It has become pretty challenging to pick the right content writing agency or freelancer for your project with hundreds of them out there. You want to ensure content quality and that your outsourcing partner goes through all the bullet points in your project brief.
Meanwhile, all content marketing agencies claim they work with the best writers and have profound experience producing content for various industries. The same goes for freelancers. How do you choose the right one then?
Here is a cheat sheet you can use to pick the best outsourcing partners for content writing every time the options overwhelm you.
Review their past work.
Every content writing agency or freelancer has a unique working style.
However, you have your unique business needs and goals. You are trying to maintain a consistent brand image, and not every style will reflect it.
Your primary goal is to ensure that their writing style aligns with your short- and long-term goals.
The best way to do it is to review their past work. Ask them to share some content they worked on in the past; it will help you see who they are. Going through their previous work will enable you to understand many things.
Most importantly, you can check the depth of their content, their research process, and whether they are detail-oriented or not.
If you notice they can produce quality, in-depth content in different styles, tones, and voices, it’s a good sign that they will be able to meet your unique requirements.
Check their expertise in your particular industry.
While you are at it, make sure to ask to review some content they produced for your competitors or industry in general.
It will help you assess their experience in your niche and whether they understand the industry you are involved in, including your target audience’s pain points, needs, and expectations.
Discover what content writing services they offer.
When someone says content, the first thing that comes to mind is a blog article. However, content marketing is quite a broad field, and it leverages all sorts of content types. Everything from an email copy and social media post status to an eBook and whitepaper is content.
It’s in your best interest to discover all content writing services your potential outsourcing partner offers.
This practice is beneficial if you are looking for a long-term partner. You will be able to stick with one content writing service provider or freelancer even if your needs change and you decide to use other content formats.
Look for online reviews.
Reviews and ratings have become a golden standard when purchasing products and services online and offline. The best of the best freelancers and content writing agencies know that, and asking clients for feedback has become a standard practice for them.
Combing through the reviews can help you discover what your potential partner does best and where they lack expertise.
Fortunately, many freelancer platforms such as Upwork have ratings and reviews sections you can access for free. Don’t rely on only one source of information. Feel free to expand your research and look for reviews on Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business), social media, and relevant forums.
Visit their official websites, too. That’s where you can find client testimonials and maybe some case studies.
Do they have a revision policy?
The more complicated your content writing requirements are, the higher the chances that an agency or freelancer will get it done perfectly on the first try.
It takes time and some back-and-forth communication to get what you want. You might need to request revisions, ranging from minor to more extensive edits.
It’s essential to check whether they have a revision policy. You should read it to discover if there is a limit to the number of free revisions.
Many agencies are ready to negotiate the terms, especially if you come to them with a long-term project. Feel free to bring up this topic when talking with a representative.
Can you trust them with SEO projects?
Long gone are the days when companies produced content exclusively to provide value to their readers. While delivering value remains one of the primary goals, SEO slowly becomes imperative.
Publishing quality content with relevant keywords can help you improve your SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) ranking, drive more organic traffic, generate more leads, boost conversions, and increase sales.
How do you tell if you can trust a potential partner with your SEO projects? The first thing you can do is check whether they specialize in writing SEO-friendly content. It should be right there, listed under their service offer.
You can even take it one step further and use a free rank checker to see their SEO rankings, which keywords they rank for, and how much traffic their website generates.
Check and compare prices.
Content writing services come with a price tag that reflects professionalism, reliability, punctuality, and expertise. When choosing the outsourcing partner for your content writing projects, it’s vital to consider the price.
The optimal outcome is to get precisely the content you want without breaking your budget.
Consider making a spreadsheet when researching potential partners where you can write down essential differences, including the price point of their services. At the end of your research, you will be able to compare potential partners and find the most cost-efficient option without sacrificing the quality of the content.
If you have any questions about the prices, you can contact your potential partners and ask them to provide a brief explanation of the charges.
Is there a quality assurance policy?
While finding a freelancer with a quality assurance policy is rare, it has become a standard among content writing agencies.
Quality assurance encompasses various practices, including using third-party tools to ensure 100% uniqueness, desired level of readability, and no spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Most agencies have editors to streamline this process and ensure that the writing style and keyword density meet all the requirements in the project brief.
Check for quality assurance, and if it’s not available online, feel free to ask your potential partners if they have one and how they ensure consistent quality of the content.
Always start with a small test project.
Finally, you should know that going full-partnership right from the start is not obligatory. When shopping for content writing services, you should start outsourcing a small test project. There is no better way to assess a potential partner than to work with them.
You won’t only end up with a content piece and be able to assess its quality. A test project puts you in a position to see how your potential partners work and communicate and how fast they respond to your messages.
Conclusion
Outsourcing your content writing projects offers many benefits, including more time for your staff and higher flexibility. However, you can find it daunting to pick the right partner for the job. Hopefully, the tips I’ve shared here will help you align with the best possible outsourcing partner for content writing.