5 Potential Pitfalls of Outsourcing Your Content Writing

Part of the appeal of outsourcing your blog writing to a content writing service is that you can hire people who know how to write content that will drive results for your business. For this reason, outsourcing your blog can seem like an easy fix to an under-utilised website. But, there's more to writing content than filling a blank page with perfectly-structured syntax. So, before you assign your blog to a freelance writer or blog writing service, take heed: There are potential pitfalls you may fall into when outsourcing your content writing. Read on to find out what they are, and how you can avoid them.

1) Content that doesn't hit all the marks

I say this a lot. Because it's true. Your blog has to fulfil a number of objectives. The first is it has to compete with the entire rest of the Internet in terms of helping you rank on SERPs. This means that SEO methodology must underpin your content strategy. There are some basics that need to be covered, links and anchor text, keywords, structure, metadata, images and alt-text. But, more and more Google is becoming more sophisticated in ensuring the results pages it delivers to users actually give them what they are looking for.

Keywords have evolved from literal keywords to phrases (with the advent of voice search) to entire complex sentences. As a result, search engines have got really good at understanding people and how to interpret the nuances of language to derive intent. This means that more and more often, what appeases the Google Gods is the same thing that appeals to the real-life end user of your content - value.

Your content needs to be engaging. It needs to be relatable. It needs to be useful. It can't just be fluff. This means that it also needs to be authentic. So, as I said in my last blog about brand voice, you need to find a writer who will sound like you. This means they must research your industry, your product, and your clientele to really understand what exactly constitutes valuable content in your world.

Your content also needs to be credible. It needs to contain relevant, up-to-date research. It needs to be evidenced. As if to serve my own point, don't just take my word for it. According to Marketing Charts, 65% of B2B buyers say that supplier websites are one of their most highly influential content sources. Even more than third-party articles by independent publishers (39%).

Then there's the small matter of the copy. It needs to be well-written, *easy to read*, original and not just a load of fluff. It's a tall order.

2) Too many writers

When you can't produce enough content in-house, it's natural to outsource your blog writing. But, finding as many blog writers as you can on Fiverr or going with a content farm can all lead to the same problem: Too many cooks. Having too many writers on board can lead to inconsistency in style and tone. If you're outsourcing blog writing you need to ensure your brand doesn't lose its voice. All your content should be consistent in terms of style and tone.

3) Lack of understanding of your product, industry or audience

When you work with one or a small team of writers, there's the opportunity for deepening knowledge and understanding of your brand and your market. Over time, you can offer feedback and guidance to your writer and finetune your content strategy and voice with them. The more they write for you, the more they understand what works for you. And the more value you get out of your content. Working with multiple writers all the time means you're constantly working with only surface-level knowledge, experience and understanding of your specific needs.

That said, not every writer is going to truly understand your topics, your brand and your audience. No matter how long you work with them. If that's the case, you need to move on.

4) Spending too little

This comes down to not placing enough importance or value on your blog. There are so many ways you can underinvest in your blog. I know that many of them come down to budget. But there are:

Not blogging often enough. To cut down on costs, so many clients just don't blog often enough. Don't fall into this trap. One a month is not enough. Once a quarter is virtually pointless. Many small businesses find success blogging one to four times a week, and larger businesses can churn out multiple posts a day! There's only so much truly valuable content you can produce. I would say blogging too often is counterproductive. At *least* once a week would be great. Twice a month should be the absolute minimum even for very small businesses.

Another way you might try to cut down on costs when outsourcing your blog is to opt for shorter content. This is understandable, and on balance, I'd rather see more frequent shorter posts than blogs that are posted once a month. But, when it comes to SEO, long-form content is always going to get you better results. That's 1,000 words plus.

In a further attempt to avoid expense you may consider going for the cheapest option. My prices are clearly available on my website. I am by no means the cheapest, but nor am I the most expensive. I offer fantastic value for money, in my opinion. This is why I won't offer a discount (except for a commitment-based discount). My service is worth *at least* what I'm asking you to pay for it, even if there are "cheaper writers out there". You can buy a blog on a freelancer job board for about a tenner. But it won't do anything you need your blog to do, so you may as well just stick a photo of that tenner on your blog instead.

Even when it comes to utilising in-house employees, I also see so many blogs that are clearly handed over to a junior member of the marketing team to take care of. And it smacks of just paying lip service to a critical aspect of the business's brand and communication strategy. Yes, juniors need to learn. But they should not be the sole contributors to your blog and content strategy.

5) Not featuring your blog

I guess this is more of a general mistake by businesses that have a blog rather than a direct outsourcing issue. However, it's more common amongst businesses that outsource their blogging. I believe this is because so often they tend to just want some content on their blog for the sake of it.

Many businesses understand they need a blog. They spend time and money writing or outsourcing the writing for said blog. Then hide it away in inconspicuous, complex navigation menus. Or, worse, don't include it *anywhere* in their navigation menu and just have a link to it right at the bottom of their website, alongside their privacy policy and other gumph nobody ever looks at.

Your content is there to be read. It's there to be useful. It's there to foster trust. It's there to get people to *like* you. And if you want people to buy from you, they absolutely need to like you.

Your blog should have pride of place as a standalone item on your main menu bar. At the very least, it deserves pride of place alongside your "insights and research", "product guides" and "case studies". All this content helps build trust and engagement.

Ideally, your latest blog posts should be featured on your homepage, included in your newsletters, advertised on your socials and used as part of email marketing campaigns. Your blog doesn't just have to sit idly on your website awaiting a direct Google hit.

Many people shy away from making their content too accessible from their homepage out of fear of taking a website user off on a tangent and losing a conversion opportunity. The point is that your blog (and other such content) IS a conversion opportunity! It's *fine* to use your blog to generate demand. For this reason, it should *always* have a purposeful CTA at the end of it.

Outsourcing your content works great when you find the right content writer

This all just confirms what I've been saying all along. If you are going to have a blog or produce any content at all, it needs to be worth having. If you're going to outsource your content, then you need to make sure it's to someone who knows what they're doing and will produce original content that works for you and does everything it's supposed to.

Make sure your content ticks all the right boxes. Email kirsty@the-blog-writer.co.uk to get started.