In this article, we’re comparing two popular content marketing platforms – Gather Content and Contentful. If you aren’t familiar with these platforms, they both share the goal of helping a business manage, create, and optimize their content marketing. We’ll be examining each digital platform, their content model, and letting you know which is best for your digital content business.
Gather Content
Gather Content is, as they put it, a “content operations platform.” Essentially, it’s a comprehensive digital platform designed to help businesses manage, plan, and implement a content marketing campaign and strategy. If that all sounds a little vague and open-ended, it is, but only because Gather Content has such a wide array of features and content creation capabilities.
At the heart of the platform is the Content Hub. The centre of content operations, the Hub allows you to organize content across your entire organization. Anyone can access new, planned, or ongoing projects. Administrators can choose which team-members can access which content, and can assign work to different teams. The Hub also allows you to track processes, identify bottlenecks, search content, develop a content strategy, and more. It’s a comprehensive organization tool for planning tasks that can usually become overwhelming.
But the Content Hub is far from all that’s on offer with Gather Content. It also has dedicated tools for predicting, planning, and creating content. The Content Planning tool helps teams see which content they are responsible for, and they can use Gather Content’s templates and style guides to complete the work. At its core, Gather Content is a good organizational tool and content management system. With modern businesses and marketing departments requiring such an enormous amount of structured content, it’s helpful to have a platform that connects everyone, and keeps all workflows organized and on-track. But as with any platform, you have to give your team time to learn its ins and outs.
Pricing
Pricing for Gather Content is done on a subscription basis. You can choose to pay monthly or annually, with some added bonuses for an annual plan. There are 3 basic plans available for Gather Content, that scale up based on the number of concurrent projects, rather than the number of users. Gather Content’s “Start” plan allows for 3 concurrent projects for $99/month, the “Scale” plan allows for 15 concurrent projects for $299/month, and the “Transform” plan allows for 60 concurrent projects for $799/month. There are also other caveats that you can find here. Gather Content also offers plans for larger organizations, but you’ll need to book an individual consultation.
Contentful
Contentful operates within the same space as Gather Content, offering a comprehensive platform for managing content. According to Contentful, their content platform “aggregates, structures, and delivers content across an organization’s digital footprint.
At the core of Contentful’s service offering is the Content Platform. The content platform provides a central hub for creating, planning, and managing content. Team members have access to the central hub, where there are extensive tools to organize content workflow. The Content Hub brings together team-members to seamlessly create content. Designers, creators, editors, and marketers all have access, and work simultaneously with developers and publishers to share content across all the organizations’ channels and mediums.
Pricing
Perhaps where Contentful differs most from Gather Content is their pricing structure. Rather than paying per concurrent project, you pay for the amount of people on the platform. The pricing is a little convoluted, but we expect that’s by design. The only advertised price is for the “Team” tier, which starts at $489/month. Bigger organizations will have to book a consultation with Contentful.
Which is For You?
At the end of the day, Contentful and Gather Content are very similar content platforms. Both are geared toward helping an organization create, manage, plan, and share content. Both are meant as organizational tools, rather than tools for creating content. Your decision may come down to which platform your organization likes best, or which platform offers your organization the best deal! Do note that both platforms are extensive, and require real buy-in from members across your organization. The platforms are only as effective as the commitment they receive from your team. If everyone works together to create and share, you’ll be much happier with the results. This also means that you’ll need to dedicate time and resources toward training & onboarding team-members onto the platform.
Conclusion
Thanks for checking out our head-to-head comparison of Gather Content and Contentful, two content management softwares that we like for different reasons. Once again, these are platforms for managing content, not creating it. If your organization is looking for help creating high-quality content to share, consider Content Refined.
As it is rightly said, content is king, and this has never been more relatable than today. Every business and website needs content to tell users what they offer, enhance customer engagement, and take advantage of SEO strategies to drive traffic.
Writing business content or blogs for your website can be a tedious job. It requires a certain level of expertise and isn’t nearly as easy as you might think, which is why hiring a competent writer is so important.
What Should You Look for in a Writer?
Content for your business and website needs to be informative and free of fluff. It acts as the primary source of marketing for your company.
Visitors read your website content and immediately make an impression about the brand. That is why it is necessary to have relevant content for your business done in a sophisticated style. When hiring writers, ask yourself:
Do they understand your brand?
Do they have writing experience?
How knowledgeable are they in your niche?
Can they write original content? (You’ll be surprised how many cannot.)
You can hire a full-time or freelance writer with the required skills and good knowledge of your industry. Now, the question is, where to find these content developers? We understand that it is not easy for you to develop high-quality content for your business – but which content platform should you go to?
Several content writing service platforms are out there where you can find thousands of skilled writers and editors. This article compares two popular content writing services to give you better insight into these platforms and help you find the perfect candidate.
iWriter.com is one of the best TextBroker alternatives. This unique content developing solution was designed by a former affiliate marketer and online business owner.
It may not be as sophisticated as other content sites, but they offer a handful of management services for your project.
iWriter offers a simple system to find suitable writers for your projects and requires you to pay in advance to its registered bank or Paypal account.
As per many clients and writers associated with this site, some of iWriter’s web pages have technical glitches. However, it constantly updates the website to fix them.
If you are looking for regular content for your business, iWritter can serve you with decent content at an affordable price. But, when you need good quality content, this platform is not the best choice.
It’s a hit-and-miss here – you may not find unique content even from the high-end writers on this site.
Pros
iWritter has a lower commission rate than TextBroker, which allows you to save some money.
You can quickly submit your projects with detailed descriptions.
Cons
Writers have reported that sometimes articles disappear when they try to fetch them.
You need to pay a portion of the project fee in advance to prove your authenticity.
It takes extra time for writers to claim your project.
The rejection rate by clients is relatively high.
There is a limited description space for the writer’s profile.
Upwork is a massive worldwide platform for all types of freelancers, not just writers.
You may find a skilled writer if you are lucky; however, the sheer number of freelancers registered on this site makes the good ones harder to find.
As this is not a dedicated content writing platform, it does not help you with anything except connecting to a freelance writer.
You may hire a writer on Upwork and pay them at hourly or per-project rates. Upwork will charge you 2.5% on each transaction.
As a client, you need to be practical about the pricing. You cannot expect high-quality content paying $2 to $5 per hour. If you offer too little for a project, it attracts only low-end writers and even spambots.
Pros
Compared to the exclusive content services, the processing fee is low.
You can hire a good writer at an affordable rate, but it can take weeks to find one.
You can contact the writers directly.
Cons
Finding a suitable candidate on this site may be a tedious job.
Even if you hire the highest bidder, you cannot be sure the candidate is competent.
You have to monitor and manage the project yourself or hire another freelancer.
Summary
We have compared two leading content writing services to help you evaluate the better option.
Remember that there are many more content-developing platforms out there, and these are not the best options to choose from.
You may try them out to see if these two sites can meet the quality standards that you need for your business. If you are not satisfied, you are free to switch to a better alternative. If you want well-constructed content with excellent SEO, Content Refined might be the best option for you.
Well-developed content is the key to effective branding, but finding good content writing services for your business is harder than it seems.
Branding is the process of influencing customers to perceive your business in a particular way. It’s much more than catchy taglines and colorful logos. Engaging, consistent, and high-quality content impacts your audience much more than any other branding technique.
Creating cohesive content as a way promote your company cannot be overlooked. In fact, 11.58% of marketers agree that creating original content is the most effective way to promote a brand, outperforming even videos and other graphics.
As a business owner, you may not have time to create original content. You have enough to do running the business. Even if you do have. some time to devote to content development, it’s not as easy as it looks. Creating effective, high-quality content requires expertise, including SEO knowledge, writing skills, and finding the right tone.
If you don’t have the time to create your own content or want something engaging and effective but aren’t sure how to get it, don’t worry. There are many content writing services out there with thousands of skilled writers who can deliver just what you need.
Your List of the Top 10 Content Writing Services
Your search for the ideal content developer ends today. Here are ten of the best content writing services that can create the content you’ve been dreaming of.
Media Shower only hires professional journalists with extensive knowledge of a massive range of subjects to ensure they provide you with high-quality content every time. Their experts review each piece thoroughly before sending anything to clients.
Unlike other content services, you do not have to hire an individual writer. When you place an order on Media Shower, you hire a group of qualified writers and a dedicated editor to work collaboratively on your project.
Media Shower offers custom pricing based on the content type and length, industry, and target audience.
Key Features:
All writers on Media Shower are experienced with excellent track records.
This service provides just about any type of content, including articles, blogs, brochures, and even social media posts.
They offer complete content development and management services. You just need to place an order, sit back, and wait.
Media Shower offers custom pricing and lets you know the cost of a project before confirming your order.
Pros
Media Shower offers full-service marketing, a valuable tool for business owners looking to outsource marketing.
You can rest assured that your project is in safe hands. The experienced pool of Media Shower writers ensures that each project meets the quality standards.
Expert editors review all the content developed at Media Shower.
It is the ultimate solution to all of your content marketing needs.
Cons
The overall cost of developing a project on this platform is pretty high. Considering the experienced associates and the quality of the content they deliver, we do not feel their pricing is reasonable.
You cannot contact any of the Media Shower writers directly or appoint them to your company. Instead, you have to pay the monthly fees to work with their writers.
Content Refined is a high-end content development solution and the toughest competitor to Media Shower in terms of quality. The platform offers standard packages for developing, editing, and releasing website content.
Jon , the author of Website Income, is the founder of this content writing platform.
The best part about working with this company is that it has expert supervisors to monitor the production stage. Content Refined is the ultimate SEO solution for better search engine rankings.
Compared to Media Shower, Content Refined offers its services at a more reasonable price. It may be more expensive than regular content services, but you should expect to pay more for premium content.
Key Features
Expert writers naturally integrate keywords in your project for better optimization.
Unlike Media Shower, registration with Content Refined is not limited to professional journalists. But dedicated editors ensure that each piece of content meets the same quality standards.
The platform includes extensive descriptions and portfolios in the writers’ profiles.
Content Refined has fixed rates per word. So, you do not have to pay extra for complex projects.
Besides offering full-time content production and management services, Content Refined offers effective marketing assistance to its clients.
Pros
Content Refined is a complete content solution that will help you grow your business.
You can easily contact their project managers to place an order or inquiry.
It offers additional services for keyword research and usage.
The company has a fixed rate per word and offers custom pricing for interested clients.
Cons
There aren’t many disadvantages of using Content Refined. They might charge more than other platforms, but they deliver way better content.
If you want mediocre content at a cheaper price, then you might choose other alternatives.
Upwork is a massive worldwide platform where you can hire all types of freelancers, not just writers.
There are skilled writers on UpWork, and you may find one – if you’re lucky. The sheer number of freelancers registered on this site makes it hard to find the right fit.
As this is not a dedicated content writing platform, all it does is match you with a writer. You and your freelancer have to work together to develop a content plan.
When you hire a writer on Upwork, you can pay them at an hourly or per-project rate. Upwork charges you 2.5% on each transaction.
As a client, you need to be practical about the pricing. UpWork might seem like a cheaper solution since you’re working one-on-one with a writer and can negotiate your rates. But remember, you get what you pay for. You cannot expect high-quality content when paying $2 to $5 per hour or when you’re only offering $10 for 1,000 words. If you offer too little for a project, it attracts low-end writers and even spambots.
Pros
Compared to the exclusive content services, the processing fee is low.
You can hire a good writer at an affordable rate, but it can take weeks to find the right one.
You can contact the writers directly.
Cons
Finding a suitable candidate may be a tedious job since so many freelancers are registered on the platform.
You have to vet the writers yourself, and you cannot be sure what candidates are competent.
You have to monitor and manage the project yourself or hire another freelancer to help.
TextBroker is a unique content service platform where you can find thousands of professional writers. Client reviews and ratings on each writer’s profile help you get some insight into their skills and competency.
What is unique about this platform is that it offers original content in ten different languages. TextBroker also offers complete content management services at $25.00 per project.
Pros
It offers a massive pool of writers with more than 100,000 available.
TextBroker has ten different platforms, each dedicated to a particular language.
You can hire the best writers on this platform at an astonishing 25 cents per word rate.
Cons
TextBroker charges higher processing fees than other content services.
Its project management services are expensive as well.
The writer profiles do not have enough room for sufficient information, making it difficult to determine their skill level.
Writer Access is an intuitive and user-friendly platform where you can find competent writers for your business. It has a relatively small writers’ pool with approximately 15,000 writers.
Writer Access has categorized its writers into six groups based on their experience, skills, and subject of expertise, and you can access them for a meager processing fee. Each category also has a fixed hourly rate; however, you may offer a flat rate and wait for interested candidates to contact you.
This site allows you to search profiles for the skillsets you need. Writers can add more than 300 skillsets to their bio.
You can subscribe to their premium plan at $39 per month with no minimum commitment; however, you can try out this platform with a 14-day free trial membership to determine if it’s right for you.
Writer Access also offers project management services at an additional cost of $349.
Pros
This platform allows you to take as much time as you need to locate the perfect candidate for your project.
Its management services cover all your requirements.
You can post an open project where writers bid to claim it and hire a freelancer from the interested candidates.
Cons
There are a limited group of writers to choose from.
Its pricing is set way too high considering sites like Content Refined offer more advanced services at lower rates.
Mixed customer reviews create confusion regarding the accuracy and quality of the content. We recommend hiring a writer from the top category for a better experience.
Constant Content is a paradise for those looking for freelance writers, and you can connect to an experienced content developer in no time.
This content writing service is one of the most expensive for business owners. We call it the writers’ paradise because a writer can demand any amount they please for a project.
Moreover, the website charges a whopping 35% processing fee from its writers per project, adding to the total cost.
Constant Content is one of the most reliable writing platforms. It tests the competency and grammar skills of each writer before they can register on the site. But we’re not sure this justified the expense.
Pros
You can order content in multiple ways, whichever suits you.
Although the writers have the privilege of deciding the price of a project, you get many options to choose from. Knowing that each writer can develop high-quality original content is reassuring.
Ordering on Constant Content ensures you grammatically perfect and well-structured content.
Cons
You can never get the upper hand in negotiation.
Its review process is too lengthy.
You cannot contact the writers directly.
In addition to the high cost of content, this platform charges a 35% processing fee.
Zerys is the go-to content writing platform for small and medium-sized businesses and freelancers. Here, you can reach out to a writer at your convenience, or you may post an open project for writers to bid on.
Zerys offers excellent customer support and allows you to request a revision if you are not satisfied with a delivered project. You only pay for the content after you get a well-structured project that you’re happy with.
This service is the bridge that connects business owners like you to skilled content developers, and it also offers content management and marketing services at an additional cost.
Pros
You can check the client rating on the writers’ profiles to verify their competency before hiring them.
You pay for a project only when you are 100% satisfied with its content. Otherwise, you may request revisions as many times as you want.
You can find writers with an hourly rate as low as $0.01, but you will mostly find amateur candidates at this rate.
Cons
Editing services are not included in the project fees.
You cannot hire management and marketing services, even if you are willing to make an additional payment.
The client rating system is often confusing, as the same writer may have five-star and two-star reviews.
iWriter.com is among the best content development platforms. It is a distinctive service provider designed by a former affiliate marketer and online business owner. iWriter.com’s interface may not be as sophisticated as other content services, but they offer experienced and skilled creators.
The web pages on the platform are simple and easy to navigate. You can quickly locate suitable candidates for your project, but you have to make an advance payment to prove your authenticity.
Many client reviews and writers’ feedback suggest that some of its web pages have technical glitches, and projects may often disappear.
Pros
iWriter has a lower commission rate compared to other alternatives.
Project submission is a simple process on this website, and you can add a lot of details.
Cons
It may take days for a writer to claim your project.
The website contains a few technical glitches.
You must make an advance payment for submitting a project.
There are not many details about the writers in their profiles.
WordAgents is an American content creation platform that offers SEO articles and blogs. You can order content from this site to scale a website at an affordable price and rest assured that the content is 100% original and written by an SEO expert. The ordering process is simple and allows you to send proper instructions and outlines to the writer.
You can order individual projects, but WordAgents lets you order bulk content for fast delivery. The platform can deliver 10,000 words of content within 7 days, making it easy for business owners to develop all the content they require at once. Plus, you may enjoy significant discounts when ordering bulk content.
Pros
You can order content in bulk and save money.
Writers provide in-depth research and keyword optimization.
The content is developed by expert American writers.
It promises a proofreading and plagiarism check, fast delivery, and two rounds of revision.
Cons
Small orders can be expensive.
WordAgents offers content only in US English.
Management and marketing services are prices too high.
The last content writing service provider on our list is Verblio. This platform has more than 3,000 US-based developers to offer you a diverse content production service for different industries. You are likely to find an experienced writer with extensive knowledge of your industry.
Verblio claims to be a content marketing enthusiast with its widespread network. It offers various content styles, including eBooks, product descriptions, social media captions, and even video content.
If you subscribe to its Pro services, you gain access to topic ideas, content strategies, and SEO assistance. Verblio also offers an easy-to-use dashboard to check the status of your order, history, and pending projects.
This site is different from the alternatives. Here, multiple writers pick a project and submit their content on Verblio. You can review each project and choose the best one to purchase.
Pros
You can order all types of content on this site, and it offers topic brainstorming and SEO assistance.
There are flexible subscription plans to choose from.
High-quality content is available from niche industry professionals.
Several writers create content for you, and you choose the best among them.
Cons
It is very rare, but sometimes you may not find a writer for your projects.
You get to choose the content, but the writer gets to decide the price.
Final Thoughts
When you need a cohesive content strategy, finding the right content writing company is the key to success, but that’s not always easy to do. The ten content creation services we mentioned are some of the best options out there, and each has something unique to offer.
Remember, choosing the least expensive company isn’t always the best option. When it comes to content creation, you get what you pay for. Some of the writers on these platforms may be unprofessional or inexperienced, so choosing a company with a reputation for quality is essential.
Content is the key ingredient to successful marketing. Any business organization requires content creation to inform people about its offerings, products, and services.
Online businesses need much more content to describe their products and services in detail as their customers are mostly visiting them on the other side of a screen.
Content development for a business website requires a certain level of expertise. The content has to be well optimized for popular search engines and, of course, well-written.
For most small and medium-sized businesses, hiring a full-time professional writer is not an option. However, they can always assign their projects to freelance writers with a reasonable budget.
You can find thousands of skilled writers at various content development platforms. In this article, we compare two websites where you can easily connect to a freelance writer.
Constant Content is a website where people search for content developers to find a suitable candidate for the job.
It is one of the most expensive content development platforms as its writers set the price for each project. On top of that, Constant Content charges 35% of the cost, so the writers include that in their selling price.
There are three categories of writers on this platform. Some freelancers upload their articles into a catalog and wait for interested buyers to contact them. You might find a helpful blog in these catalogs, but it’s not a safe bet.
You may also post your projects on this site and wait for a suitable freelance writer to respond, but they will decide the fees.
Finally, there is a pool of writers where you can choose a skilled candidate based on the content you want. Here, the writers can demand high compensation, but at least you get several candidates to choose from.
What makes this site a formidable competitor in the industry is each of its writers has impeccable grammar. You can be sure that you are getting a piece that is well-written.
Pros
You can get content on just about any topic.
This site offers you a pool of writers capable of developing concise content.
You can place an order in multiple ways.
You can get grammatically perfect content from this site
TextBroker is a unique content development platform where you can connect to the best writers as this site offers more than 100,000 professionals.
Although TextBroker does not categorize its writers, you can check their deliverability to some extent through the client ratings.
Most importantly, this content broker offers its services in 10 different languages. TextBroker ensures that each writer on its platforms is from the respective country.
This site also offers management services at $25.00 per project.
You can have your content created at a much lower price than Constant Content. The highest-tier writers charge up to 25 cents per word.
Pros
You get to choose the perfect candidate from a pool of more than 100,00 writers.
It offers 10 different platforms. Each dedicated to a specific language.
The best writers do not charge more than 25 cents per word on this platform.
It allows you to place an open order and hire a suitable writer among those who are interested.
Cons
It has a higher commission rate compared to its competitors.
The project management services are priced too high.
Very little information is available about the writers.
Conclusion
Everybody wants the best value for their money. When paying for your business content, you expect it to be exceptionally well-written. The last thing you want as a business owner is to hire an incompetent and inexperienced writer.
Hopefully, this article will help you decide which of these sites is a better choice.
After comparing their pricing and offerings, it’s clear that TextBroker is way cheaper than Constant Content. But, with the second option, you can get better quality content.
If either of these sites does not seem right for you, don’t worry. There are plenty of other content development platforms where you can find the right candidate.
Despite providing grammatically correct and well-structured content, there are several disadvantages of hiring a writer on Constant Content. On the other hand, you may choose TextBroker as it suits your budget, but you will likely need to compromise quality.
You must check out our Content Refined Review to learn more about this better alternative to TextBroker and Constant Content. Besides providing complete development and management services, Content Refined is an expert in marketing your article and blogs.
Just about a year ago I sent you the first email about Content Refined, the content marketing company Maddie Taylor and I founded off of the back of my own content creation process for my money site portfolio. Happy Birthday Content Refined!
The company started with a tiny production team; a manager, two writers and a publisher. Our goals were to hit $10k monthly recurring revenue within 6 months. We quickly realized that this was a really cute goal. In January 2017, we started growing at a rate of 10% per week! This didn’t stop until we hit a bit of a plateau in July and August, but it has picked back up since, due to a few different marketing efforts, finding our ideal clients and word of mouth sales.
What makes Content Refined different from any other content marketing company is that we are very Data Driven!
Our mission at Content Refined is to push the science of Content Marketing forward by creating online content that is optimized to rank on search engines. We do extensive data analysis tests on the effect of different metrics on the performance of our articles in Google. This includes analyzing keyword metrics, word length and the use of various Content Marketing tools. Our tests continue to refine our Content Marketing strategies that will help you – and your business – succeed online.
Content Refined has grown into an agency of 4 full time Project Managers, and about 60 contractors! We’re publishing about 170 quality articles on a weekly basis!
With this being said, we have added a lot of value to Content Refined over the last year…. we’ve improved our systems,
Built a team of reliable, professional, experienced writers,
Manipulated and crunched data to help your content rank,
Hired dedicated management teams to personalize your experience,
Invested in a ton of content marketing tools
Just completed our first technology focused acquisition ferzy.com
We have done all this, having only raised our prices once over the last year, keeping it budget friendly for our clients.
In addition over the next months we will be rolling out a custom backend client dashboard that will allow allow all our customers to know exactly the status of all their orders at any point.
Well… we’ve made the business decision that we are at the point where we need to raise our prices in order to keep up this level of intensity across the board.
On Tuesday, we will be officially raising our prices, so if you would like to be grandfathered in to our current pricing structure, check out the prices and order before Tuesday!
