Is proof reading / editing enough?

I've been outsourcing all of the content writing for a long time. The problem is I got what I paid; it's general rule of thumb, right!

I'm pretty good at researching and could get most of the useful information to put into my articles. Yet, I'm not a native English nor English is my first/second language.

When I hired writers for my articles, it's always ended up with lack of information that I needed to put into it. I know it's $2-$4 per 100 words is not for decent quality articles.

Therefore, I think that I should write those articles myself instead. But, it will be full of errors in everything from grammars, subject & verb agreements, word choices, run on errors ...etc.
In summary, my articles will be very bad. The only decent thing within the articles that I write will be the deep researches & full of useful information that I am satisfied with.

The question is if my articles are that bad, is it enough or is it suitable for me to outsource the proof readers / editors to transform my worst article into a decent one including grammars, the word choices and everything else?

Thanks!

Bump up to see if there is any input!

I'm a writer and an editor. If you still have trouble, let me know. I'd be happy to help you.

I've written, researched, edited, and proofread.

I've found that proofreading for content takes me more time -- measured on a per word basis -- than writing the whole thing myself, at least if I have any knowledge of the topic.

I've run into problems similar to the one you mentioned, where the writers fail to cover what I consider key points. In the past I developed one technique that you might find helpful, that involved doing the prelimiary research myself. I'd basically locate key web pages, make hard paper copies of articles using one of many utilities that can output files in .pdf format, and given them to the writers when we met face to face over coffee or something.

If the writers were in other cities I'd just send them the url's to the key pages with a few brief notes in an introductory email listing points I wanted them to cover.

Generally, I found that the technique worked quite well.

Of course there was another secret to my technique involving "research." I did not usually select some topic that I knew nothing about, then researched it online, and then commisisoned an article. I found that my normal curiosity and web browsing provided me with any number of topics that could receive a useful spin. When I bumped into one, "by accident," I'd copy the relevant information, and then send it to the writer.

You might find either or both of these beneficial.

Best of luck!

During days I do not have much doing I take my time to research and write articles for my site. On other days I outsource my work to freelancers. Only hire freelancers that are good at what they do, and not just any writer irrespective of the pay. This would reduce the work load of having to proof read on your part.