Businesses want their websites to make sales and be profitable. Search engines are responsible for bringing potential customers to your doorstep, but it is the web site that carries out the marketing task and the responsibility of converting those visits into leads, and leads into customers. Most professional SEOs agree that long term success can be achieved only through content, and not any kind of content but one that is useful to visitors and original. Focusing on a content-orientated SEO strategy is the most cost effective and efficient of known SEM methods. Assuming you don't believe in the power of content relevance, you will see that it doesn't matter if your site ranks in the top 10. If the copy doesn't communicate with your prospects, if it doesn't get your message across to convert them into customers, then all the money and time invested will have been a waste.
Hiring a Copywriter
If you are serious about Internet marketing then it's important to know that communicating to your online audience is a long term commitment. Words don't just communicate the message you want to convey but also the unique voice of your company or organisation. Therefore, hiring a copywriter is one of the most important decisions in a SEO campaign. He or she has to write for search engines and users alike.
In order to cut down costs, you can hire a freelancer copywriter who will produce several pages of content a week and who will manage your newsletter, email campaigns and press releases. Sometimes it's best to hire two copywriters that complement each other. In the event of one of them being unable to fulfil his or her duties, the other one can take over without apparent changes in the tone and attitude that transpires from his or her writing.
Requirements of a SEO copywriter
Besides having the talent to connect to the audience and persuade, any SEO copywriter should:
- Be able to write copy for online users while bearing in mind that there are significant differences between online and offline audiences (such as the fact that online users don't read whole pages, but scan the text for essential points).
- Know how to embed keywords within content so that it influences rankings positively while remaining compelling for visitors. In essence, this means that a copywriter has to be able to write for search engines and users alike.
- Be able to create content that is unique, useful and relevant to users and attract attention from related and similar sites. This is probably the most important part of the SEO strategy. What other sites say about your site is an important factor in the ranking algorithm of search engines.
Some copywriters charge by page or by hour. It's recommended that you try to find one that charges by page (a page meaning 250-300 words) and delivers work on time. Try to set your budget so that you can add a fresh, quality, content page every 1-2 days.
Holding onto a Copywriter
Once you find a copywriter that you like and who fulfills his or her role in your online presence try to keep him/her motivated. Some copywriters get bored easily or become sloppy and don't get involved as much as they should. Make him or her feel that they're an important part of your organisation. You can do this through bonuses, having them produce more content so that the effect doesn't wear off.
Once they get seriously involved in the writing process it will be difficult for them to give up and leave you in search of another copywriter.
Search Engine Marketing Companies and Copywriters
Search engine marketing companies often have their own copywriters which can create content for you. However, it's best that you use an independent copywriter. This protects your online voice in the event of contract termination with the SEO company. It also ensures an increased degree of personalisation and intimacy between the copywriter and your business which will make the written copy more accurate and closer to the real tone of your organisation.
Your Relationship With the Search Engine Optimisation Company
This article was first published on 20 August 2004 and does not necessarily match current events or the current opinions and views of bigmouthmedia ltd.
