Outsourcing content creatio

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Tim Capper: There are quite a few content services available - You provide the Topic and they create the content for you.Do your research on content and what you want to target - and use a reputable content creation service.
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  Lizandra Santillan: Another option could be connecting with writers in that niche, who ARE experts in your industry. Many times it can come out much cheaper than hiring an agency.
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  Suresh K: Do your research, Use Blogsumo for content ideas... If you have money buy it on iwriter..
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  Ammon Johns: You`ve been listening to bad advice based on `common wisdom` - despite doubtless knowing for yourself that what is common is rarely wise, and what is wise is never, ever common.If you are writing to your family or girlfriend, yes, they want you to write regularly and have a schedule. Your granny might love to have you write to her 3-4 times every month whether or not you have anything much to say.Your customers however are not your family. That kind of fanatic customer base takes a long time to develop, and is not actually necessary. Your customers time is valuable, and if you expect them to read something it had darned well better be something they actually NEED.Never, ever, define content by a timescale. The content you create should be everything that your customers need, and the timescale should be to provide all of that content in the shortest time possible. If lack of writing ability or time to simply tell customers about your product, how it is used, why it is great value, is something you need to outsource then time still only matters because of your budget, not because it serves the customers.Anyone telling you you need to publish X articles per Y timescale is an idiot, repeating the same garbage they read that was written by earlier idiots. That is worrying about how fast to speak before you know what you need to be saying.Content, like almost everything else in business, needs demand. Supply without demand cheapens anything that situation applies to.If your customers have questions, concerns, want more details, then that is the content that needs to be created, and THAT content should be produced as fast as you can afford to produce it.Once all that content is produced, all the stuff that actually drives sales and conversions, your content focus should be in getting content onto places your customers already go to read stuff. Pet owners clubs newsletters and websites, for example. Breeders clubs. Kennel clubs. Places that have the audience size and loyalty already built.Only when dozens of customers, loving that content, start demanding more, wanting to read more articles from your company, only then, do you worry about creating your own blog or newsletter.
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  Linda Hogenes: Ammon Johns That
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  Jef Von Goegel: Ammon Johns amen
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  Kevin Jech Schinnerer: Ammon Johns Well said
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  Chris Boggs: 100% agree with Ammon.I believe there is an advantage to using a (smaller is fine) agency to create content, if your goal is to "keep going." many times people that want to write it in house end up running out of ideas and steam. Agencies and "Content Shops" typically either have writers on staff or writers on call as contractors (*a lot of times what used to be referred-to as "mommy bloggers, " as well as other-agency writers that are freelancing) with wide-ranging topical experience. Currently I have seen agencies known for links that are also content developers, since they need it to help drive links.I am someone who votes against the idea of hiring a writer simply because they have written about 1, 000 other pet food products in your case. In your example, pet experience is great and I am sure you can get good content, but sometimes having someone newly researching a topic can help find better subjects with less past influence.
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  Doc Sheldon: Ammon nailed it! Ideally, your supply will always be just a tiny bit behind the demand... keep `em hungry for more. And you do that by providing them with value.By value, I don`t mean just decent pet food for a good price... you might want to take into consideration all the myriad topics that could be of real interest to pet people... how to handle behavioral issues, links (even coupons, if available) to commonly used accessories, such as beds, food/water dispensers, tracking collar tags, various items of interest to folks who care about their pets. Such articles/posts can even attract links.But X posts per week or month is not an appropriate goal to set. Our agency has clients who drive plenty of sales with just a couple of posts per month and others who post 3 times per week - what`s right for your business depends upon a number of factors.
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  Gareth Daine: Your content should be targeted and serve a purpose, usually a business case or because of demand by customers/users, simply producing content for content’s sake isn’t productive or useful.In fact, in can be a complete waste of time, effort, and money.There is absolutely no set amount of content over X period of time that should be produced, in fact, doing so has you run the risk of diluting any authority or value your site has.My advice is to focus first on your customer’s needs, then demand from search, and make sure you get your content as spot on as possible and doing well on the channels your customers use (including search) before you create more content.Above all else, make sure the content has a genuine purpose, otherwise you’re just adding more noise to an already crowded space to present to people with already dwindling attention spans.That’s my 2 cents.
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  Joshua McAdams: Maaaaaayne, I VAed for a guy who did pet food affiliate sites. It`s nothing but easy to do content for them.
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  Kristen Hansen Lowrey: Always hire an SEO copywriter (full disclosure, that’s me). They can perform the industry, competitor and keyword research to target the audience that is actually looking for the products and value your site provides. But they also have to be a fantastic writer and (maybe even more importantly) researcher. A great seo copywriter is all of those things.
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  Jeff Ferguson: Hey Nick - Not a dumb question at all (nor specifically an SEO question technically either, but whatever)! Anyway, don’t sweat the “3-4 original, interesting and relevant items a month” routine. Focus more on the quality and relevant part than the quantity part. Also, on the agency side, yes, there are definitely agencies that will help on this front, but the more unique your product or service, the harder it will be to find someone who can create quality content for your site continuously. Best bet it to find someone who can get you most of the way there that actually is an expert and spend the money on an editor that can take it all the way home and has some SEO skills as well, in that order. Good luck!
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  Natalie Coyne: Quality > quantity.. And ask your users. What value can you provide to them? Write that.