You can find the articles we ordered: iWriter writing samples.
Disclaimer: At Key Content we offer high-quality custom writing content with vetted, hand-selected, professional native speakers. Content in more than 60 languages with project and account managers to help business succeed. We also offer translation and transcription services.
The iWriter service at a glance
Breaking down the content service offered by iWriter, there are good points and bad points.
Positives
- intuitive interface
- simple order process
- content may arrive quickly
- scalable pricing
- client autonomy
Negatives
- quality not as expected
- time-consuming revisions
- lack of keywords and SEO
- payment needed before order
- no guaranteed delivery time
iWriter: scam or star?
So, having reviewed iWriter in more depth, how does it deliver on its promise? It does function as an online content agency, but the service here wasn’t quite what we’d hoped for, especially when it came to the Elite Plus-level article, which is priced similarly to those offered by other agencies but didn’t deliver the same quality.
In short, the iWriter experience was hit and miss: good for those looking for a quick content fix (and willing to pay for it), but otherwise lacking the finer points of a truly great content service.
More service reviews:
What is iWriter?
iWriter is an online content service that claims to be ‘the fastest, easiest and most reliable way to have content written for your website’.
There’s little about the iWriter brand online, but the company is based in Florida and works with around 11,000 writers around the world. According to their website, almost 48,000 jobs are posted in a month. No major clients are listed, but iWriter offers to produce ‘any type of custom content’, naming articles, product descriptions and blog posts specifically.
Beyond this, there isn’t much information – so is iWriter legit or not? We put it to the test to create a comprehensive service review.
What’s included in the iWriter service?
The iWriter service offering is quite straightforward: custom content delivered quickly for you to publish on your website. Fine. The platform is free to use and offers a ‘rinse and repeat’ model of ordering content, approving or requesting changes, then downloading it and ordering more.
Content is available in four language – English (US and UK), French, German and Spanish – though apparently it is possible to request others. Writers are given different star ratings and ranked in one of four tiers, allowing you to choose the level of writing service you’re after.
No mention is made of important details like SEO or whether writers can produce specialist content, but iWriter does offer a separate syndication service, which we’ll come back to later. First, we decided to investigate how a regular content order plays out.
How the iWriter service works
Our review of iWriter.com started out by placing an order for two sample articles: one of higher quality, one of lower quality.
To order any text, you’ll need to register as a client, which is free and simple to do. Set up an account with an email and password and you’re instantly up and running.
Once logged into your account, you can manage the status of your orders, download content, check and replenish your balance, and view a list of your top-rated writers.
If you’re planning to order content, there’s a five-minute video to explain the process, but as it’s quite intuitive you can easily skip this part. One thing it is worth paying attention to is the pricing model, which at first glance is a fairly mind-boggling array of numbers:
Essentially, though, it boils down to one thing: quality versus cost. iWriter does provide samples of each quality level (available in the FAQ section) but there isn’t a lot of difference between them. The platform seems to be fairly driven by price, so this may well be the deciding factor for its clients too.
If you’re getting your first-ever piece of content from iWriter, you’re probably going to be submitting your order to the entire pool of writers. However, you do also have the option of approaching a specific author with your project. To do this, you can use the ‘Find Writers’ tool, which allows you to search by rank or category, or simply look through lists of the most prolific or top-rated writers.
After working with an author, you can choose to add them to your list of favorites or ‘ignore’ them if you don’t want them to pick up a future project.
To create a new order, whether you have a specific writer in mind or not, you’ll need to fill out a brief which you can then save as a template to make the process faster in future.
As well as all the basics like project title, category, language and word count, you can enter keywords and brief project instructions. Then, it’s on to the creative brief, which involves information on target audience, tone of writing, sourcing requirements and things to avoid. Each of these can be as comprehensive as you like, though one slight issue arises when it comes to the keywords – it’s difficult to communicate how many times you would like each one mentioned.
The price of your article will be determined by the quality level you select, of which iWriter has four available. For a 500-word article, Standard costs just $3.30, Premium $6, Elite $11, and Elite Plus $39. Before you’re able to place the order, you need to upload funds to your account – this is done through PayPal. This kind of payment model assumes you’ll be ordering more content in future, unless you’re able to work out exactly what your total will come to.
Once your order is placed, there’s no indication of how long you can expect to wait for your content. And here’s the rub – while our Elite Plus-level piece was turned round in just 45 minutes, the Standard-quality content took five days to arrive. This makes content planning difficult, and could pose problems if you need your articles by a certain date.
When your content is written, you’ll have three days to review it and either accept (at which point you can tip the writer), request revisions or reject it altogether. Articles are run through Copyscape to check for plagiarism, but all other revisions need to be managed by the client. This was urgently needed when it came to our samples:
Sample 1 – Elite Plus quality rating – 600 words – 1-hour turnaround – $39
This article fulfills a very basic version of the briefing:
- aimed at travelers who enjoy food and culture
- written in US English
- paragraphs are split up by subheadings
- content is well researched, informative and useful
- plagiarism check passed
However, we encountered several problems:
- the three requested keywords weren’t used at all
- spelling and grammar requires considerable work – it doesn’t seem written by a native speaker
- no links, external or internal
- several requested aspects missing, including a call to action
The situation was much the same when it came to the second sample:
Sample 2 – Standard quality rating – 500 words – 5-day turnaround – $3.30
Again, the article fulfills the briefing in many respects:
- written in colloquial US English
- structured in a clear and logical manner
- content is informative and useful
- spelling and grammar better than expected
- plagiarism check passed
However, we encountered several problems:
- the three requested keywords weren’t used at all
- spelling and grammar still requires work
- no links, external or internal
- no subheadings to split up the paragraphs
In both cases, we requested a revision and had the articles returned with the keywords included one time each. This process was uncomplicated, but further added to the time we had to wait for the second article. Both samples then require editing by the client to make them of publishable quality.
Other features of the iWriter service
This iWriter review only looks in-depth at the content-writing service, but the website does also offer content syndication. For $49 per URL, it’s possible to upload a link to your article, blog post or website and have iWriter distribute it for placement on major news sites – they mention ABC, FOX, NBC, and CBS. The benefits of this are backlinks and ‘social proof’, and an order report should be sent to you within two or three days. A list of topics iWriter will not syndicate is provided; this includes gambling, politics, alcohol, dating, and weapons.
Writers and clients can also read the regularly updated iWriter blog, which contains helpful posts on subjects as diverse as writing in the passive voice, productivity apps, and how to compose a press release.
