A productive SEO strategy begins in a website’s backend. However, one of the best and most affordable ways to take it up a notch is through the consistent production of keyword-optimized, SEO-friendly content creation.
Many website owners say things like “I’m not a writer.” But then they turn around and make a claim about how their website needs to be more SEO-friendly.
The solution? Hire a copywriter.
Here we address how a copywriter can boost your website’s SEO, and how to go about finding and hiring a good one.
Finding a Good SEO Copywriter
This is the most common deterrent I hear when speaking with business owners. There are two easy and common ways to go about this.
Option 1: The job board dilemma
Many people are hesitant to use Upwork or another online job board and hire someone they’ve never met in person to contract with their business. This is justifiable, as there is a lot to sift through on Upwork.
But job boards allow you to sift through multiple candidates. With so much to choose from, there’s got to be something good.
Here’s what you need to hire a copywriter for SEO on Upwork. You want a writer knowledgeable on SEO best practices that is both professional and experienced. Look for these things:
- How long they’ve been freelancing or working on SEO. This is a good indicator of how well they kow their stuff.
- A good portfolio that includes prior SEO copywriting samples
- 5-star reviews. A solid notation of previous clients being satisfied with their work.
Option 2: Surround yourself with entrepreneurs and freelancers
Another great place to identify a good copywriter is conferences and networking meetups. If you’re a member of a good coworking space, attend a few of the networking sessions that come through. Odds are there will be a couple of copywriters there, potentially people who work alongside you every day that you’ve never spoken to.
I’d like to take a moment to recognize a common complaint I’ve heard from business owners. “Anyone can call themselves a copywriter, how am I supposed to know if they’re legit or just an underemployed bartender?”
A valid question. Here are a few things to note:
- Writing is hard. Making money as a writer is harder. Not to take anything away from those just starting out, but a newbie writer isn’t going to be able to afford a coworking membership. They also likely won’t be experienced enough to know how productive and profitable it can be to surround yourself with other freelancers and entrepreneurs. Those that are at networking events, drinking a coconut next to you at the office in Bali, and generally holding their own in conversations about business, SEO, and the digital nomad lifestyle are probably worth shooting an email to. Always ask for their portfolio, of course, but this is generally a good indication of experience and dedication.
- Bring up SEO during a conversation. This is where the money is, and any copywriter who’s making a decent living is working with SEO on a daily basis. Ask what he or she will do to craft SEO-friendly blog articles for you. Even if you aren’t so keen on SEO yourself, how confident they are in their response will tell you everything you need to know.
What to Have Your Copywriter Work On
I don’t know your personal situation, but I will plug for the importance of professional contractors in helping a business grow. At Live Lingua, we have a top-rated language learning blog that offers immense value to our students, and it was almost entirely built by contracted copywriters.
Professional web copy, link building, and SEO-friendly blog articles are something that can help you right now even if permanent help is further down the line.
Hiring a copywriter to do a few blog or guest posts for you, maybe even run an outreach campaign, is an investment that will pay off by helping your website build authority and attract more customers. Here are a few common reasons to hire a copywriter for SEO:
- Link-building refers to the practice of obtaining backlinks to your website in order to build its authority in Google. I hate to break it to you, but a sloppy blog article isn’t going to generate backlinks. Other blogs and websites aren’t going to run your guest posts if they’re poorly written.
- Landing pages, product descriptions, and general web content. Lure customers in with short, punchy sentences. Hook them with the perfect CTA. Ditch the pensive locutions.
- Keyword-optimized web copy and blog articles. Help pages on your site rank higher in Google with by naturally including phrases that people search for into your copy and blog articles. Can you guess what the keyword in this article is?
How to Have Your Copywriter Work and Post
Trusting people with even a part of what you’ve built your livelihood on is a tough thing to open up to. But there are ways to make it easier.
- Have them ghostwrite. Ghostwriting means the copywriter does the writing, but it has your name as the writer of the article. You as the business owner still come across as the expert, without having to worry about your terrible writing skills affecting legitimacy.
- Take the time to sufficiently convey what you want. The biggest frustration for me as a copywriter, other than late-payment and non-payment issues, is a client who can’t tell me what they want. In my opinion, at least, this is a leading factor of both issues A and C here.
Final thoughts
Remember that the copywriter hasn’t spent years building your business and likely doesn’t have as much background knowledge on the topic as you do. The more specific you can be in instruction, the more accurate the writer can be in production. You’ll soon realize that in copywriting, creativity is sparked through a clear understanding of the client’s mindset. In that vein, that brilliant voice that drew you to the writer in the first place will shine brightest when they are able to approach the assignment with confidence.
I hope my point has come across. Here’s a quick recap: By looking within your entrepreneurial circle, whether that be online or at in-person meetups, identifying a quality copywriter isn’t such a frustrating experience. Putting that copywriter to work to craft SEO-optimized content is an investment that will pay off in the long-run.
Why should you hire a copywriter for SEO? Because we need the money. No, no. Seriously though: once you’ve built a relationship with a professional wordsmith, we’re never more than an email away.
