A number of weeks in the past, I despatched our month-to-month report back to my leaders, outlining our achievements and challenges. One of many highlights I enthusiastically included was “Our content material is enhancing alongside the improved high quality of our briefs.”
I used to be snug with that assertion till our CMO requested, “How are we figuring out this? Which standards are we utilizing to “measure” high quality of content material creation?” At the moment, I replied:
“We have now not been in a position to measure the standard of our content material instantly by information but. Nevertheless, we analyzed qualitatively some previous briefs and previous content material, in comparison with new briefs and new content material. We have now realized that our latest weblog posts are answering the search intent of every key phrase extra successfully than earlier than. […] To make sure the standard of our content material, we offer detailed briefs to our writers, which additionally instruct them relating to the requirements we anticipate them to comply with whereas creating their items. We additionally present detailed suggestions to them and ask for revisions each time one thing just isn’t aligned with what was within the temporary.”
I wasn’t mendacity. It was crystal clear that each our briefs and content material created from them had seen enhancements. However truthfully, I wasn’t totally happy with my reply.
As an website positioning skilled, I knew I ought to again it up with concrete information, as our CMO requested. However the place to start out from?
Excessive-High quality Briefs for Excessive-High quality Content material
First, I ought to clarify to you that we outsource most of our content material. And the expert writers accountable for crafting them are on WriterAccess.
Our content material creation platform has over 15,000 professionals from numerous fields and international locations. We use AI-powered instruments to seek out those that finest match our wants and ship them content material briefs with our necessities.
Content material briefs – right here’s my thesis about them: a great temporary is significant for high-quality content material. Briefs function the roadmap guiding the creation of each piece of content material.
As a content material advertising enterprise, we are able to’t afford to miss their significance; nevertheless, we might have come shut to creating this error. Not for too lengthy, although.
As 2023 started, we mirrored on the directions that might clearly information our freelance writers to supply items that actually resonated with our viewers. In that spirit, we revamped our content material briefs.
Personally, I felt a terrific sense of delight in our new temporary template and the meticulous strategy we adopted whereas filling them out. However what did the freelance writers take into consideration them? So, this query grew to become the start line of my analysis.
I created this way to gather our freelance author’s worthwhile insights, and their solutions made me notice two fundamental issues: 1) our content material briefs efforts are paying off; 2) we nonetheless have room for enchancment, and we’ll maintain doing so.
Are you able to dive into my findings? I like to recommend you to stay round as a result of they’re actually attention-grabbing and may help you in refining your content material temporary creation course of.
Author’s Priceless Insights on Our Content material Briefs
Among the many respondents, just one began writing for Rock Content material in 2023, whereas the others have been with us for at the very least one 12 months. This timeframe allowed them to match our previous briefs with the brand new, enhanced ones.
To begin off, I’d prefer to share the freelance writers’ opinions on how a lot the standard of the temporary impacts their writing course of. Right here’s what I came upon:
A few of their remarks relating to this subject included:
“The temporary bridges what the purchasers need with what I write. If it’s not clear, it leaves an excessive amount of as much as interpretation by me. When that occurs, the shopper hardly ever will get the piece they envisioned.”
“A superb temporary makes writing an article simple and easy. […] A poor temporary leaves me extra confused and uncertain about what must be included and what subtitles and headings will make the shopper proud of the end result of the weblog.”
“I refer again to content material briefs continuously as I write and sometimes copy/paste key phrases, mandatory hyperlinks, and requested vital factors right into a separate doc in order that I can cross every one off as I embrace it. The extra route there’s, the better it’s for me to mentally plan the piece and convey it collectively as I work on it.”
“That is extra particular to new purchasers than to Rock Content material. And not using a full understanding of the purchasers’ advertising scope and the stage of the client journey, having the extra info within the temporary is vital for achievement. As well as, having the tone and voice pointers accessible within the temporary helps make sure that the content material I present blends seamlessly with their different advertising property.”
“If the temporary isn’t clear, it’s a guessing recreation to ship what you need. It’s additionally much less useful, and takes up quite a lot of time, when there’s a lot info that I’ve to choose by it to seek out the bits that I really need.”
As I discussed earlier than, content material briefs are like highway maps, and I’m glad the freelance writers acknowledge it. Now, let’s discover another questions from the shape.
Shut-ended questions
One of the crucial vital ones was: “Have you ever observed any enhancements within the briefs you obtained in the course of the months of April and Might [when the changes were implemented] in comparison with those you obtained earlier”?
80% of the freelance writers observed some type of enchancment within the briefs, amongst them 50% observed quite a lot of enchancment.
I additionally requested the respondents in regards to the readability of our content material briefs, utilizing a score scale from 1 to five. A score of 1 meant “not clear in any respect,” whereas a score of 5 meant “very clear.” Apparently, not one of the respondents rated the briefs as 1 or 2, and a majority of 60% gave them a prime score of 5 for readability.
I used to be additionally curious to know if the brand new briefs offered a radical understanding of the subject to be coated, 40% voted “all of them” and 60% voted “most of them”.
Then I requested the writers to point their stage of settlement with the next assertion: “There have been insights or steering offered relating to the consumer intent or wants of the viewers.” Right here’s their response:
With regards to how clearly we state our tone and magnificence within the content material briefs, 50% agree that they’re clear, and 20% strongly agree with that. However, 20% are impartial about it and 10% strongly disagree.
When requested about sections within the temporary that they contemplate pointless for his or her work, some information price mentioning is that 70% thought of “Creator info” ineffective, 50% indicated “Visible parts” and 30% don’t see worth in our checklist of “Prime-ranking competing content material”.
I used to be notably within the writers’ suggestions relating to their satisfaction with the general high quality of our new briefs in comparison with the previous ones. It was vital for me to assemble their responses and evaluate the 2.
When queried about their satisfaction with the brand new briefs on a scale of 1 to five, with 1 being “extraordinarily dissatisfied” and 5 being “extraordinarily happy,” 80% of the writers voted 4 or 5. None of them voted 1 or 2. Nevertheless, the suggestions for the previous briefs was completely different. Solely 10% voted 5, whereas 80% voted 3 and 4, and 10% voted 2 (dissatisfied).
Open-ended questions
Moreover, I gathered insights by posing open-ended questions relating to the writers’ preferences and critiques relating to each the brand new/up to date and previous briefs. Listed below are a number of excerpts from their suggestions:
“[…] I’d say the more moderen the briefs, the higher/extra clearer they’ve been. I wasn’t dissatisfied with the previous briefs, however I actually like the quantity of element included within the new ones.”
“This content material temporary offered simply sufficient info on what wanted to be included, whereas nonetheless permitting for the author to make use of [their] personal creativity. Briefs that embrace an excessive amount of micro-management in what’s to be written are stagnating, at the very least to this author, so this one had simply the correct mix.” (Referring to an up to date temporary)
“Typically, the much less info/route, the much less I appreciated the temporary. I simply actually like understanding that the shopper and I are on precisely the identical web page.”
“I can’t keep in mind particular person ones, however I keep in mind not even choosing up some articles as a result of the language on the temporary simply wasn’t clear sufficient to inform me what was wanted.” (Referring to previous briefs)
“I’ve written articles for purchasers who merely gave me a single phrase to go on […] and others who present full outlines. Given my desire, I’d say one thing within the center is finest for me. As a senior-level marketer with 15 years of company expertise, I intuitively know the place to take a lot of the content material so the extra information is commonly simply “noise” for me to scroll by.”
“The one criticism I’ve is that the briefs are very lengthy. I discover myself having to open the web page on two tabs – one to reference the temporary and one other to put in writing the content material. If there’s a approach to shorten or format the temporary so the define is near the textual content field, that might streamline the writing course of.” (Referring to up to date briefs)
Information Insights: What I Discovered From The Writers’ Suggestions
I’m positive you might have drawn your individual conclusions after studying the writers’ suggestions shared within the earlier part. Nevertheless, I invite you to discover what I’ve discovered:
1. We have now improved, it’s noticeable.
We’re speaking our intentions and objectives extra successfully than earlier than. The small print included within the up to date model of our briefs assist most freelancers really feel guided and extra assured about their work.
I perceive why extra skilled writers in our business would possibly view detailed info as “noise,” and I empathize with their perspective. Nevertheless, our strategy usually entails crafting briefs tailor-made for writers with a mid-level of experience.
We primarily course of our orders on a first-come, first-served foundation, and whereas we prioritize our “love checklist” of writers, they possess various ranges of experience.
2. We should enhance how we talk our desired tone and magnificence.
30% of respondents being impartial or strongly disagreeing with the assertion “The specified tone and magnificence of the content material had been clearly said within the briefs” is a degree of consideration.
Actually, it simply confirmed what we had already observed and began to work on. We’re presently growing a brand new model information to share with our writers.
3. We will take away sure sections from the briefs to make them shorter and extra concise.
I agree that they’ve grow to be slightly too lengthy.
Most of the sections that the writers indicated as pointless, equivalent to ‘Creator info,’ we use solely internally, so we are able to definitely go away them apart.
Nevertheless, the truth that 30% of them see our checklist of “Prime-ranking competing content material” as pointless is a bit regarding. We could also be failing to make clear the significance of some info we embrace in our briefs.
Analyzing “top-ranking competing content material” earlier than writing an website positioning piece is essential for writers to realize insights into the competitors, establish content material gaps, and create simpler and focused content material that may rank larger in search outcomes.
Chances are you’ll surprise: “Shouldn’t freelance writers already know this?” website positioning data does certainly improve their work, and I extremely advocate investing time in it. Nevertheless, we are able to help them by explaining ideas just like the one talked about above.
4. I confirmed the significance of constantly offering suggestions to our writers for each piece of content material they create.
Though I haven’t beforehand talked about this information, 90% of them discover our suggestions extremely worthwhile, and we witness its sensible affect.
Our writers excel at receiving suggestions, and we observe noticeable enhancements from one article to the following.
What I’ve discovered from the writers’ responses confirms my thesis: A superb temporary is significant for high-quality content material. It gives clear pointers, aims, and viewers insights, guaranteeing content material creators perceive mission expectations.
By facilitating efficient communication and aligning visions, a complete temporary helps develop related and interesting content material that resonates with the viewers, delivering the meant message successfully.
What Google Analytics Tells Us About Our Content material High quality
I do know I discussed how a great temporary helps in creating extra participating content material that deeply connects with our viewers, however I haven’t fairly confirmed it but. Stick with me as a result of we’re about to achieve that time.
First, let me remind you that Google Analytics gives worthwhile insights into our content material high quality. By analyzing particular metrics, we are able to achieve a extra in-depth understanding of the way it resonates with our viewers.
Rock’s Content material Efficiency
Listed below are three key metrics and our outcomes, which I wish to share with you. I’ll evaluate information from April 1st to Might thirty first, 2023 (after we began implementing the up to date briefs) with the identical interval final 12 months:
- Bounce Price: This metric reveals the proportion of holiday makers who go away an internet site after viewing only one web page.
From April 1st to Might thirty first, 2023, our bounce charge decreased by 3.94% in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months. This enchancment signifies that guests are participating extra with our web site and exploring a number of pages earlier than leaving.
- Time on Web page: This metric measures the common period of time guests spend on a selected web page or set of pages.
From April 1st to Might thirty first, 2023, our common time on web page elevated by 23.73%. An extended time on web page means that our latest content material is extra charming and holds the eye of our viewers.
- Common session length: Session length, or common session length, measures the common time guests spend on an internet site throughout a session.
From April 1st to Might thirty first, 2023, our common session length elevated by 7.84%. An extended session length usually means that guests discover our content material worthwhile and are spending extra time consuming it.
Whereas you will need to acknowledge that every 12 months has its distinctive traits and the info offered right here can’t be attributed solely to enhancements in content material high quality, the evaluation of those metrics collectively signifies that we’re certainly on the right track.
It means that well-crafted and high-quality briefs contribute to the creation of content material of comparable caliber, which in flip results in elevated engagement from our viewers.
Last Remarks
On the time our CMO requested how I may affirm that our content material high quality was enhancing, I hadn’t but gathered all this info.
I answered him based mostly on a comparability between articles written prior to now with those written after our up to date briefs had been launched. I took into consideration points like readability, key phrase use, capability to reply consumer intent, and supply high quality.
Now I can inform each qualitatively and quantitatively that our content material is enhancing together with the standard of our briefs.
Am I happier with my present reply? Sure, positively. Nevertheless, I additionally know there’s quite a lot of room for enchancment and extra key metrics to investigate sooner or later.
Would you additionally prefer to take one step additional towards enhancing your content material creation? Why not give WriterAccess a attempt at present?
Take pleasure in 14 days of free entry to our community of skilled writers and uncover what nice content material can do for your enterprise!
Oh, and don’t overlook to reference this text when creating your content material briefs and connecting with our proficient writers. Good luck!
Do you wish to proceed to be up to date with Advertising and marketing finest practices? I strongly counsel that you just subscribe to The Beat, Rock Content material’s interactive e-newsletter. We cowl all of the traits that matter within the Digital Advertising and marketing panorama. See you there!
