Here at Crowd Content, our team of top-ranked writers craft killer web content, blog posts, product descriptions, press releases, and white papers.
Clear, in-depth instructions are key to getting the content you need when you need it.
To help you get the content you need, we’ve prepared a list of tips outlining what info should be included in your next Crowd Content order.
Download Our Instructions Template Here
1. General Company Information
When placing a content order, be sure to include the following info:
- The URL where the content will be published
- The name of the company or organization that the content represents
- Key Competitors
Including general company information is critical for your writer. Having your company’s name and website provides them with a jumping-off point for their research. The writer will have the opportunity to see for themselves, the content that you have previously produced and ensure that what they are creating falls in line with your brand.
Including a list of your competitors will also help with the initial research for your order by showing your writer other companies who are completing the same space as you and if/how they’ve covered similar topics in the past
2. Brand Positioning
Let your writer know who your target audience is by outlining:
- The age range of your audience
- Where your audience lives (city/state/region/country)
- Level of education of your readers
You’ll also want to explain what motivates your audience to visit your website. Is your audience looking for information on a specific product or service, or solutions to a particular problem?
If there are any topics you feel your writer should not cover it is important to list them in your instructions. This could include a reference to a particular product, place or service, or links to your competitors.
Including a description of your brand promise will allow the writer to quickly step into the doors of your company car. For example, Crowd Content’s brand promise is to deliver High-quality, publish-ready content at scale.
3. Specify Tone and Voice
What’s the tone of your branding materials? Is it light and fun, or serious and scholarly?
Let your writer know whether you want a casual, approachable tone or one that’s more structured and formal. For example, a casual tone might include the use of contractions (can’t vs. can not) while contractions are less common in content that has a formal tone.
You’ll also need to let your writer know what point of view you’d like them to use. Content can be crafted in the first-person (I/we perspective), second-person (you/your), or third-person (they/them).
Most online content uses either the second-person or third-person perspective, or a combination of the two. The first-person perspective is usually reserved for diaries, novels, short stories, and social media posts.
4. Project Description
What’s the goal of your content?
Do you want to promote a specific product or service, answer a frequently-asked question, or boost your position as a subject matter expert? Do you want to include a call to action like “Buy now”, Or “Sign up here.”?
This is a great section to include topic or heading suggestions for your content.
For example, If I were ordering a blog post about creating a case study, I would list out the following for my writer.
Create an informative piece that this audience will find value in, ranking for search terms.
Topics to cover:
- What is a case study?
- How do you use case studies?
- Benefits of case studies
- Formats for case studies – pdf, blog posts, video, etc
- Process for creating a case study
- Templates – list out common sections
- Questions to ask and data to get
- Examples of good case studies
- Tips and tricks – Any others you’d like
5. Add Examples
See a blog post you like? Spot a web page that you’d like to emulate on your own site?
Sharing examples of the type of content you want with your writer is an easy way to ensure your order will come out exactly the way you want.
You can do this by providing the link to the existing content along with notes.
6. Specify Formatting Requirements
Think about what you’d like your content to look like.
Do you want your writer to break down the content into bulleted or numbered lists, or stick to using paragraphs? Will you be adding videos and still images when you publish the content?
Let your writer know in advance how you’d like your content laid out. Including information on HTML heading requirements or bulleted/numbered lists allows the writer to follow your desired format.
Note: We also have some great platform tools to help with structuring content. If you’d like to learn more about Layouts, contact our customer success team.
7. Include SEO Info
Be sure to include any details on how you want your content to be optimized on-page. if you have internal or external linking be sure to include that information for the writer
If there are any keywords, phrases, or industry-specific terms you’d like included in your copy, list them out in your instructions. It’s also important to mention the placement and usage of keywords your copy requires.