Arline RamirezYour 300-word article from India is not going to cut it anymore. Here are small business mistakes that you should avoid when outsourcing content.
Lack of focus
First of all, let’s get the terminologies right. A copywriter provides promotional advertising copy that is meant to sell a product or a service. A content writer provides content that will educate or inform readers. Their roles can overlap but it all boils down to the purpose of your content. What is it exactly that you want your offshore writer to achieve?
Determine desired outcomes, identify customer needs/wants, align outsourcing objectives with business goals, craft the right message, and measure success through results. These basics are often overlooked because rookies assume that content for the sake of content is enough.
Made-to-order SEO articles
Before Panda and Penguin, SEO writers can get away with sprinkling geo-targeted keywords like “plastic surgery Beverly Hills” or “cheap car repair” all over their work to nudge up websites in SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages). Small business owners can get a regular stream of articles and count it as optimisation. Not anymore.
Here’s the thing – while content is king, consistency is queen. You are not required to produce content everyday amounting to thousands of words. The key here is to consistently deliver relevant pieces of content. A concise useful article formatted for the web is more likely to be read and shared. There’s also a higher chance of earning a backlink.
Settling for chump change
Typically, small business owners would hire a contractor for a number of words, give a topic, and then assign a deadline. Content is usually outsourced because small business owners don’t have the time or knowledge. Guess who else is doing the same thing.
Regurgitating the same clickbait articles that may also be used by your competitors is a waste of your writer’s talent (and your money). Share information about your buyer personas. Draw from your own client experience. Provide market research and business insights. Basically, treat your offshore content writer as part of the team. This will result into a more nuanced content, which is what your customers are looking for.
Traditional quota-based outsourcing isn’t enough. The only way for you to float in the ever changing world of search engines and vast sea of online data is with useful content that delivers results. This requires a collaborative relationship with your offshore content writer, not just a transactional one. Hiring offshore staff for an online strategy is a far better investment than contracting work for piecemeal content.
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