Who Will Write Your Web Content?
I’ve shared why I think it’s important to have quality content on your website and why you might consider adding a blog to your collection of well-written words.
But who will write this content? If you happen to love writing, creating your own business content will go miles to solidifying your brand voice and establishing your trustworthiness and expertise.
(I’d still suggest an SEO audit or content edit once it’s written. I can do that for you!)
Assuming you plan to outsource this task, though, you have three general options (each with a huge range in terms of quality of results): use a content writing agency, use an AI-driven program like ChatGPT, or hire an individual content writer, like me! You can also custom-build a combo that works for your company.
Let’s break these down.
Option 1: Use a content writing agency
Content writing agencies offer up a roster of writers for you. They are often ranked by other clients based on their ability and experience, and you can usually select the ranking (and, therefore, price point) that best suits your order.
The Pros
Minimal legwork for you. You create orders for as many pieces of content as you need, and (usually) a bunch of eager writers are waiting to snap it up.
If you want to put in more effort, you can often filter available writers by their expertise, which can be a lot quicker than combing through resumes.
Despite the agency taking a cut, these services are usually relatively inexpensive, running you something like 3 to 12 cents per word, depending on quality.
The Cons
Getting consistency is tricky since you’ll have many different writers picking up your orders. You can share a style guide, but there's no guarantee that it will be followed to a T.
The writer’s ranking isn’t always reliable. How a client ranked a writer depends on their own knowledge of English and their expectations for their order.
Though you’re usually allowed at least one revision, you’re not going to be hopping on a call or going back and forth in a chat. The lower price point might mean there isn’t much incentive for thoughtful revisions.
Option 2: Use ChatGPT (or something like it)
Right off the bat, let me calm your reeling mind: I’m not suggesting you get ChatGPT to create all your content. But it would be short-sighted and, frankly, dishonest for me not to cover this option, considering how often I turn to ChatGPT myself (more on that in a future post)!
The Pros
Fast turnaround. Literally minutes once you input your prompt.
Highly cost-effective, at least for the initial output. A premium account with ChatGPT currently costs $20 USD.
It can adjust its latest submissions based on your follow-up prompts quickly and (relatively) accurately.
The Cons
Though it’s getting better, GPT’s grasp of humour and emotion is still lacking. It may require a lot of reworking after the fact to tweak the content to where you want it to be.
You need to know exactly what you want. A good writer can take a fairly brief outline and turn out something fantastic, but ChatGPT gives you what you ask for, so you need to ask precisely, which means crafting excellent prompts or being willing to tweak.
You need to proofread and edit everything to make sure it’s accurate and contextually relevant. Really, you should be doing this with all content, but the rare tendency for GPT to “hallucinate” (go off on totally made-up tangents but word them like they’re true) can make this trickier—and also more vital.
BTW: I used ChatGPT to outline this article! It did a great job of presenting me with a brief list of pros and cons for each of the options. Then, I wrote the article myself, top to bottom.
Option 3: Hire a content writer (preferably me, obviously)
The third option for outsourcing content creation is, of course, hiring a professional writer. Naturally, I’m biased toward this option, but I’m also a realist, and I know this might not be available to you for a variety of reasons.
Note that these pros and cons assume a quality content writer. Obviously, there are writers out there who won’t give you any more value than a ChatGPT article or an underpaid agency writer. Even if you go this route, you still have to pick the right person.
The Pros
You get a personalized touch. A good content writer will work closely with you to make sure the content is what you want while also offering advice from their own experience to make it even better.
You can count on voice and style. Because this experienced writer is creating a lot of content for you, they will learn your style guide and ensure everything they write is on brand.
They usually know how to research (or even interview), so you can be more general with your briefs while expecting more. A good writer can really make industry expertise and customer stories come to life.
The Cons
It costs more. Let’s not beat around the bush. If a seasoned professional is going to review your style guide and order expectations in depth, do research into the topic, communicate back and forth for multiple revisions, and present you with a polished product, it’s not going to cost 5 cents per word.
Finding and onboarding a writer yourself takes time. Unless you get an outstanding referral, you'll need to interview, possibly review samples of their work, and provide them with a style guide and other assets.
It might not be as fast. Hopefully, your writer will be honest about their turnaround times and workload, but it will often be at least a couple of days before the first draft is ready for review. Some writers make allowances for rush orders, though.
Bonus Option 4: Use a combination
This strategy calls for a bit more time off the bat to figure out the flow and follow up on everything. If you have the time, though, or if you’re setting it up for the long run, it’s probably the most reasonable option.
Here’s how I see it:
An independent content writer creates your blogs, any longer thought leadership pieces, anything calling for research or interviews, and anything you’re putting a concerted marketing effort into getting in front of the right eyeballs.
ChatGPT writes the low-ticket items, the copywriting, technically. Things like product or service descriptions or other pieces of content that could be reiterated over and over from a single well-built prompt. Use GPT for content that is mostly there because that spot can’t be empty (ie: Google wants to see these key terms in these product descriptions). Maybe your writer will even edit these for you?
A content writing agency can fill the gaps, for content that falls somewhere in between these types, lighter blog posts your writer doesn’t have time for, or ideas you want to test out without a lot of money down. If you aren’t comfortable with ChatGPT, this is also a great option for product descriptions and the like.
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Did I miss any options? Are you going GPT all the way for your web content, or are you horrified I would even suggest it? What option(s) have been working great for you?