4 Different Outsourcing Blog Writing Options and Pros and Cons of Each

In our previous blog, we covered why outsourcing your blog writing is a good option, as it will save you both time and money in the long run, in addition to boosting your SEO ranking and bringing you new customers. This time, we’re looking at different outsourcing options, and listing their pros and cons.

Here are the sections covered in this article:

• Individual Freelancers
• Writing Services
• Marketplaces
• Agencies

Individual Freelancers

The cheapest way to outsource your blog writing is to hire an individual freelancer who will take care of everything for you. Individual freelancers are independent writers who offer their services to businesses on a per-project basis (sometimes hourly if they’re hired part-time).

Freelancers typically prefer to work remotely and they can be hired for a single blog post or for ongoing content creation. Hiring a freelancer is usually the most cost-effective option but for obvious reasons.

Working with a single individual freelancer, you don’t get any quality or reliability guarantee. Freelancers may also have limited availability or be unable to handle large volumes of work should your content creation needs increase suddenly.

When dealing with a freelancer, you’ll also have to personally contact and deal with them yourself instead of dealing with an intermediary who will work with the writer and make your life easier. If the freelancer doesn’t offer editing or proofreading as part of their package, or even things like topic research or SEO, you may have to hire different freelancers for all of those tasks, which is obviously much more tedious and adds to the overall cost.

Writing Services

Writing services, such as Writingful, are companies that specialize in providing high-quality written content to various types of businesses. Most writing services employ several writers and editors who all work together to create custom-tailored content for each client.

Writing services offer several lucrative advantages over freelancers. For starters, the fact that they have a large team of writers makes them much more versatile and flexible. By employing writers from various industries with diverse skills and backgrounds, it allows them to handle a wide range of topics and writing styles.

Since writing services typically have editors who go over the content before it’s sent to the client, they also have much stricter quality control standards and can provide high-quality content on a consistent basis.

Another big advantage of working with writing services is their scalability. They can easily handle large volumes of content without needing several weeks or months to adapt. Most content creation companies also offer additional services such as SEO, keyword planners using apps like Ahrefs, etc.

On top of everything else, some writing services use account managers to contact and deal with clients, making the entire process much easier for all parties involved. The client is in direct contact with the account manager, who in turn forwards the instructions to the writing team. This means that apart from outlining what the client wants and expects, they don’t have to deal with the writer or writing team personally and can instead just get the finished product in the end.

Marketplaces (Platforms)

Marketplaces, also called online platforms, are places where businesses can connect with freelancers or agencies on one centralized platform. Depending on the platform, either the business will post a job advert and freelancers will apply to it, or the freelancer will post their resume and portfolio for businesses to choose from and contact them.

The main advantage of large platforms is the sheer number of options available. Businesses have a large pool of writers to choose from, and they can specifically search for writers within their industry or niche. Marketplaces can be a cost-effective option for businesses that are on a tight budget and need to find a writer quickly.

Marketplaces can be risky though, since there’s no guarantee that the writer you hire is reliable or can write quality content. Finding a freelancer with experience and knowledge is often a hit and a miss since many freelancers on these platforms have limited availability and experience. Ultimately, businesses may end up spending more time vetting candidates and finding the right writer than it’s worth it for them.

Agencies

Agencies are companies that specialize in providing marketing and advertising services to businesses. Most agencies offer blog writing services as part of their overall content marketing strategy. In that regard, agencies are similar to specialized writing services, but they offer a much broader variety of services.

That being said, they’re typically not as dedicated to writing specifically since that’s not their main goal, so the quality of their writing is slightly below that of specialized writing services. Since agencies are typically larger, they usually have a large team of writers, editors, and other marketing professionals, but they also have a ton of clients.

The biggest disadvantage of working with an agency is the cost. Agencies typically charge higher rates than writing services for the same or lower level of quality. Additionally, the process of working with an agency can be more complex, as businesses may need to sign contracts and engage in ongoing communication with multiple team members.