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We live in a world where a good online presence is essential for businesses, regardless of their size. If your website copy doesn’t speak to your audience, or your site isn’t user-friendly and hard to find, the impact on your business is harmful.
This is where a creative copywriter who’s qualified in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) comes in.
More than ever, businesses are now turning to digital experts to improve and maintain their online presence. When you hire a creative copywriter, you’re in a stronger position to satisfy your audience and be found online. For business owners, it’s a cost-effective way to increase brand visibility through consistent, valuable content that converts.
Here are the fundamentals to consider before you hire an SEO copywriter.
We all have that one friend who’s the jack of all trades. They’re a photographer, graphic designer and marketer, and can whip up a website in a week that looks decent. But that doesn’t mean they’re right for your project.
I’ve seen many business owners turn to friends for help in an effort to save money. I get it, sole traders and small businesses have tight budgets. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out and ends up costing more time and money in the long run.
Unless your friend has specific expertise as a creative SEO copywriter, use a professional.
Why?
Because there’s a fine art to writing for people and search engines that cannot be achieved by anyone – including web developers, designers, SEO experts and other business owners.
Web developers specialise in programming websites, SEO companies specialise in generating traffic and creative copywriters are experts in crafting content. The same way a writer differs from a marketing professional is why you wouldn’t get just any copywriter (or friend, SEO agency or web developer) to write your web content.
The best way to hire the right person for the job is to map your requirements.
Ask yourself these questions first:
Copywriters will give you a creative brief to nut out these project questions. By having these guidelines in place early, your copywriter will understand what you want to achieve and how and why you want to say it. As the relationship develops, we will get to know your organisation as if it were our own.
Be realistic about your requirements, timeframe and budget. Professional copywriting is affordable, but quality doesn’t come cheap and some of the best copywriters are often booked out months in advance.
What does an SEO copywriter cost? Learn more about how much you should pay.
You don’t have to know everything about how SEO copywriters work to benefit from our services, but it pays to have a good idea.
SEO copywriting services combine professionally written content with search engine optimisation. By creating quality content that provides readers with value, along with current white hat SEO strategies, websites have a higher chance of ranking higher in the search results.
The 4-part process consists of:
Explore a day in the life of a Perth copywriter.
SEO is essential – but you should always write for your readers first, and Google second.
Writing for search engines and people has similar goals. A good SEO copywriter will understand how to optimise content naturally to help it perform well while writing content that solves the user’s problem. It’s not just about ranking well, but providing value to your readers without the fluff or over-optimising.
Agency copywriters very rarely work directly with their clients. The project brief is given to an in-house writer or outsourced to a lower-quality writer. While agencies can get the job done quicker, with better availability and multiple copywriters or freelancers to outsource to, they often charge higher rates and you don’t always get to choose (or know) who writes your copy.
Agencies aren’t just about copywriting, either. They work on a variety of digital tasks and pay their copywriters full time, even when they’re not working on your project.
When you work directly with a copywriter, you can build a stronger relationship that supports sustainable results. Costs are more affordable, with inherent flexibility on scope and budget. Over time we begin to breathe your brand.
Disclaimer: I work closely with my clients and don’t outsource any writing. This ensures a level of quality and expertise for the businesses I work with. While I am biased and believe working directly with an SEO copywriter gives the best value, I have also worked for an SEO agency as a Senior Copywriter and understand the pros and cons of both.
Businesses can become more competitive by understanding how to hire a website copywriter. When qualified in creative storytelling and SEO they bring insight, experience and an expert understanding of the power of great copy.
An SEO copywriter will know how to unlock your brand’s voice, select the best keywords and tackle extensive competitor research, creative writing and editing specifically for your industry.
