• When scaling content production, you must implement content quality control protocols to maintain high standards.
• Employing these protocols helps ensure that the produced content meets your brand’s requirements and helps your company avoid any mistakes devastating to its reputation.
• Outsourcing to a trusted agency may be an excellent choice if you want to scale content production while maintaining superior content quality.

In today’s digital age, content is king in marketing, and top-notch content is essential for any company and brand.

High-quality content is crucial for brands looking to make a lasting impression on their target audience.

Producing amazing content can propel your website to the top of search engine results pages or SERPs, foster better engagement with your audience, and lead to more conversions for your brand.

Words are crucial when crafting superior content, yet there is much more to consider beyond that.

Developing compelling content isn’t just about the words — its aesthetic, organization, and visuals must also be in sync with your brand.

There has been an upsurge in content creation and scale recently, which can be a hurdle to achieving the same top-notch quality when you have multiple details to monitor.

For small-scale operations, the necessary time and resources are often unattainable, while other organizations find it hard to maintain a unified voice, tone, and style.

How can you successfully maintain quality when scaling content production?

As companies devise new approaches for amplifying content production while differentiating themselves from their rivals, quality assurance, or QA, of said content is paramount.

Although content quality control or quality assurance has no one definition, in content production, it is the process of verifying that the content meets the required standards.

Quality assurance is essential to any content production process as it helps ensure that only well-crafted and reliable content reaches its intended audience.

It involves more than simply correcting typos or grammar; it’s a process that will help you create reliable, relevant information for your audience.

Companies prioritize quantity over quality when producing content, which can have disastrous consequences.

Content quality should be the foundation of every stage in content creation rather than a mere afterthought or cautionary measure before publication.

Why is content quality assurance necessary?

As content production scales, guaranteeing quality assurance is paramount to ensure consistently high standards for every piece of content produced.

Content quality control is an essential component of content marketing and creation due to the various issues that tend to arise, such as duplicate content, inaccurate or outdated information, and off-brand material.

If the content is not produced with the necessary quality assurance measures in place, it can contain errors and omissions that drastically affect its reception as well as the reputation of your brand. Click To Tweet

Many things can go wrong if you don’t integrate quality assurance in your content production process, especially if you plan on scaling, and these effects can devastate your brand.

An example is when Epicurious published a post on Twitter that said “Boston, our hearts are with you. Here’s a bowl of breakfast energy we could all use to start today”, seemingly promoting their product after the Boston Marathon bombings occurred in 2013. In pursuit of rapid online fame, relying on current events for your content can be alluring. Nevertheless, this could lead to an unfortunate or inappropriate post if not adequately vetted, and thus quality checks are crucial when publishing in such a manner.

Another example is when Gap and various other retailers stirred up controversy when they attempted to promote their products while expressing sympathy for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Had this questionable marketing strategy been subject to quality assessments, it would have certainly been rejected due to its unsavory nature.

Recently, Angkas courted controversy in the local market with a content marketing strategy that involved an overtly sexual tweet. Although this business is renowned for its humorous and honest content, the recent post was met with disapproval. If it had passed through thorough quality assurance checks, it would not have been authorized due to its offensiveness.

An example that negatively impacted a company’s sales was TRESemmé’s insensitive hair ad, which promoted deep-seated racism by demeaning black hairstyles. Numerous shops, including Pick N Pay, Woolworths, and Shoprite pulled all of the brand’s products after this ad was published. This mistake could have been avoided if the company had taken the necessary quality assurance steps.

In this digital age, your content might be catapulted into the limelight for all the wrong reasons and start trending without you being aware. Quality assurance is vital for your brand’s success.

Quality assurance is vital for your brand’s success. Click To Tweet

What are the QA best practices that can help you create quality content?

Create pre-publishing checklists

Do you know how having to-do lists helps you be more organized in your daily routine?

When you possess a reference for the tasks of the day, you can be both productive and efficient, and this can also be applied to producing content.

A great way to ensure the highest quality content is by creating pre-publishing checklists before releasing any material.

This will help you identify potential issues and ensure your final content meets expectations.

No single, universal checklist works for everyone; however, it’s critical to consider several components and variables when organizing.

• Ensure content is impeccable by carefully checking for grammar and spelling errors
• Test all links, images, and videos to see if they are functioning correctly
• Guarantee that all information is accurate and current.
• Check if the formatting of the content is correct, such as font sizes and line breaks
• Confirm that your target audience is appropriate for the message you are delivering
• Ensure the content you produce is in line with company guidelines and reflects your brand’s message

A checklist keeps you organized and on task and serves as a reminder to ensure the content is precise and adheres to all formatting standards.

Utilizing this strategy is integral in safeguarding against any errors or inconsistencies from making their way into the public domain and could help your content production team be more organized as they would have to check off the things on the list before submitting the final output.

Establish content guidelines

Remember when you would get assigned to do a project in school, and your teacher would give you unclear guidelines?

You probably struggled to create an excellent output since you weren’t sure what exactly to do and the metrics that would be used when checking your submission.

The same applies when creating content.

An effective way to ensure the quality of your published materials is to create clear standards and specifications for content production.

By having a concrete reference point, your whole team understands what needs to be done to meet established metrics.

Adhering to guidelines guarantees that all content created is accurate and high-quality, providing readers with an unparalleled and uniform experience.

Establishing clear guidelines sets expectations for editors and all other staff involved in the content production process, resulting in a smoother workflow and fewer miscommunications and mistakes.

Depending on the image you want your brand to project or what kind of messages you wish to communicate, your content guidelines may vary from those of other companies.

• Tone: Establishing a specific tone of voice for all content produced.
• Style: Defining language and writing style for all content.
• Aesthetic: Deciding on a design aesthetic to ensure that visuals are consistent with the brand’s message/style.

Your guide can also include information about your target audience, content’s purpose, length, and when and where it will be published.

Establishing clear guidelines shields you from the adverse outcomes of wrong or inaccurate information being shared publicly and helps prevent potential legal issues. 

Taking these precautions can save time and money to ensure your business avoids a costly lawsuit or poor publicity.

Document your workflow

Crafting a workflow for content production is similar to having a checklist — it helps your team streamline their processes, allowing them to manage their time and generate outstanding material.

To ensure exceptional end products, it is vital to outline and document the processes that every team must adhere to produce content of consistently high quality.

Keeping detailed records of your process is decisive for knowing which aspects to enhance when producing content, notably if you plan on scaling.

Documenting your content production process is essential to guaranteeing accuracy and uniformity and ensuring that all team members are aware of the tried-and-true approaches for each task.

Furthermore, this helps you monitor your growth as time passes to identify areas of improvement and make the most efficient use of resources.

To implement this, integrate your documented processes into your content calendar so your team can quickly determine which measures they still need to take before pushing the “Publish” button.

Implement content quality control checks in each content production step

Most brands incorporate quality assurance checks near the end of the content creation process, but this may be significantly ineffective if you are scaling.

As the workload of editing and quality assurance accumulates, it can become increasingly difficult for editors or QA professionals to identify all mistakes — even those that may be obvious.

To guarantee the superior quality of your content, incorporate a content quality control check after each stage of production.

Organizations can save time, energy, and resources that would otherwise be wasted when mistakes are discovered downstream by proactively assessing and rectifying errors before content moves on to other team members.

Regular QA checks will not only help your team work more efficiently, but they’ll also allow them to provide valuable feedback to one another.

In addition, consistent quality assurance assessments can guarantee that all team members adhere to the best methods for every procedure.

Although they necessitate extra effort and time, quality assurance checks are paramount to producing successful content.

Track down recurring errors and bottlenecks

As you and your team conduct regular content quality control assessments, recurring errors made by content creators may become apparent.

To continually improve the quality assurance process, take note of any errors or bottlenecks that arise.

A wise move to ensure a more effective and efficient workflow in the future is to document any errors or delays that arise during the Quality Assurance process.

This will help guarantee smoother outcomes, as well as faster turnaround times.

Some errors that may arise include:

• Grammatical errors
• Inaccurate data or facts
• Unclear voice or message
• Lack of cohesion between sections/paragraphs
• Duplicate information on multiple pages
• Lack of flow between topics and ideas

If these problems persist, the QA team can provide tangible evidence that a transformation must take place to efficiently address and remedy the underlying cause of such issues.

Taking note of errors not only helps you identify what needs improvement but also serves as a great learning tool.

Teams can use mistakes to observe how their actions influence the content and discover easier methods for resolving future issues.

Allocate ample time for quality checks.

Although it might be tempting to immediately launch your content when you’ve finished creating it, don’t give in to that urge, as taking the time to refine and proofread will ensure a better outcome.

Carving out adequate time for content review is one of the most vital steps to guarantee superior-quality content.

When teams are given the time to thoroughly review and provide valuable feedback, they can recognize errors ahead of time and make any essential changes.

Furthermore, taking the necessary time to review content allows teams to validate facts and source information before releasing it, guaranteeing accuracy and reliability.

You might want to put more time into QA if you want to scale content production quickly, but investing the time to thoroughly review content will guarantee that your team is creating exceptional material that adheres to all standards of superiority.

Utilize innovative software and tools

Everyone needs a helping hand occasionally, so why not leverage the power of modern technology and software to maximize your quality assurance efforts?

Harnessing the power of technology and software for quality assurance can revolutionize your content production process, delivering optimal results.

You can quickly identify and correct any potential issues before publishing using tools such as spell checkers, style guides, and automated plagiarism detectors.

• Grammarly – Grammarly is an online grammar and spell-checking tool that assists users in becoming better writers. It brings forward a suite of features such as contextual explanations, automated corrections, and superior suggestions for improved communication.
• ContentFusion – ContentFusion is an AI-powered content curation platform that revolutionizes how brands, agencies, and publishers create quality content. It has easy-to-use features such as automated content creation, analytics tracking for performance monitoring, and a powerful recommendation engine.
• Readable – Readable is an AI-supported writing improvement platform that helps users produce more engaging and legible content. It offers automated editing, style suggestions, grammar corrections, as well as readability scores to help enhance the quality of their work.
• Hemingway – Hemingway is another AI-powered text editor designed to improve the readability and clarity of writing. It offers users automated revision suggestions, tone analysis, style recommendations, and readability scoring to enable them to deliver writings that are comprehensible yet captivating for readers.

Quality assurance software enables teams to come together and review potential changes rapidly, allowing them to collaborate in real-time.

By capitalizing on these powerful tools and software, teams can generate incomparable content quickly, seamlessly, and with increased precision.

It may be a good idea to invest in innovative tools and software for your content production QA if you plan on scaling as soon as you can.

Is outsourcing the key to your high-quality content needs?

Content production can give your business an edge, but generating enough quality content is not always easy.

Outsourcing is an excellent solution for conquering this difficulty and achieving success in today’s digital age.

Even though you can tap into external resources for top-notch content production, you still have to take care of a few things to get excellent results.

Yes, you can sit back and relax while your partner agency does all the work. Still, providing thorough information about your brand and marketing goals and regular feedback to the team you are collaborating with is infinitely better.

When you outsource content production, you can capitalize on the expertise of those in the industry who are experts at creating and reviewing content. Click To Tweet

With the strict content quality control used by many agencies, you can be sure that your results will be of excellent quality.

Wrapping Up

A content quality control strategy is integral to the content production process—it starts from day one and continues until a piece of content goes live.

Utilizing quality assurance standards within your marketing team during the entire process ensures that everyone remains on track.

Furthermore, a well-executed quality assurance process ensures that all published material accurately conveys your company’s intended message, offering you more power to define how the public views your brand.

At the same time, if scaling up is your target, entrusting all your content production to a dependable agency can be the ideal solution for ensuring timely deliverables with top-notch quality.

If you want to create content that surpasses all your expectations and quality standards, reach out to Content Hacker today.

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Brierley, E. (2022, September 28). It’s time to consider content quality assurance. Invoicebus Blog. https://invoicebus.com/blog/time-consider-content-quality-assurance/

Enfroy, A. (2021, December 9). Scaling your content while maintaining quality- Agility CMS. Agility CMS. https://agilitycms.com/resources/posts/how-to-scale-your-content-production-process

Haun, M. (2022, September 6). The importance of quality content: What it is and why it matters. VeraContent. https://veracontent.com/mix/importance-quality-content/

How to guard quality throughout the content creation process. (n.d.). Content Creation Platform – Interactive Content 100% on Brand – Foleon. https://www.foleon.com/blog/quality-control-content-creation

Hynek, C. (2022, June 9). The A-to-Z guide to content quality assurance. DivvyHQ. https://divvyhq.com/content-operations-governance/the-a-to-z-guide-to-content-quality-assurance/

Meza, C. (2022, May 28). Content outsourcing: Ways to avoid common quality problems. Crowd Content. https://www.crowdcontent.com/blog/outsourcing-content/content-outsourcing-ways-to-avoid-common-quality-problems/

The ultimate quality checklist for content marketing. (2018, May 8). Tallyfy. https://tallyfy.com/quality-checklist-content-marketing/

Why every marketing team needs content quality assurance (and what that looks like). (2021, June 9). Skyword. https://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/why-every-marketing-team-needs-content-quality-assurance-and-what-that-looks-like/Why high-quality content is important for your business? (n.d.). LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-high-quality-content-important-your-business-?trk=organization-update-content_share-article