Case Study: Netwrix

Is it possible to reliably outsource technical content? Compose.ly’s work for Netwrix offers proof that it is. Learn more in our case study below.

For highly technical industries, creating content is doubly challenging. You need a skilled, articulate writer—just as any business does—but more importantly, you need one that can handle complex topics. With luck, you can find this needle in a haystack, maybe a few, for an affordable rate.

But finding such writing talent isn’t the only hurdle; there’s also the management side of working with freelance writers. And when it comes to content of a more technical nature, commissioning and reviewing articles demands more attention to detail.

Data security software company Netwrix faced these challenges as it looked to expand its online presence through content marketing. Fortunately, Compose.ly’s content writing services were there to help.

Netwrix: An Overview

More than 10,000 organizations around the world look to Netwrix for their data security concerns. The B2B software company specializes in helping information security and governance professionals across a broad range of industries manage and protect sensitive information, no matter where it resides.

Unfortunately, as crucial as Netwrix’s work is, it isn’t easy to understand if you don’t have experience in the field. Phrases like “data remediation” and acronyms from the compliance world—PCI DSS, FISMA, and GDPR, to name a few—are intimidating for anyone unfamiliar with them.

When it came to executing Netwrix’s content marketing efforts, the technical nature of it, coupled with project management, proved to be the company’s two biggest pain points.

The Need for Niche Expertise

Many freelance writers operate as generalists, producing content for a wide range of industries like lifestyle, entertainment, and travel. Versatility exists in this approach because topics in these industries do not generally require extensive research or background knowledge.

Data security isn’t such a field. As part of the software and technology field, the subject matter has a high barrier to entry when it comes to developing expertise.

This posed an issue to Netwrix when recruiting and hiring qualified writers, as the pool of available freelancers with a relevant background, or at least a strong aptitude for research, is much smaller overall.

The Hassle of Working with Multiple Points of Contact

However, apart from finding writing talent, there was also the challenge of actually managing it. After all, working with freelancers can often feel like an endless back-and-forth of creating guidelines, clarifying questions, and asking for revisions.

For Rozhko, whose work also involves strategizing and reviewing marketing analytics, the day-to-day management of freelance writers was needlessly onerous. For this reason, it made sense to look externally for a content solution.

Netwrix’s Content Creation Goals

According to Rozhko, the ideal service provider for Netwrix’s content needs would:

  1. Have the knowledge and expertise to write about complex technical topics
  2. Create optimized content for better SEO performance
  3. Streamline content management in terms of onboarding, contact, and payment

She especially emphasized Netwrix’s priority in finding a service that understood SEO. This requirement narrowed down the options for Rozhko’s team, as few content platforms adequately train their writers in SEO.

Then there was the issue of management. For Rozhko, finding a reliable content writing service would mean being able to “reduce the number of freelancers and stakeholders I need to work with, and ultimately reduce the level of management needed.”

Enter Compose.ly. With its vetted writers and dedicated account manager, Compose.ly’s Managed Service plan offered the perfect solution to Netwrix’s outsourcing hassles.

Content Creation with Compose.ly

Netwrix began working with Compose.ly at the end of 2019, ordering an average of 6,200 words per month. Now, after more than a year, the results are clear: Compose.ly’s writers have helped to simplify content creation for Netwrix while simultaneously driving SEO results.

Streamlined Writer and Project Management

Any business working with more than one freelance writer at a time can understand the difficulties of managing them. From identifying qualified freelancers and creating detailed writing guidelines to reviewing content and paying invoices, outsourcing generally necessitates active project management.

As Rozkho explains, “The management part is way easier when you have just one contact point instead of multiple. It’s easier with onboarding, contacting, and payments—pretty much everything.”

She also shares that prior to working with Compose.ly, one of the headaches of managing freelancers for Netwrix was a high turnover rate. Her team often needed to find new qualified writers either once a month or every two months.

However, working with Compose.ly has eliminated this issue. While Netwrix’s marketing team still includes in-house writers, Compose.ly’s Managed Service has removed the need for other external writers not on its content platform.

Part of this premium content plan includes a dedicated Client Success Manager—a service that Rozhko especially appreciates. She shares how the Client Success Manager, Douglas Haugen, that oversees Netwrix’s content projects works with her to ensure seamless content creation and delivery:

Every time something is unclear, Douglas always comes back and clarifies with us before the content is produced. If we have any notes in terms of quality or understanding of the concept the writer was writing about, we’re listened to. Our comments are taken into consideration, and we usually don’t see those problems appearing again in the future. We’ll then have fewer asks for the second round of content. It helps to have the first draft meet all the requirements from the beginning because it reduces the time spent reviewing and editing.

The result: fewer hours spent recruiting freelancers and coordinating their writing assignments. Instead, Rozhko can focus on other priorities in executing Netwrix’s content strategy.

SEO Results

Since outsourcing to Compose.ly’s writers, the total number of keywords Netwrix’s content ranks for has increased by more than 2,700.

Under Rozhko’s guidance, Compose.ly’s team focused on targeting keyword phrases surrounding data governance, regulatory compliance, and other topics relevant to Netwrix’s work. Several of these pieces rank for hundreds of keywords each.

For instance, according to SEMrush, one high-performing article ranks for 301 keywords as of January 2021.

chart showing organic keyword rankings for Netwrix

Published in September 2020, this piece quickly began ranking well within its first month of being live. Now, less than half a year after being published, the article appears on the first page of search results for high-volume phrases like “data classification,” which is searched at least 1,000 times on a monthly basis.

Ranking for these new keywords, among thousands more, has been critical in expanding Netwrix’s reach and growing its organic traffic—and it’s no easy feat given the nature of Netwrix’s content needs.

The Lesson

Misgivings about outsourcing content creation to an external service provider generally revolve around two concerns:

  • Whether the provider can deliver excellent results about a specific topic, and
  • Whether they can do so using a specific brand’s voice and style.

Netwrix’s experience with Compose.ly proves otherwise, demonstrating how a premium content writing service can capture your business’s voice with on-brand content—even for more technical industries. On top of that, it can also drive tangible SEO results and eliminate the managerial hassle of juggling multiple freelancers.

What could your business do with a team of expert writers on its side? Learn more about Compose.ly’s Managed Service.

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