How To Use iWriter For Cheap, Fast, Quality Content [Review]

In this post, I'm going to review how I use the text broker iWriter to generate high-quality, inexpensive content super-fast.

If you're not familiar with the service, iWriter is a content writing marketplace. The way it works:

1. You place a content request on the site- choosing the quality you are willing to pay for
2. An iWriter writer who matches your quality selection will accept the assignment and write your content
3. They will submit it to you and you're able to either approve it, reject it, or ask for revisions
4. Once it's approved, you're able to download it and rate the writer

iWriter Video Walkthrough

Check out my full iWriter video tutorial below- I show you how to order content and how to optimize for best results.

What It's Good For

If you want to quickly create lots of content without the hassle of negotiating price and dealing with flaky UpWork writers- iWriter is a good choice. 

Say you have a new site, you've got 50 keywords you want to target with 2,000 word articles, you could spend $1,500-$2,000 and get a ton of content created very quickly. 

That's one use case. You can also use iWriter as a supplementary resource- perhaps tacking on an extra 500 words here or there on different articles to give them a boost in the SERPs. 

Or maybe you use it for guest posting- quickly ordering content to get backlinks from other sites in exchange for the content. Any way you cut it- it has a variety of uses.  

As you can see below, pricing varies by word count and the writer quality. I frequently order either 700 or 1,000 words at the Premium quality level. Sometimes, I'll order 700 at the Elite level.

To me, those are the best deals- but it will depend on the sort of content you're looking to publish.

I'm comfortable publishing 'B' grade content on some sites- because the incremental value of 'A' content just isn't worth the cost.

The Standard quality level, I should point out, is a bit of a crap-shoot. There are a lot of Indian writers there that just don't have native English fluency.

When I ordered blog posts from that category I ended up having to do a lot of editing- which entirely defeats the purpose here. I'm looking for speed!

Tips For Using iWriter

1. Write detailed project instructions (scroll down to see my exact template- feel free to steal it!) 
2. Save your favorite writers- this means you can build up a Rolodex of quality providers.
3. Don't expect amazing content ordering from the Standard category- it's probably worth it to pay more than deal with the editing hassle of fixing bad writing.
4. Request that the writers use third-party tools to spot-check their submissions (Grammarly, WordCounter.net, etc.) to improve their writing quality.

Speed: iWriter is super-fast. It's not uncommon to request a 1,000 word article and see a 2-3 hour turnaround time. I love that. I hire a lot of UpWork writers and generally you are just one of many they are servicing. Which generally means it takes much longer to get the content back.

Experience: iWriter writers are mercenaries- especially if you order content at Premium and above quality levels, with a little bit of guidance, they're familiar with the sort of content you're looking for. Whether it's a product review or a rewrite- you don't have to explain the basics of internet marketing or SEO to them.

Bulk: You can get a lot of content created very quickly. With UpWork, it's possible to optimize for speed, but oftentimes things can drag out, especially if you're relying on one or two writers at a time.

Templates: You can save content orders as templates- that way you can quickly configure requirements when you need to order new writing. This saves a lot of time.

Plagarism Detection: iWriter uses Copyscape to automatically review the content for plagarism. This is a huge feature- saves a ton of time and worry about publishing duplicate content.

Favorites: iWriter lets you save your favorite writers. As I've ordered and received content, I've saved the best writers to my list. I can then request content from them specifically. The downside is that the return isn't as fast as it would be if you had submitted it to the entire iWriter community.

What I Don't Like

Quality Issues: I frequently order content from the Premium quality cast of writers. Most of the time, I've had good experiences- but sometimes the English is a little off. At the Premium price point, you're unlikely to get Native English writers- but most of them are still pretty solid. The takeaway here is that you need to provide solid guidance ahead of time when you submit a request and for certain submissions you'll have to request revisions, or even reject the entire thing.

Interface: The interface is a little clunky- not the easiest to use. Once you get the hang of it, it's not to bad. The only other issue worth mentioning is that as of 3/2018, you can only download the content in as an Html file, not a doc. This is somewhat annoying. I contacted their support and apparently they are looking to add Microsoft Word support.

The Process

Project Requirements

Once you click on Order Content, you end up at the screen below. I highlighted where you enter the project instructions- my word for template is down below:

I adapted some of RankXL's wording for the first sentence of the content request.
This is a word for word example of Project Instructions I used for a recent article:

As you can see, I provide a lot of guidance concerning expectations. I also urge them to use third-party tools to spot-check the content. In particular, I stress that keyword density be kept below 2%.

There's a lot of SEO drama regarding the keyword density issue. Some say it doesn't matter, but I'd rather keep the density below 2%. Plus it encourages the writers to use long-tail synonyms- which is a great SEO traffic strategy.

Sometimes I'll include a Wikipedia link to the topic. I had an issue once where I requested an article on "arcade cabinets" and the writer clearly didn't know what they were. I had to reject that article. If I feel there's potential for confusion, it makes sense to include some examples to ensure the writing is on point.

The rest of the information is up to you- you'll need to figure out the content length and quality of content, the two most important variables besides the project instructions. 

Completing The Order

Once you've filled out the keyword, the article length, writer level, and project title, you will click Place Order. When the order is finished, you'll get an email.

You can always refer to your dashboard and see the content pipeline if you're unsure where the content is sitting:

Final Thoughts

I've come to enjoy using iWriter for all the reasons I've discussed above. It's fast, cheap and if you have the patience to learn how to use it, you can get good results.

If you're looking to produce a lot of content for your niche site, I'd definitely recommend using iWriter to do the writing. Especially if you can afford some of the higher quality levels. 

I should say- I still write the introductions to a lot of the content I publish. Unless you have a really high-quality writer, I still find it's worth it to write a top-shelf opener myself instead.