Sometimes when you feel like having pizza, you have the option to make it yourself or order it, just like the content for your blog and website. Making it yourself would be fun and you can exactly put the ingredients you want, but ordering the pizza from a restaurant who specializes in making the pizza saves a lot of time and is way more convenient. Also, the chances of the pizza being terrible are low if you pick a good restaurant. Outsourcing your content from an agency is just like that.
If you are thinking of venturing into content marketing, here is something you should know. Over 62% companies, big as well as small outsource their content including B2B as well as B2C businesses.
A very smart decision we say, since there is hardly any way around content marketing, especially having a great website as well as an active blog if you plan on making it big in your niche and here are the reasons for it.
Importance of having good content on the website
Your first impression
A website landing page is like a store display to a shop, if the customers don’t find it interesting or attractive, they will move on. Gripping, intriguing and curiosity inducing content, mainly words or copy which get people interested to explore the rest of the website and what you have to offer is imperative. In today’s day and age when everything is just a click away, it is very important to capture the audience’s attention, be it with the use of a good, crisp and catchy copy or a unique design.
Merely the landing page is not enough to keep your visitor hooked, there is a lot more to a website. The ‘about us page’,’ contact us page’ are extremely important as well since they give a glimpse into your brand or business. This is what connects your website to the user, this is what makes it human. An about us page needs to be conceptualized expertly, capturing the nuances of your business, the founders, the story. It is a tricky task, something which might have a great impact overall.
Higher Google rankings
More than just aesthetic appeal of the content on the website, it is a very important factor in the ranking of the website as well. The better the content, that is search engine optimised with great, relatable keywords, the better is the chances of Google ranking the website higher. The higher your website is ranked, the chances of more people finding your business and possibly purchasing from it are higher, which is the whole point of having a website.
An increase in the search engine results page does not only boost your business’s ability to generate traffic and leads but also deems your website as authentic in the minds of the audience
Quality content can sell or shelf your product
The product pages are extremely important too. Just a picture of the product or the service you offer, no matter how aesthetic would not possibly get you anywhere. Compelling, intriguing, action inducing content is one of the major reasons that contribute in making a product desirable to the audience. People today, wish to connect with the brands they purchase from, they want to know more about it. Your pages are what convert the viewers to your customers.
A website is therefore a complicated affair which needs to be handled artfully. If you are planning on including blogs and having a functional website in the marketing plan for your business (which we very strongly recommend), you should seriously consider outsourcing this content too.
Here are the benefits of outsourcing your blog and website content –
Cost effective as compared to having an in-house team
One of the major reasons people outsource their content is to cut down costs, that is almost 59% of the companies who outsource. Contrary to popular belief, hiring a full-time writer is way costlier than working with an agency or a freelancer. Hiring an employee comes with a greater cost, including equipment, training, overheads, insurance, etc. Also, the payment is by hours and not by the amount of work produced for an employee.
But, if you outsource the content, you pay exactly for what you ask for. You do not have to pay for the equipment or take care of a person at all. An agency or a freelancer takes care of all these expenses when you work with a third-party.
Also, outsourcing allows you to concentrate on the core functions of your business, which equals to more work done and can also contribute to more sales and therefore a greater return on investment.
Yes, you could learn everything about a particular topic and give it your best shot but by spending your valuable time and effort that could be put to the betterment of your business.
Expert discretion is always the best option
A simple blog which would take only a few minutes to read may take hours to or even days to complete. If you are not very well versed with either writing or the field you see writing about, it may turn out to be a very heavy task. Even if we put the time-consuming part of the task aside, the chances of the content working or failing are 50 – 50 percent. But especially after investing so much effort into writing something, it is best to not take chances especially when it comes to website content, which more often than not includes the blog too. Therefore, it is the best to let professionals do their job.
Content writing agencies recruit writers from a myriad of backgrounds and varied skill sets. If you decide to work with one, they will carefully assign your tasks to a writer who is more or less knowledgeable of the field or industry you function it. Therefore, the person who would write the content for you would be experienced in both writing as well as the industry, therefore the chances of your content falling flat are way lesser.
Fresh perspectives
Everyone thinks that they can tell their own story best, but there is only so much you can say from your own perspective. After a while, your point of view could get a little mundane for the reader and therefore hiring an outsider could provide the reader with just the right of freshness they might need. Outsourcing allows you to choose the agency you want to work with and also pick people that align with your niche. Working with people who do not work in the same environment as you but share a similar interest can turn out to be very interesting since the angle someone else could provide or the points they would be able to contribute may have never crossed your mind.
In case you are new to a niche, or would like help digging deeper into the technicality, outsourcing content is the best option here too.
You can experiment more with your marketing strategy
Content creation is a wide space, and there is a lot you could do, trying new things when it comes to content often pays off. You could be well versed with all the formats of content writing but when a person has focused on one format for a while, they tend to pick up on what works and what does not. When you hire a third-party, especially an agency, you can get them to produce various kinds of content for you. This could include trying a different tone or voice to determine what works best for your business, trying different formats of writing, changing up the content of the website to make it more approachable, relevant or interesting.
You could try different blog formats too, for instance longer blogs, shorter ones, listicles, ‘how to’ blogs, infographics or even experiment with video content.
Constant supply of quality content
Good content is like water and oxygen to a plant. If the supply is not consistent, a blog too may wither away and die. Just like how a plant needs grooming to look healthy and attractive, along with oxygen and water, a good blog needs to be functioning and updated consistently in order for it to be relevant or else it becomes old and obsolete and does not contribute much to the business.
Even if you decide to post your content on your blog once a month, it needs to be consistent and top notch in quality. A content writing agency employs individuals who are skilled at a particular field so the quality of your content is assured. This content also needs to be delivered in a given time period, therefore working with an agency for your content needs assures that you have good content for your consumers at your disposal whenever you demand it.
You can spare more time for core business functions
Writing a simple blog or content for the website is extremely time consuming. A lot of work goes into writing content and therefore a lot of time. Research of the topic, actually writing down, editing, proof reading may take up to hours or even days depending on the number of words and difficulty and one still can’t promise the accuracy of their work.
Therefore, if this task is outsourced to a content writing agency, the amount of time you and your team have on your hands to concentrate on the core functions increases.
Agency professionals are often trained in SEO or writing
Writing for the web is no cake walk in all honesty and differs to traditional writing when it comes to technicalities. SEO writing, or Search Engine Optimised content which is laden with keywords, hidden links and other such miniscule but intricate details, which are of utmost importance for your website, might get overlooked if they weren’t being taken care of by someone who has expertise on this subject.
Agency professionals have a holistic training and know a lot more about SEO and writing about SEO and thus it would be best for the website to handed over to the professionals who know what they are doing and have updated knowledge about the subject as well.
Now that you know why you should outsource your content, here is when you should hire a content writing agency for your website and blog content –
- When you are starting out a new business or venture into a new industry or niche. It is best to have someone more proficient else write for you.
- If you are planning on integrating content marketing as a part of your marketing mix.
- When you need to do some cost cutting and can not dispense with the content strategy.
- When you are need to scale your business.
- If you recognize the importance of connecting more with your audience at any point in your business.
- You have hit a snag when it comes to content and it is not giving you the best results.
Since nothing is all sunshine and daisies in the practical world and every coin has a flip side too, there are a few drawbacks or risks in hiring a third party for your content needs. For instance, finding the right agency may be a hassle, things may get done differently as compared to how you or your team would have done it, there may be management difficulties, a gap in expectations versus results, or even a lack of sync if you do not choose an agency carefully and strategically. However, the advantages of doing so are way more and the mere percentage of successful businesses hiring agencies speak for them.
In all, outsourcing content gives you that additional edge over the clutter because people who are good at a particular topic can lend you their expertise, making the blog or any other piece very interesting and accurate. It helps in saving additional time and effort that you might put into research and understanding more about the topic and chances are, you might still not be up to par.
Most businesses, no matter how small or large get their website content outsourced and curated by experts, since anything that is below par is not a risk worth taking for the business.
