Here are the simple steps I take to ensure (insomuch as possible) that the content I shell out a fairly serious amount of dollars for is original, non-AI and non-spun!
Step 1: Hire trustworthy folks
While the next two steps are likely standard for many, I feel this first step has to be overlooked or at least under-appreciated. Screen your prospective writers carefully and try to find “honest to goodness”-type ones!
What do I mean by “honest to goodness”? Well, I mean a bias towards writers who are doing it because they love or just enjoy it, who maybe are doing it in retirement or as a side gig (perhaps while the kids are in school!
These types of writers are very different from those who might be sliding into your DMs (not that there is anything wrong with that per se), or agencies who could be letting quality control suffer as they scale (sometimes due to growing pains).
But a mom or retired guy in middle America on a content writing platform making a few extra quid or even doing it almost full-time, and who knows little to nothing about niche websites and wouldn’t have a clue what an AI detector is?
Yep, those are the kind of writers I want!
Step 2 – AI content detectors
I’ve recently signed up to Originality.ai, and it seems to work pretty well! I’ve even been in touch with the co-founder to ask a few questions, and it seems they’ve put together a good product.
Quite simply, my process is to copy the text into their free-form box, untick the plagiarism box (the next step will reveal why), and check the result.
If it’s anything around 70% original and 30% AI, that’s pretty good. If it’s 50-50, that is probably ok too, and almost certainly if you’ve got an “honest to goodness writer”!
Anything higher than 70% AI probably warrants a closer look.
But really, if are sure you have an honest writer then a high score is most likely just down to their writing style, or points to the limitation of the AI checker, which should also improve in time.
Don’t take any tool’s word for it without considering the full picture!
Step 3 – Copyleaks or Copyscape
Copyleaks is my go-to now for catching any plagiarism, even accidental. All through the many years I’ve been doing this, working with writers, I’ve only come across a couple of cases of blatant ripping off of content.
I used to use Copyscape, but Copyleaks is far more advanced – check it out!
Also take note that you may see some matches with other articles, as it’s just the nature of the game (especially if you are talking about factual content where it can be very hard to make something original).
There are only so many ways of talking about how may feet are in a yard, for example!
Wrapping Up
So there you have it! That is my three step process for ensuring my dollars are going towards quality, original content.
What are your methods? Let me know on Twitter! Thanks for reading and I hope this helped.