Not who as in the specific person, but who as in what profession/background/field.
In the past I’d either write the content myself, have the customer supply the content, or have one of my friends (English/lit. major) write the content. They work as a journalist for a major newspaper in the area.
I once hired a freelance “content writer” to write some content for me.
On the last two websites I developed, I hired a marketing/SEO/social media professional to write some content.
To be honest- If anyone else writes the content, I’m never really happy with how it turns out, even if I’ve like what they did for other people. I usually have them write it, then heavily edit it- which might seem like it defeats the purpose, but it makes things a lot quicker.
Sooo while I’m sure the answer is “it varies from project to project”, who do you typically use for content creation?
I’ve always been lucky enough to work with great copywriters and editors, and I definitely value their half of the job.
Way too many designers pay way too much attention to the visuals without realizing that it’s the content that those visuals are supporting. A good design does not exist in a vacuum separate from good content. Without it, the job’s a failure no matter how cool-looking it might be.
I prefer the client to supply content, text, logos and pics. If they need me to supply any content it adds cost and time to the project, but I can do it. If they are OK with that there are many many proofs before we get to the final version.
I always make sure the client is OK with the extra cost and time before I start.
I’m actually much more a writer than an artist, so I end up doing content development on all fronts, and always playing Editor no matter how the copy was sourced. In fact, I often find it difficult to combine content from various sources when it isn’t coordinated from conception.
Right.
I’ve always had battles with Marketing people who’d direct me to “just lay out the visuals and we’ll drop the copy in later.” Uh, no. The message is in the copy, and the visual treatment must germinate from that.
If I am interested in the client’s topic, I have no trouble creating content (and charging for it). If it’s totally outside my interests and scope, I advise the client to hire someone.
I’m not trained as a writer but I have a blog (cringe) and I handle social media for a bunch of clients.
I think the way to find a good content creator would be to try working with 3 freelance content writers, give the the same topic and see who produces better content from the rest.
you can use a criteria Like this:
Content Quality
Ease of Use
Cost per Word
Speed of Delivery
Scalability