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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    InboundWriter

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AInboundWriter is a relatively focused content marketing tool containing predictive analytics, suggestions, and authoring guidelines for content optimization. InboundWriter has been backed by about $2.5 million in venture capital since its inception in 2011.N/A

    Shorthand

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AShorthand enables the user to create interactive multimedia stories for any online audience — all with no code. The vendor boasts that Shorthand is used by hundreds of publishers, brands, non-profits, and more — including the BBC, Honda, Business Insider, and Doctors Without Borders.N/A
    Pricing
    InboundWriterShorthand
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    InboundWriterShorthand
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    InboundWriterShorthand
    Content Creation
    Comparison of Content Creation features of InboundWriter and Shorthand
    Feature
    InboundWriter
    8.5
    1 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Shorthand
    9.0
    1 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Ideation8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Approval workflows8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content collaboration9.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Content calendar9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Publishing
    Comparison of Content Publishing features of InboundWriter and Shorthand
    Feature
    InboundWriter
    8.8
    1 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Shorthand
    6.8
    1 Ratings
    17% below category average
    Content hub9.01 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Forms / Gated content9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Embedded CTAs9.01 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Content distribution9.01 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Content promotion9.01 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Content automation8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Content Reporting & Analytics features of InboundWriter and Shorthand
    Feature
    InboundWriter
    8.2
    1 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Shorthand
    -
    Ratings
    Audience profiling and targeting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Closed-loop tracking and reporting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content performance analytics8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Campaign optimization dashboard9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Competitive analytics8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    InboundWriterShorthand
    Small Businesses
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    CoSchedule Marketing Suite
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Contently
    Score9.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    InboundWriterShorthand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    InboundWriterShorthand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    InboundWriter
    I think most users have found that InboundWriter is every bit worth what you pay for it. At a freemium model, it's affordable and helpful in analyzing your posts for SEO direction. It is particularly well suited for getting focused terms on specific topics, and less on more general terms.
    Incentivized
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    Shorthand
    Shorthand is ideally suited to visual stories where you have a good number of images and/or embeds or video to include. It is well-suited to long-form stories, where you wish to keep the readers' attention longer than usual. It can help to differentiate particularly important or intriguing stories from others on your website - and for this reason, it could be used as a premium content tool, perhaps for subscribers. It can also be used to showcase stories about awards you've organised, giving them special treatment. It is less suited to breaking news, or very time-sensitive news stories, as it can take some time to prepare, post or update shorthand stories. And it doesn't work well for stories with strong accompanying imagery
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    InboundWriter
    • Very easy to use and follow direction.
    • The price is right for this freemium Wordpress plugin.
    • Helps discover what content and keywords are popular around your subject matter.
    Incentivized
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    Shorthand
    • Enabling visual storytelling with multiple pictures
    • Embedding rich media within a story, including video
    • Engaging readers for longer than average dwell times
    • Making it easy to create striking article design without coding experience
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    InboundWriter
    • Sometimes tough to decide what direction to follow without keyword stuffing your content.
    • Colleagues have complained about the Document Score being unreliable at times.
    • It's only as good as the information you put into it and lacks the ability to give you more high level though leadership terms/topics.
    Incentivized
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    Shorthand
    • Additional flexibility in how text is overlaid on pictures would be welcome so that there are more choices on what images to use with particular layouts
    • Enabling users to control the path of text - for example, enabling runaround - could enable some excellent designs
    • Adding additional section templates could speed up design
    • More flexibility in caption placement would be helpful
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    InboundWriter
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    I have never known it to be down during my use of it. All you require is an internet connection to log in and you can use it on multiple devices. Adding ease of accessibility, there are simple ways to log in. I've also never known a Shorthand story to go down once live on our site.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    InboundWriter
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    Due to the integration with our content management software, there is a short delay on our site while it loads, which may cause some readers to drift away. However, I've seen other sites where it instantly loads articles, so I believe this to be down to the content management software behind our site more than Shorthand itself. Once that brief initial period is over, it doesn't require additional loading time.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    InboundWriter
    The InboundWriter support is certainly sufficient for the type of troubleshooting you may encounter when using the tool. There are chats and forums available with best practices or knowledge share. For bigger issues, even WordPress can serve as a support system for getting to the answer quickly. Luckily, you're more likely to find that it is a very intuitive tool that is easy to use.
    Incentivized
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    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    InboundWriter
    While Yoast is also very useful as a free WordPress plugin that helps up your SEO game, where it stops at just providing direction for your meta data, like titles and descriptions, InboundWriter takes your search engine reach a bit further and helps you create relevant content for your industry that targets the right keywords and topics.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Shorthand
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    InboundWriter
    No answers on this topic
    Shorthand
    As a web-based service, it is easy for users to log into from anywhere. Content can easily be shared, as you can set up teams that enable access to each other's work as required. And content can be reviewed by others before publication using the sharing function. You can also view how an article will look on different devices.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    InboundWriter
    • InboundWriter has helped us craft more SEO-driven content and balance our keyword usage.
    • InboundWriter has also helped us hone in on the specific topics we should be covering for our industry.
    • Overall, it has helped us achieve our goals of creating pillar content and driving more organic traffic.
    Incentivized
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    Shorthand
    • Helped us create one of our top 10 most-read and most-shared stories in the last year
    • Enabled us to elevate key pieces of content, boosting dwell time on our site
    • But can also be time-consuming to adopt for some stories, meaning you need to choose well what stories really deserve the investment in time
    • Boosted collaboration between teams via its ability to share, including offering the chance for others to preview content prior to publication
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Shorthand Screenshots

    Screenshot of Easily add sections and adjust styling.