In this article, we’re taking a look at Textun, a content writing service with a rather straight-forward business model. We’ll outline Textun’s business model, how their freelance writers work, and provide a comprehensive review of their services. If you’re interested in content services for your business or website offered by vetted expert writers, then read on to see whether Textun is for you.

What is Textun?

Textun is a content writing service for business and website-owners looking to outsource their content creation. For things like blog writing, content marketing, social media posts, SEO content, and more, a content writer can help boost your business’s internet presence. Textun focuses on providing quality, affordable content on a wide range of focus topics, in a variety of different styles.

Textun’s content writing service offerings are relatively straight-forward and simplified. They work with you to create high quality content that suits your needs, your business, and your brand voice. Textun specializes in blog content, website content, product content/affiliate content, product reviews, and more.

Textun employs talented writers who are all native English speakers, with a wealth of expertise on various subject matters. No matter the content you are looking for, Textun will have a writer that is up to the task. All content is fully custom, unique, and ownership is 100% yours. Perhaps most notably, prices are extremely competitive, making Textun one of the cheapest content services available (with prices becoming increasingly more affordable the more you order). Below, we’ll examine the pros & cons of Textun’s service offerings. But first, let’s take a closer look at what you can expect from the process.

Textun Content Creation Process

In order to get an accurate idea of whether a service is right for you, it’s best to start with an understanding of what that service offers. Textun has a relatively standardized process for creating content. This is largely why they are able to keep prices so low.

Once you purchase a content order, Textun will work with you to pin down the type of content that matches your business’s needs. This includes your brand voice, your target market, the style of content (blog, review, newsletter, etc.), and your content goals. From there, they’ll create briefs for your content, and assign the work to a content writer who is suited to the task.

Depending on your deadlines, Textun’s freelancer will turn around the content in a few days. Textun edits all content for syntax and grammar before submitting. They also offer unlimited revisions on all content.

Like we said, it’s pretty standard stuff from a content creation service. Because of this, Textun offers one of the most affordable services around. It also offers content that is rather formulaic, but that’s not always a bad thing. Next, let’s take a deep dive into the pros & cons of Textun’s service offerings.

Pros

Quick and Cheap

As we outlined above, Textun offers relatively basic content. Because of their streamlined approach, Textun is able to turn-around projects quite quickly. Additionally, their prices are able to stay well below much of their competition. It really depends on what you prioritize in a content service. Textun provides quality content that meets your needs, but it is all rather standardized and formulaic. It’s also fast, predictable, and very affordable. If you need a lot of content fast, and you aren’t looking to pay exorbitant prices, then Textun is a decent choice.

Quality Writers

Textun vets all their writers, and they employ a team of writers that are knowledgeable on a wide range of subject matter (travel, fitness, marketing, finance, and so on). Every writer employed by Textun is a native English speaker, and we’ve found quality to be pretty consistent across different subject matter. Don’t expect creative masterpieces or in-depth technical guidebooks. But Textun’s writers provide consistent quality, which is just about all you can expect for the price.

Cons

SEO is Lacking

One significant knock on Textun is their notable lack of in-depth SEO techniques. Unlike many other content services, Textun won’t extensively “optimize” your content for search engine discoverability. They don’t make significant use of keywords, link-building, or other proven SEO techniques. That being said, Textun does write content with your brand voice and goals in mind. It’s still relevant content for your business, and generating content on its own is a big part of SEO. But if you’re looking for content that will be consistently competitive on Google, you need to be prepared to spend a little more.

Formulaic Content

As we’ve noted throughout this article, Textun has a very streamlined process for creating content. You won’t be getting anything revolutionary. Additionally, because Textun employs so many writers, it’s impossible to guarantee that all the content you buy will be of a consistent quality. But that can be said about almost any content writing service. Formulaic content isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, it is often ideal web content, because it is well organized and quite readable. But if you want to separate yourself from the pack, it isn’t always the best choice. As is the case with most of the factors on this list, it really depends what you are looking for for your business.

What Do We Think? You Get What You Pay For

So, the bottom line – what do we think of Textun?

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Textun isn’t a cheap service, but it’s certainly not a “premium” service either. With Textun, you get reliable, well-written web content that will help your business generate web traffic. You also get it for a more-than-fair price. But you won’t get the extensive SEO optimization tools that you’d get from a more extensive (and pricier) content writing service.

Textun is great if content quantity is your goal. You can get lots of content on lots of different topics, and they’ll turn it around quickly. Their editors ensure an acceptable level of quality with anything that gets published, but don’t be expecting a New York Times level of writing aptitude.

Textun is what it is, and that will be more than enough for many. The important part is to have realistic expectations, and to know which content is needed for your business to succeed. If your content needs aren’t overly complex, then we would recommend Textun. If you’re looking for a content service that has SEO optimization built into its service offering, consider Content Refined.

Copify is a popular content marketing service, but it is positioned in a market that has stiff competition. For high quality content, it’s best to take a look at where the experienced, established writers are to see where your business can find top-quality written content, blog writing, article writing, and copywriting service. In this article, we’ll give you a rundown of Copify’s service offerings, and also examine the top Copify alternatives for you to consider.

What is Copify?

Copify’s business model is very similar to competing content services. They offer a variety of writing services, including blogs, web content, articles, newsletters, and so on. As a client, you select the type of work you want, provide a content brief (or work with Copify to create one), and then select whether you want a “standard” article or a “professional” article. Professional articles are written by a more experienced writer, and cost slightly more. From there, Copify sends the brief to one of their qualified writers, who usually turns it around in under 48-hours.

It’s all pretty standard stuff, but what sets Copify’s content strategy apart is its low, low prices. Copify’s rates vary depending on the work, but it starts at around $0.03/word. Needless to say, their writers get paid even less than that, which makes it difficult for Copify to attract talented writers. Because of this, quality can be somewhat shaky. So if you’re looking for a content writing service with a more consistent reputation, consider our alternatives below:

Copify Alternatives

Scripted

Scripted has a similar business model to most of the content services on this list. The difference with Scripted is the quality of their writing team. Scripted accepts under 2% of writers who apply, and pays them above market rates, giving them a top-notch batch of writing talent.

Scripted also has a very intuitive platform. Clients sign up in a matter of minutes, outline the work they want done, and Scripted uses its SmartMatch system to match the work with a capable writer. Yes, all this means that Scripted is more expensive than most of its competitors. But if you want quality content, you need to pay for it. You get what you pay for, as the saying goes. Plus, Scripted is trusted by some pretty major brands, including Adidas, Adobe, L’Oreal, and Ticketmaster.

Content Refined

Content Refined offers content writing services with an extra emphasis on SEO. All of their work is optimized for keywords and relevance, which is a nice touch. Content Refined pairs you with a project manager, who works with you to craft a content brief that meets your content goals. You can be as hands-on or hands-off as you wish during the process. From there, work is assigned to their team of writers, who will deliver the content based on your desired turnaround time. Content Refined has developed a reputation for high-quality content that converts. They are SEO experts, and you can expect them to deliver content to get your business noticed.

UpWork

UpWork is much more than just a content writing service. On UpWork, you’ll find freelance professionals of all sorts. UpWork allows freelancers to create profiles showing off their work. After they complete jobs, clients can rate their work. The best freelancers naturally rise to the top on UpWork, which makes it easy for clients to find quality content writing. This being said, quality work on UpWork doesn’t come cheap. Professional writers know their value, and you’ll have to spend if you want to guarantee quality writing. But unlike many other content writing services, UpWork gives you a direct line of communication with the writer, and you can work together to craft a content brief that precisely meets your goals.

Compose.ly

Compose.ly, like Scripted above, puts a special emphasis on retaining top-quality talent. Compose.ly boasts that they only accept the top 1% of writers who apply, indicating that they are picky about who gets to write for their clients. Compose.ly works with you to craft a content brief that meets your business goals, and also offers basic SEO services for all clients. As you might expect, Compose.ly is more expensive than your average content marketing service. But if you want top quality writing, you need to be willing to shell out a bit extra. Compose.ly is a trusted service, having worked with brands such as Pacific Life, Mail Chimp, and Avvo.

Content Fly

Content Fly is also positioned as a “premium” content writing service. Like certain competitors above, Content Fly accepts only the top 1% of writers who apply. Clients can review each writer’s content, and only writers with consistently high reviews will stay on the platform. It’s a cutthroat environment, but the writers are paid well, so those who stick around are happy to work. And as a client, you benefit from a team of writers with consistent success. Being a relatively new company, Content Fly offers pretty competitive rates. They aren’t the cheapest service, but it’s fair value for what is offered. They also offer free rewrites and touch-ups on all work.

Verblio

Of all the services on our list, Verblio has the most unique approach. As a client, you submit a brief to Verblio outlining the work you want done. The brief is uploaded to a writer portal, where Verblio’s writers get the chance to write the content if it meets their expertise. Multiple writers can tackle the same project – essentially “competing” for the client’s business. Once completed, the client can review each piece, and accept the work they like best. If you’re willing to dig for it, Verblio offers potential to find consistently high-quality content.

Which Should I Choose?

As you can see, the content writing space is competitive. With so many services offering similar value offerings, the difference often comes down to execution. In this article, we examine some of our favorite alternatives to Copify. In fact, we’d recommend any of these services over Copify itself! To find success with a content writing service, you need to have an accurate understanding of your goals. Know your business, know your business goals, and know how content will help you achieve those goals. From there, you can work with one of these services to create exactly what you’re looking for.

NOTE: Percolate was acquired by Seismic, and is now integrated into the Seismic platform. It seems like it offers similar functionality, so this article focuses on Seismic’s platform instead.

In this article, we’re examining two popular content marketing platforms – Percolate and Contently. Both platforms are built to integrate directly into your business’s content marketing activity, allowing for comprehensive planning, creation, and monitoring of content. Content marketing is a competitive landscape, so taking a look at how each platform’s content creation and marketing strategy will help understand how each company can work for you.  We’ll run down each platform, and help you decide which of these content marketers work best for you!

Contently Overview

The Platform

Contently is designed as a comprehensive content marketing platform. This platform is designed for use by businesses as a way to plan, monitor, and organize their content marketing strategy from end-to-end. Contently operates on a subscription basis, with a subscription netting clients access to the platform.

Contently advertises a “data driven content strategy.” Contently’s platform uses its own StoryBook proprietary technology, which analyzes a businesses’ content strategy to predict which content will have the biggest impact going forward. StoryBook is specific to the type of content, the length of the content, the tone of the content, and much more. Once content ideas have been generated, Contently matches businesses with a network of freelancers who have the skills to create the content. Once created, Contently’s own AI software optimizes for SEO, and it can be published. From there, there are multiple tools for tracking the content’s performance, and what to focus on going forward.

Pricing

Contently’s pricing scheme isn’t as straightforward as other content marketing services. To get accurate pricing info, you have to book a consultation, where a member of Contently’s team will assess your business needs. The price varies based on the size of your business, and how many people will need access to the platform. A subscription to Contently also nets you access to Contently’s premium network of freelance professionals. Contently matches you with professionals based on your content needs, and you have the opportunity to build a working relationship with each professional. Freelancers on Contently’s platform are capable of everything from content writing to videography to illustration and more. But do note that you will be responsible for paying these freelancers, as Contently’s platform only provides the matchmaking.

Pros

• Comprehensive content marketing platform.
• End-to-end solutions for planning, executing, optimizing, and monitoring content.
• Taps you into a premium network of freelance professionals.
• User-friendly, streamlined UX. 

Cons

• Requires a major commitment from your marketing team. Contently needs to be integrated into your overall marketing strategy.
• Expensive.

Seismic Overview

About Seismic

Seismic is a comprehensive sales & marketing enablement platform. Like Contently, it is designed to be integrated into a business’s overall operations. But unlike Contently, it covers a lot more than just content strategy. Seismic is built to be the backbone of your business’s entire marketing efforts. But for the purpose of this article, we’ll be focusing on a specific application within Seismic’s entire platform – its “Content Delivery” application.

The Content Delivery Application

Seismic’s Content Delivery application is designed to help a business predict, create, and deliver actionable content across a business’s entire operations. Unlike Contently, Seismic is less about creating content, and more about sharing content throughout an organization.

If this sounds confusing, it sort of is, but that’s a good thing in this case. Seismic’s content delivery will automatically send content to certain teams based on their role in the business. For example, if a certain sales team is frequently dealing with customers in a certain industry, Seismic will automatically send them news content which is relevant to that industry. This allows the team to stay on top of current news and events, and provide them with a strategic advantage when talking to clients.

Seismic’s NewsCenter gives an administrator control over which news content is sent to which teams, and allows them to add commentary, explaining its relevance. You can also create custom landing pages for different teams, allowing them to access all of this information at their own leisure. There’s a capable search function if they prefer a more hands-on approach. We know, that’s a lot to take in at once. If you only want one takeaway, just know that Seismic is a tool for delivering relevant content across an organization to help teams succeed.

The Cost

Seismic, like Contently, doesn’t come cheap. Remember that the Content Delivery application is just a single tool in a much larger platform. Seismic is, at its core, a platform to support and manage an organization’s entire sales staff, and these types of software do not come cheap. Like Contently, you’ll need to book a consultation, and a member of Seismic’s team can evaluate your needs and provide a quote.

Pros

• Proven sales & marketing management software.
• Allows teams to receive relevant content when they need it.
• Comprehensive tools to share, discover, and customize content.
• Designed to facilitate and improve sales numbers.

Cons

• Not a tool for creating content. If that’s what you’re after, consider Contently.
• Requires extensive onboarding and training.

Contently vs. Seismic

At the end of the day, there are few reasons a business would be debating between Contently and Seismic. Both are designed for very different purposes. And while both platforms offer very capable content solutions, they barely overlap in their functionality.

If you are looking for a platform to help you create, manage, and optimize marketing content (content used to promote your business) then the clear choice is Contently. Contently is designed to facilitate this process, and the platform helps businesses create content that converts.

If you are looking for a platform for discovering content for internal use, then Seismic is the winner. Seismic helps you manage relevant content across your business, and gets it to your team when they need it to succeed. But do note that Seismic’s content management application is just a small part of a much larger platform. No matter the choice, both platforms require a fundamental shift in how you do business. Both are platforms designed to act as a “backbone” for parts of your business, and require significant investments. If you’re looking for a more basic content creation service, consider Content Refined.

iWriter is a popular content writing service Using this freelance platform, iWriter advertises premium writing skill and service for rock-bottom prices. However, as is the case with many service offerings of this nature, some have found it too good to be true. In this article, we’ll examine whether it lives up to these lofty claims, and also give you several iWriter alternatives to consider.

What is iWriter?

iWriter, at first glance, is your standard content writing service. They work with thousands of writers to mass-produce written content pieces, and offer their service at very competitive prices. iWriter allows clients to purchase different ”tiers” of website content, depending on how much work, research, and SEO optimization they require. That being said, even at the ”Elite Plus” tier, iWriter’s prices are very low. The most you can spend for 1000 words of content is $72.

Of course, working backwards, lower priced content means lower paid writers. Therefore, it’s not reasonable to expect that iWriter’s writer base is comparable to what you’d expect from a more expensive service. That’s not to say that you can’t find talented writers on the platform, just that top quality writers know their worth. All this being said, if you’re looking for a more reliable content writing service, let’s check out some alternatives:

Alternatives to iWriter

UpWork

UpWork is less of a content writing service and more of a ”freelance marketplace.” On UpWork, freelancers of any kind can create a profile, advertising their services to the world. Freelancers list their experience, list their expertise, and set their own prices. Clients can review their work, so the most talented freelancers rise to the top. As a client, you submit a proposal, and freelancers can contact you about the work (or vice versa). If you’re willing to put the time into building relationships on UpWork, there is fantastic content writing to be found. Just be sure to clearly outline your content goals in your proposal to increase your chances of finding the best match.

Compose.ly

Compose.ly is quite similar in principle to iWriter. The main difference is in quality. iWriter carefully vets its writers, claiming to accept less than 1% of those who apply. iWriter also pays its writers much higher rates, which also means their service is quite a bit more expensive. But the level of quality tends to be much more reliable as well. Basically, you can expect high quality content from Compose.ly, but you can also expect to pay more for it.

Compose.ly also offers basic SEO optimization for their writing services. Compose.ly performs keyword research, and optimizes content to help it rank on Google. Compose.ly positions themselves as a premium content writing service, and we’ve found that they uphold this reputation. They are more expensive than iWriter, but the difference is noticeable.

Verblio

Verblio has a rather unique setup in managing proposals and assignments. As a client, you submit proposals to have content written. You have a chance to outline your brand voice, content goals, and content outlines. From there, the proposal is uploaded to a writer portal, where Verblio’s pre-vetted team of writers can access the work, and write the content if it matches their expertise. Essentially, multiple writers can “compete” for your proposal.

Once the work is completed, you are free to review it, and you can accept the content that you like best. As long as you are willing to put in the effort to review the work yourself, you are likely to find something you are happy with. Verblio is priced competitively, and their writing team is competent. If their unique business model sounds good to you, then give them a shot.

Content Fly

Content Fly is a new company, but they’ve developed a solid reputation. Similar to Compose.ly, Content Fly invests their efforts into hiring top writers, claiming to accept less than 1% of those who apply. Also similar to Compose.ly, they charge more than their competitors for content. In other words, you can expect quality content from Content Fly. Content Fly offers a streamlined platform. It only takes a few minutes to join and submit a proposal. Proposals can be as detailed or basic as you want, but we recommend you clearly lay out your goals so you’re happy with the work you receive. Once a proposal is submitted, you can expect your work within a few days.

Content Refined

Content Refined takes a bit more of a personal approach to content writing. From the outset, you’ll be paired with a project manager, who will work with you to outline your content goals, brand voice, and so on. From there, they’ll work with you to create a custom content plan, which includes SEO tactics to help content rank. From there, they’ll pass on the work to one of their pre-vetted writers, and the work will be completed according to the deadline. Content Refined works with a diverse group of writers, who have expertise on many different subjects and topics. If you’re looking for a more personalized approach, check them out!

The Bottom Line – Pick The Service Best For You

In this article, we’ve given you a wealth of options to choose from for your content writing needs. The best choice is just the choice that best matches your needs. Before you consider any content writing service, you need to consider what you are looking to achieve with your content. Examine your business, examine your goals, and decide how content will help you meet those goals. This way, you’ll be able to work with a content provider to create a proposal to help your business succeed.

There are many quality options above, but it will be difficult to be satisfied with any option if you don’t know what you’re looking for. We hope you’ve found our list helpful. We know it can be difficult to sift through the crowded content marketing space. Good luck in your next content endeavor!