Whether you call it a content mill or a writing mill, it’s something worth looking into if you want to grow your blog, and in particular, if you’re looking to scale things out production-wise.
As with anything in business, there are trade-offs. There are situations where content mills are the right move for your business. There are, of course, situations where that isn’t the case and using a content mill would be a poor move, strategically.
To determine whether or not a content mill is something you should look into, put together a super quick guide that will tell you everything you need to know.
But first, let’s answer the key question…
What Are Content Mills?
Content mills, as the name suggests, are service businesses that help you outsource content production. Generally, they specialize in quick, SEO-optimized content. In most cases, it’s not the highest quality content (though that’s not always true). Some content mills hire in-house writers, where others employ writers on freelance platforms, such as Upwork, Peopleperhour, and so forth.
In the most general sense, a content mill is simply a service that you can use to outsource your content production. Think of it like an assembly line for content production.
In many cases, content mills are a somewhat miserable way for freelance writers to grow their careers. The hours are long and the pay is not usually wonderful. However, there are exceptions, as we’ll get into.
Content mills can be fully-managed in their service offerings (i.e. they pick and choose the best writers for your case), but most often they are more of a marketplace.
This means they typically operate as the middle person, connecting the writer and their customer, and collecting a substantial fee in the meanwhile. They often collaborate with inexperienced writers, who are willing to work for a small fee. This strategy partly defines their customer profile as well — businesses that want to grow, by investing in content marketing, but aren’t ready to spend top dollar on top-tier content.
Writer mills aren’t all the same. They come in different shapes in sizes. Some of them take actual orders from companies, others are content “catalogs” writers publish their material, and marketers, or even niche-specific agencies like hotel marketing agencies, can purchase it if they find it suitable to their needs.
Here are a few examples:
- Contently and Clearvoice — are popular platforms, where freelancers are assigned projects based on their experience, instead of personally applying to them.
- Skyword is a company that is designed like a huge content marketing agency by attracting large brands and connecting them with the right freelancers. They focus on high-quality content.
- eByline — a large content mill that attracts predominantly journalism-related projects. They monetize by collecting fees from businesses, not freelancers.
What are the benefits of Content Mills?
Clearly, there are benefits to hiring a content mill (otherwise they wouldn’t be such a successful business model). Some such benefits include:
- Frequency content production
- On-demand content production
- Can be high quality with the right agency
- Built in SEO best practices
- Dedicated writers
- Save money
We’ll walk through each of these.
Increase your content production rate (frequent content production)
60% of bloggers who post daily have reported they see it making a substantial difference to their readership numbers and retention rates. The problem with this is that you can quickly find yourself left with little to no time for anything else. If you want to be able to still have time to devote to other pursuits, then a content mill will have the available man-hours you need to make it a reality.
This is particularly the case when you have a high domain authority so you can actually rank content that is subpar quality, or when you’re a small business owner that is balancing a lot of other tasks.
I will say, however, that the best content teams are in-house (or at least long term contractors) and have skin in the game, at least over the long run. Content is competitive nowadays, so sheer high volume content production tends not to move the needle (at least by itself).
Get on-demand content produced quickly
You’re sometimes also going to need to have content written at short notice that doesn’t conform to your pre-planned content strategy. Probably the best example of this would be a press release for a new acquisition or product release, or a last minute seasonal promotion. This is where you use tools like press release templates to fulfill the immediate need.
If you want to ensure that you make use of seasonal angle, then having the contact details of a reputable content mill could be just what you need to ensure these types of short notice deadlines never slip.
Get high-quality content if you find the right agency
Writing about niche areas is one of the more difficult skills to hire for, and it’s one that can prove invaluable to your business. You may know the field better than anyone, but that’s no guarantee you’ll be able to find the words that do it justice, and really bring your achievements to life on paper.
By being able to instantly connect with dozens of professionals who write for a living, there’s a high probability you can find someone with the right knowledge set mixed with great writing skills. This is obviously a huge value add, though it’s difficult to find (which is why, when you find a good freelance writer, you should hold onto them and pay them well).
Get access to a professional who understands SEO
Content Mills typically have in-house SEO specialists, who will be responsible for the optimization of the content you receive. They’ll be able to advise on the ideal length and keyword density for the task at hand and create a readable article that does a lot more than simply populate the page with as many conspicuous keywords as possible.
My argument here is the same as above: it’s probably best to have this knowledge in-house or at least have someone in the business looking after it over the long term. It is, however, nice to have content production specialists who know enough about SEO to get you ranking.
You can get a dedicated writer assigned to you
You can see that companies such as Trust My Paper pride themselves on customer service. So by being able to get in touch with your very own dedicated writer, you’ll be able to bounce ideas back and forth and come up with content that you really love.
This is a rather small benefit, as you’ll be working with a dedicated writer by definition if you hire one full time or if you work with dedicated freelancers you find yourself. However, if you’re using a content mill, this should be something you ask for. It’s not very calming to work with an anonymous team that is in charge of your brand voice and content.
Save money by using a flexible workforce
Content mills are cheap. That’s the biggest benefit.
That’s not to be daft: cheapness is a real utility if you’re trying to scale.
When you’re a startup, cheap content probably won’t do you well. But if you’ve built up a big blog already and want to get cost effective content produced at scale, a content mill is a nice consideration.
In my mind, this is the only real reason to use one.
What are the downsides of Content Mills?
Clearly, as you’ve probably already realized reading the above, there are several drawbacks to outsourcing your content production to an assembly line. Here are some of them.
Inconsistent access could cause inconsistent styles of writing
Your brand and your brand voice rely on consistency. If you have a choppy, strange, and inconsistent voice across your communications, it’s hard to develop a coherent identity your customers can understand.
Unfortunately, content mills are known for high turnover rates (because they usually suck to work at), which means that you may find your go-to writer is no longer a part of the operation. If the team you’re working with is anonymous, you may not even know that, behind the scenes, you’re getting a bunch of different writers.
This stuff is important. Content is the lifeblood of your acquisition engine, but also your longer term brand equity. Take it seriously.
Content mills vary widely in quality
In any industry, you will find the good and the not so good, and it just wouldn’t be a balanced piece if we didn’t highlight that this is the same in the content mill world too.
Checking online ratings is the best way to gauge high vs. low quality. Luckily you can usually find tons of reviews and information before you hire a firm nowadays.
You can also trial different services and pick the ones that work for you. That’s a big benefit of hiring content mills: you can fire them quickly and not feel too badly about it.
Don’t be afraid to dip your toes and give an easy assignment. If they fail, bail and find a different provider or better option.
There may be some hidden charges
Ask any freelance writer what their revisions policy is, and they’ll be able to tell you straight away. Search on a content mill webpage, and it may not be quite so easy.
Revisions are a natural part of the writing process and a very important one at that, but they do always mean additional work for the writer.
Make sure that you fully understand them before signing up to a content mill, and then budget for any revisions, especially before you find your go-to writer.
How is a content mill different from an in-house writer or a content agency?
Content agencies have one crucial difference when compared to a mill — their writers are their employees. This infers that they’re paying them a salary, they pass interviews, they are regularly checked for quality. Writers aren’t easily interchangeable. While at a mill, a writer simply offers freelance services on a trust or escrow basis.
In-house writers are an excellent choice for businesses, but only if you have the right budget. Hiring one or two content writers to your company may be costly, and it may take some time to find the right person. Over the long run though, if you take content seriously and believe it is an important thing for your business, getting someone with skin in the game is crucial.
Often businesses will ask their employees to generate content, but they’ll invest some good money into a great editor, which is an equally important element to a strong content strategy.
Conclusion
For most businesses, content mills are probably not the best idea. You can variable quality and they don’t have the skin in the game required to build out new and interesting ideas. In the beginning stages of a content program, this is crucial. even in the later stages, it’s important you continue to produce top notch content for your reputation’s sake.
However, content mills are cheap, and if you have a backlog of cheap and easy content to produce, they can be awesome for scaling that out economically.
You can also hire and fire them with ease, so as a business owner, you can get great optionality.
In any case, content mills are a good idea for some businesses some of the time, but definitely not for all businesses all of the time.
Diana Nadim is a writer and editor who has a Masters degree in Marketing. She combines her passion for writing with her interest in research and creates thought-provoking content in various fields. Diana also runs her own 3to5Marketing blog. What inspires her the most in her writing is traveling and meeting new people. Follow her on Twitter.
