You may have heard of a copywriter, or if you’ve been researching the web, a “SEO copywriter.” At this point, you know the term and perhaps have a rough idea of what a copywriter does. This article will help you understand what a copywriter specifically does.
Before you read too far, just know that a copywriter is one of the most valuable tools your business can have, and doubly so if you’re trying to expand your online business efforts.
Copywriter Vs. SEO Copywriter: What’s the Difference?
If you’re used to working at a traditional company, you may have used a copywriter for your written business materials. If you never knew the copywriter for your business, then you’re probably familiar with those letters you get in the mail attempting to sell you car or health insurance.
Those letters are the work of a traditional copywriter.
However, as you might already know, paper is quickly disappearing and everything’s becoming digital. Nowadays, true traditional copywriters are becoming increasingly scarce, and instead SEO copywriters replace them.
The primary difference between the two is that SEO copywriters know how to write so the content they create gets found in the search engines, but at the same time, they can move people with words in order to get them to take purchasing action. Basically, they’re similar to a traditional copywriter, but they have an additional skill to bring to the table in SEO.
Skills an SEO Copywriter Brings to Your Business That Make Him or Her Indispensable
Now you know basically that SEO copywriters exist to bring more sales to your company through the written web content. But, you may not know the specific steps and skills a copywriter possesses that make them critical to the success of your business.
Here are some of those skills:
- Effective Copywriting Techniques
What works with web copy is much, much different than what used to work with traditional print copy. In the old days of marketing, formal language and a very businesslike/corporate image bought trust with consumers.
Now, the game has totally changed.
Any leading internet marketing expert knows that casual, personal language is what sells to consumers online these days. They’re in a rush, so they don’t have time to read through dense jargon. Plus, the web has made direct connections between consumers and agencies much more possible, so consumers expect you to speak as though you are having a casual conversation directly with them.
Because the web makes attention spans so short, professionals know how to quickly capture and maintain consumer attention.
It’s not easy, and it’s definitely a science of its own.
- SEO Knowledge
Ideally, you have an entire SEO/internet marketing company helping you with your internet marketing efforts, so not too much of this falls on the copywriter. Your copywriter will at least know the basics – how to write for the web, where to place keywords, and how frequently to place them so that Google doesn’t get upset and dock the rankings of your content.
Some copywriters bring additional SEO skills to the table, such as keyword research. Copywriters who know how to conduct keyword research can help you rank the pages they create much faster than a copywriter who does not. To you, that means more traffic and sales in a shorter time frame. Picking the wrong keywords can take years, if ever, before you rank your pages where people find them.
Other copywriters can give you more general SEO tips to help increase your web rankings. Although a copywriter’s job is to write copy that brings in sales, if you find one that knows much about SEO as well, you’ve found a great bonus.
- Designs Every Page with a Business Goal in Mind
Many internet marketing companies fall into the trap of creating more content and pages for Google. The truth is those pages possess a very limited amount of value – they only please Google, not the people who visit them.
Every page a copywriter creates for your website must somehow keep the visitors there, or making a purchase. Each page must contain at least a primary keyword, and perhaps 1-2 variations of that keyword.
This gives the page the best chance to rank highly, attract traffic, and keep the visitor on-site somehow.
- Develops Compelling Calls to Action
The written call-to-action either comes at the very end of the content, or 1-2 places throughout the content, depending on the type of content being written.
From a business perspective, you know what your visitors should do when visiting your website. But, they’re unlikely to take the action you want them to unless you ask and give them a very good reason to do so.
Offering a free e-book in exchange for contact information is one small way to stay in touch with visitors to your website. Your company might also offer a free product when people order 3.
If you’re not sure what to do, a skilled copywriter helps you to identify ideas for calls to action.
- Writes Amazing Headlines
Headlines are more critical to your website’s success than ever before. They have 2 important elements:
The primary keyword must be included in them somewhere, and ideally near the beginningThey must be interesting, enticing, or communicate a benefit to the reader
Why are headlines so critical? Run any old search in Google. Check out this one I did on “womens shoes:”
Of these 3 results, which do you want to click on? Man, FREE shipping from Zappos? That’s what women want to click on. See result #2? That tells you what’s there, but the incentive is hidden below the headline, and crum, it’s only on orders over $35. Nordstrom is somewhat on target – they have a sale going on, but what kind of sale? How much is the discount? Darn, and women have to read to figure out more about the free shipping.
If Zappos specificed what you had to do to get free shipping, it would have nailed the headline game. I think they do free shipping on all orders, so that should be in the headline to make it absolutely killer.
It only takes a few seconds to read past the headline, but this is not something that internet searchers are willing to do, especially if one result makes it easy to learn everything in the headline!
- A Lot of Research
Anyone can put together words that flow well. But, only a few understand all the background research necessary to really make those sales happen. A copywriter performs extensive research on the audience to know what it is that motivates them to buy.
In addition, he or she also gets to know the company very well so that the copy accurately reflects the company’s personality, making it distinct from other companies offering a similar product/service.
- General Marketing Knowledge
You’re really getting excellent value if your copywriter acts basically as a marketing consultant. A truly valuable SEO copywriter can give you ideas on how to differentiate from the competition, how to structure your website for best SEO/web rankings, how to design landing pages visually to maximize conversions, and also how to design your whole website for the best user experience.
If you encounter a SEO copywriter with this type of knowledge, hang on to them, even if you think they’re high priced – they are worth much, much more than what you pay them.
Copywriters Do More, But Those are the Basics
The level of detail required to explain what a copywriter does and why would take many, many blog posts to cover. But for now, at least you have a general idea and a reasonable answer to the question: ”What does a copywriter do?”
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