Each company (big or small) starting a new blog or attempting to scale and improve a current one faces these questions: “How many people do we need in the content team to keep the blog up and going? Who should these people be and what they will be doing?” 

Do you need only a writer — or a few writers — to create content? Or on the other hand, do you likewise need a supervisor to polish style and syntax? Also, what might be said about a content administrator to design and maintain the process? 

It seems tricky, so we should figure a few things out first. 

The Task

The first thing to think about is how many articles do you need on a regular basis? 

On the off chance that you need just one article each week, one good in-house writer might be sufficient. This person may likewise build other content for your business, like emails, site content, and so on. You’ll have to show them the company’s products and perhaps do the last check of articles before publishing them, and there’s nothing more to it.

Till now all good. The problem starts when you want to scale the blog and beat the SEO competition. 

Regarding content creation just (without touching such subjects as content strategy and publication, the two of which are essential for an effective business blog), this will imply that “simply writing an article” won’t be sufficient any longer. 

You’ll have to follow the competition and explore the topics in deep. The creation of each article will take significantly more time and effort than simply writing down the first thoughts that float to the surface. 

Why so? 

The competition for top-ten search result positions is substantial for most business niches and topics. Along with the most recent latest Google updates, this implies a very high demand for quality content. Creating quality content requires extensive research, practical structure, and a serious understanding of SEO and the competitive scope. 

This is the second you have to decide if you outsource the process or start building an internal team.

Your decision doesn’t actually rely upon the number of articles you need to create, but on the amount of time, you are prepared (or not prepared) to spend dealing with the cycle. You may end up over-burden with only a few articles each month, since certain points expect you to dive truly deep.

The Process

It’s very simple to encourage one author to do precisely what you need, yet when you have more individuals, you need to divide the process into well defined steps. This will guarantee your group comprehends your expectations, and as a result, your blog will be strong, both in quality and in outcomes. 

This is what the process commonly incorporates:  

• Creating a brief. Filling out all the information that you got from a marketer or/and an SEO specialist. Asking questions if something is missing.
• Research. Gathering info, data from relevant studies, conducting competitive research etc. 
• Drafting. Creating a very detailed draft of an article and making sure everything is aligned with the company’s style and vision.
• Writing. The content writer prepares an article based on a ready-made structure and proven information sources.
• Checking and fixing. Every article should be checked by another person because a writer might become blurred after working on the text. An editor might checks facts, style, and other aspects of a piece afterwards. 
• Proof-reading. All the style and syntax errors are polished and the text is prepared for publication.  

Why so? 

It’s a matter of quality and value. On the off chance that these steps aren’t led by experts who have the skills for this specific type of work, your blog will ultimately reflect poorly on your business.  

For instance:  

• A content marketer is a strategist. They plan the activities for your blog every month, align them with your goals and plans, and control the process. 
• A researcher is a digger. They dive into a topic, discover data that doesn’t lie on a superficial level, and structure a special form.
• A writer is a creator. They have to build interesting stories, convince, and hook a reader. 
• An editor is a perfectionist. They sniff out the logical and stylistic mistakes and see what writers often don’t see. 

Set this all up, and you’re likely to end up with a solid, high-quality, great blog. Remove one link from the chain (eliminate one step from the process), and you’ll weaken the whole process. The information may be too superficial, or maybe the logic breaks, losing readers’ attention. You will lose readers, and in turn, you will lose clients.  

The Options

There are three main alternatives for smooth content creation and SEO process setup. 

1. Build a content department in-house
2. Build an online content team
3. Hire an agency. 

Let’s analyze these options. 

	In-house Content Team	Agency	Online Content Team
Control	High	All team members are in the office.	Low	You communicate with a manager. This way you don’t know the process behind the scenes.	Average	The team is created by you to fit your requirements.
Decision-making speed	High	High flexibility. You may solve any questions and any issue live, right away.	Average	All changes will need to be delivered to the manager. After being discussed and approved within the agency’s team, you can see the result.	High	Hire a good content manager and they will build a very flexible process, plus will solve all the issues ASAP.
Cost	High	You will have to pay each team member full-time, plus include benefits according to law.	Average	Agencies are usually more expensive than freelancers, but that depends on the contract that you make. However, the cost is less than hiring in-house employees.	Average	A team of a manager and freelancers will cost you less than an agency’s fee or an in-house team.
Scalability	Low	Hiring each team member is an impegnative job. Firing more people is even harder.	High	All you need to do if you want to change the number of articles is to approve a new plan for the next month.	Average	It is easy to hire people online, as well as to decrease the workload.

The Conclusion

The number of people you need is not proportional to the number of articles you need. The more content and articles you need to add to the blog/website, the more complicated the process will become. You will need more writers and marketing/ SEO specialists to support the process: to plan, research, check, and refine the pieces. 

If your business is straightforwardly associated with content creation, you may want to have an in-house group consisting of a manager, editor, writers, and possible researchers. If not, addressing an agency or hiring a consultant may help you save time and money. At the same time, you will reach and maintain your required quality and standards to grow your business.