Compose.ly Review – Is Their Content Worth it?

I recently tried out Compose.ly to see if their content really matches all of the hype.

Compose.ly is a platform that allows you to order a wide range of content for your website or blog. Their content writing services are highly rated, so I thought I’d try them out myself. 

What was my Compose.ly experience like?

In short, I wasn’t disappointed. The service is efficient, the content was solid, and you can be very specific about what you want to order.

Did I find any major issues with Compose.ly? And would I actually publish the content I received?

Read my full Compose.ly review to find out.

Compose.ly (3rd Party Reviews)

Trustpilot Reviews

Compose.ly has some really positive feedback on Trustpilot. In fact, reviewers have only rated them as ‘excellent’, which is the highest rating available. The platform has an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars (see here). 

There are a couple of 5 star reviews from their internal writers, but the reviews are mainly from happy customers.

G2 Reviews

Once again, Compose.ly boasts only glowing reviews. All of their reviews on G2 are 5 out of 5 stars.

My Compose.ly Experience

For my Compose.ly review, I ordered a blog post to see how good this service really is. I’ll cover the process of ordering content through Compose.ly, as well as the overall quality of their content writing services. 

Signing Up

Getting started with Compose.ly is easy. Once you hit the big ‘Order Content’ button, you end up on a page where you can choose between three options. 

These are a self-service membership where you pay per project, an ongoing managed service subscription, and an option for custom projects and content blocks. I chose the pay-per-project option.

You need to fill out your details in a simple form to create your profile.

Then you are sent to your profile’s dashboard where all of your information is kept. This is where you manage your orders and personal details. 

You can either add your billing information now, or add it when you place an order.

Upon signing up, I also received an automated welcome email clearly laying out the process for ordering new content. I found this helpful.

Pricing

As mentioned earlier, Compose.ly offers three different price plans. 

First, there is the self-service membership where you are charged per word. I paid $74.95 for a 500 word blog post, which is the lowest price option (this works out to $0.15 cents per word - higher than most content services I've used).

The largest self-service option is 3000 words for $449.95. The options go up in increments of 250 words.

Second, there is the managed service subscription plan. This is a month-to-month service, with benefits like having a dedicated team of writers and client success manager, SEO keyword research, and unlimited content revisions. Subscriptions start at $999/month.

Then there is the option to order custom projects and content blocks. This is for clients who want to launch a new website or have more customised requirements. The price is determined by a custom quote based on the specific project.

More affordable content writing services certainly exist, but Compose.ly claims to be superior to other writing services, accepting only the top 1% of writers.

Compose.ly also points out that their services are a lot cheaper than a content marketing agency. Both claims seem a little over-exaggerated. I've worked with other agencies that are a lot better value.

The service also offers a complete money back guarantee if you’re not happy with the final content. I didn’t have to request this, but it’s good to know that the option is there. 

Creating Your Order

During this Compose.ly review, I really enjoyed the content ordering process. It was fast and efficient, while giving you total control of what you want.

You start by adding your brand profile to show the writers what your brand is all about. You select various fields, such as the tone of voice you want to portray, what type of audience you’re appealing to, and whether you want an SEO-friendly structure or a narrative structure.

Once your brand is set up, you can place an order.

First, you’ll have to choose the type of content. I chose a blog article, but there is a pretty wide range of other writing services available.

Then the process is straightforward.

You choose your word count, provide a title, write a description of the article, and list what to avoid. You can also include what keywords to focus on, what point of view the article needs to be written from, how the writer should cite sources, and whether you want free images added. There is space to add any additional requests.

Compose.ly claims their writers are SEO experts, so it would have been nice to ask them for keyword suggestions instead of having to provide them myself.

Then you just fill out your credit card details (the total is clearly displayed), and you hit purchase. You get charged for the content, and a few days later your blog post is delivered. 

I thought it was a really smooth and simple signup process that allowed me to be very specific about the type of content that I wanted.

Turnaround Time

Compose.ly offers a general turnaround time of 3 to 5 business days for a piece of content. This depends on the length of the content and the type of content ordered. 

I received my 500 word blog post within this time frame, so I was happy.

Content Quality

So far, my Compose.ly experience has been great. But now it's time to discuss the most important part of this Compose.ly review: the quality of the content. 

I ordered a simple 1000 word blog post.

Would I Publish This Article?

I was pleasantly surprised when I received my written blog post. Everything that I had requested was there, including a few stats linked to high-authority sources, the correct use of keywords, and a suitable tone of voice. 

The writer also did a good job of answering the article’s question in such a short form. 

However, you could still feel that this blog post was written by a large-scale content mill. It didn’t feel very personal, and I had to make a few tweaks for the blog post to fit in with the rest of my blog.

That being said, I got exactly what I requested.

What Errors Did I Find?

I could tell straight away that this article was written by a native English speaker.

There were no obvious grammar mistakes, Grammarly didn’t point out any red flags, and my Copyscape test had an acceptable level of plagiarism. Stats were properly linked, and sources were trustworthy.

I would have liked to see more headings and sections to break the topic up a bit more. I think the writer could have also done a bit more research. It seems that the article was only based on the top two articles on Google for the keyword.

Customer Service

A cool feature that I found during this Compose.ly review was the in-app messenger to communicate with the writer. After I had submitted the original brief, I sent the writer another small request through this messenger. The writer was friendly and quick to respond. 

If you go for a monthly subscription, you get your own customer success agent and more hands-on support. Because I just ordered a single short blog post, I was able to complete the entire process through my client portal. It was simple, and I didn’t need any support. 

Many of the reviews do mention the strong customer service that Compose.ly offers.

Compose.ly Alternatives

I hope this Compose.ly review was helpful. If you’re trying to find the right content writing service for you, then you might be interested in some of the other writing service reviews that we’ve done.

See our round-up of the best blog writing platforms and services.

• ContentFly Review
• Constant Content Review
• BKA Content Review
• Copify Review
• Verblio Review
• Textbroker Review
• iWriter Review
• SEO Butler Review