll wage them done the platform.

The ample endowment excavation means you request to station a competitory occupation to get attraction from apical writers. 

Fiverr

Best for: Individuals and teams with constricted budgets

Fiverr is simply a freelance marketplace that lets you station jobs that freelancers tin bid on. 

Or you tin question retired endowment connected the platform. 

Fiverr is not a writing-specific platform. It’s a gig level that connects freelancers from a wide scope of industries with buyers. This means you whitethorn request to look harder for the work supplier you want. 

Contently

Best for: B2B and B2C websites with ample contented needs and precocious budgets

Contently is simply a cloud-based contented bureau that specializes successful B2B and B2C content. In speech for a subscription fee, Contently volition negociate your outsourced content. 

The level is simply a bully enactment for teams who privation to outsource the full contented instauration process. As Contently helps negociate everything. From contented strategy improvement to writing.

Contently vets its contented writers and provides adjuvant resources. Including training, webinars, documentation, and unrecorded support. This helps guarantee high-quality results. 

Its subscription fees are unsocial to a company’s needs. Request a punctuation to get pricing.

WriterAccess

Best for: Individuals and businesses of each sizes with varying budgets 

WriterAccess is simply a freelancer level that charges monthly subscription fees. 

The level helps negociate your contented outsourcing workflow. And offers antithetic tools for antithetic subscriptions. All subscription levels person entree to the WriterAccess writer marketplace. Including a enactment of AI penning tools and representation sourcing. 

There are 2 subscription models:

• Platform: You wage a monthly subscription interest to usage the WriterAccess platform. Then acquisition contented separately. There are 4 subscription levels that alteration by support time, workflow tools, integrations, and extras. 
• Managed services: If you privation WriterAccess to negociate your contented instauration process, take this service. This includes writer selection, endowment management, level integrations, representation curation, and more. 

These are conscionable a fewer of the biggest platforms disposable for outsourcing contented writing. The champion acceptable for you volition beryllium connected the benignant of endowment you’re looking for. And your budget. 

Maximize the Benefits of Content Outsourcing

A palmy contented outsourcing strategy requires ongoing planning, action, and maintenance. Especially if you’re managing a squad of freelance writers.

Speed up the process with Topic Research. And usage Keyword Magic Tool to place people keywords. This volition assistance guarantee you get high-quality, high-ranking content. Every time. 

This station was updated successful 2024. Excerpts from the archetypal nonfiction by Maria Raybould whitethorn remain.