When it comes to commissioning a copywriter for your next project, it's important to distinguish between customer facing copy and SEO copy. Too often clients, particularly SMEs, for whom a new brochure or website represents a sizeable investment, think that they can pay SEO writing rates for customer facing copy. My experience is that, while it may be cheaper, it is never good value for money.
SEO copywriting, by which I mean landing pages or keyword-heavy text, is primarily written for search engines, not for people. As such it is required in far higher volumes than conventional copywriting. A standard small website might have between four to six customer facing pages - usually a home page, about us page, services page and perhaps FAQs. These are the pages that will be read by your customers and as such it's important that you get your message right.
If you want to maximise the effect of these pages on your customers you need an experienced copywriter and you should be prepared to budget for the time taken to get to know your company. It will be money well spent in the long run.
When it comes to SEO copy, a standard website could have anything up to 25+ landing pages, each targeting a different set of keywords. These pages are usually not linked to from the home page and so a customer browsing your site is unlikely to read them.
SEO pages exist almost solely to be read by search engine spiders. They require keywords to be wrapped up in coherent, grammatical and relevant text before they will consider listing your site. So far, boffins have been unable to replicate the skills of a human writer in creating these pages and so, if you are considering using this method of SEO in your online marketing, you will inevitably have to employ a real person.
Markets are quick to respond to new opportunities. Due to the enormous volumes of content that are now required for SEO globally, writers of all levels of experience have been quick to offer their services. From experienced professionals to those who are trying to launch a career around a handful of blog postings, the world is now filled with copywriters.
Unfortunately, because many businesses think that no one is ever going to read SEO content it consequently has a far lower value than traditional copywriting. Some businesses are prepared to risk huge compromises in their written communications in order to save money. In our experience, that is a hugely risky strategy that rarely pays dividends.
You can go to online freelance agencies now and get someone to write blogs for you at less than 50 cents for 300 words. You can get link-building articles for around $5 for 500 words and you can get SEO landing pages written for a pound of grapes and a kind word (per article).
I have read a great deal of this kind copy. There are "writers" out there who will sell you articles that are barely literate, barely English, full of spelling and grammatical errors and stuffed so full of keywords that it becomes incoherent. Some are even worse.
Fine, you say, but if it's only going to be read by search engines does it really matter?
The problem is that while SEO copywriting is designed for search engines it will frequently be read by your customers. Web copywriting stays around for a long, long time. Suddenly from out of nowhere a five-year old article that you thought you could get away with pay 50 cents for can appear in the higher listings of the search engines for your main key word.
Your customers immediately see your name all over this appalling content and then it's too late, the damage is done. Only then will you start to regret not paying for a professional copywriter. Trust me, it pays to get it right first time round.
For more insights and further information about Web Copywritingvisit our site http://www.copywritingdevon.co.uk/
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-best-way-to-get-more-effective-copy-from-your-SEO-copywriter/738533
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment