You should hire an SEO copywriter if your website isn’t ranking on Google, your content or site isn’t generating enquiries or you’re not sure how to write in a way that appeals to both search engines and real people.
An SEO copywriter combines SEO strategy with persuasive writing to help your website rank for relevant searches and turn those visitors into enquiries and customers. It’s not just about putting in keywords and key phrases and climbing the rankings easy-peasy.
A few years ago, you could
Do that now and the Google algorithm will punish your website big time.
Modern SEO copywriting is about understanding search intent, using relevant keyphrases naturally and answering the questions your audience is actually searching for. It’s not about stuffing loads of keywords into a page and hoping Google gives you a massive gold star.
Pfft, sounds tiring.
What is SEO copywriting?
SEO copywriting is the process of writing useful, persuasive website content that’s optimised for the words, phrases and questions people search for. It combines search intent, keyword research and persuasive writing to help content rank and encourage readers to take action.
A great SEO copywriter can also create content clusters when writing blog posts, where several posts are connected and linked. Internal links help Google understand how your pages and topics are connected. And they help readers discover more useful content on your website.
10 great reasons you should hire an SEO Copywriter
What does an SEO copywriter do? This. All of this:
Your writer will:
One. Do deep keyword/keyphrase research
In an ideal world, you’d pick a keyword or keyphrase, include it on your page or post and BHAM! – you’re number one on Google.
If only it was that easy.
Hundreds if not thousands of people are fighting over ranking for the most common keyphrases.
An SEO copywriter will dig deeper, finding similar phrases or questions that get traffic but not as much. What’s the point of that?
Well, think about it, that similar keyphrase might only get 180 searches per month instead of 18,000, but it’s still being searched.
You have the chance of getting 180 interested eyes on your site every month.
The popular keyword might get you 18,000 but you’re gonna have to rank on page one for it and it’s not going to be easy. In some cases, it’s impossible.
So, by ranking high for similar, less competitive phrases, your writer is giving you a better chance of being seen.
Two. Understand search intent
Google is a lot better at understanding the search intent of your audience. But to understand it yourself, every time you write something, you need to consider these questions:
- Why would my customers be searching for this?
- What will my reader take away from reading this?
- Is my content better than similar articles or pages?
- Does it include all the information they need or will they need to dig for more information?
And you’ve got to think of these every time you write something. Do that and you’ll create incredibly useable, top stuff.
For more on search intent and why getting loads of traffic doesn’t necessarily mean getting loads of customers, check out, Why is my website getting traffic but no enquiries?
Three. Analyse content with the same keyphrase/keyword
To do the second, you’ll need to do the third on this list – analyse content currently ranking high for your keyphrases.
So, before writing, a copywriter skilled in SEO will:
- Check high-ranking competitor posts to see if the information is up-to-date and relevant
- Read competitor pieces to see if they’re any good
- Look at how recently the competition articles/pages were posted
- Consider what information someone searching this phrase would be looking for
Four. Include the right balance of keyphrases in your content
Now we know that Google rewards search intent more than keyphrases nowadays, your writer will be able to create content that includes:
- Your main SEO keyphrase
- Longtail keywords
- Semantic keywords
- Questions your audience is searching for
Don’t worry if you don’t know what these are, I’ll answer that towards the end of this article.
Five. Optimise your on-page SEO
Yeah, it’s good to get the right balance through the content of your post or page, but they’ll also make sure they include your keyphrase in the:
- Headers
- Subheaders
- Meta title (The title of the page you see on Google)
- Meta description (The explainer text you see on Google)
- Image name (at least one image should have your keyphrase in it, yes, really!)
- Alt-txt area of images (This explains what your image is about and makes your content more inclusive)
- URL slug of the page (the bit after the forward slash)
Phew!
There’s more to SEO than you realise!
If you don’t want to hire an SEO copywriter right now and fancy having a crack at refreshing your current blog posts, that’s fine. Check out my article, 24 awesome ways to optimise SEO for blog posts.
Six. Include internal and external links
Google loves pages that link, it shows they’re connected, and they’ll reward you for it.
So, your content should link with relevant pages and posts elsewhere on your site. and any external links to high authority sites should be included too.
Seven. Consider User Experience (UX) and page speed
Yes, UX and page speed are a job for your web designer but a top SEO copywriter will also think about using images through their content (so it ties in with the feel of the piece).
So, they’ll want to make sure that you’re compressing images and minimising your code so the page loads quickly.
You don’t want a painfully slow website. People aren’t going to sit there waiting for your 14MB stock photo of two people shaking hands to load.
They’ll bugger off.
Page experience and performance can also affect your SEO, so your lovely optimised copy needs a decent website underneath it.
Eight. Create a consistent content strategy
A consistent, SEO-friendly content strategy means Google is getting loads and loads of top content from you.
Creating genuinely useful content around the problems, questions and topics your customers search for helps build your site’s authority. It also gives your content more opportunities to appear across traditional search results, Featured Snippets and AI search results.
Get featured in these shows your content is killin’ it!
Nine. Give you the edge over your competitors
You might have some competitors that are on the ball, but they won’t all be. By working with an SEO copywriter, you’ll overtake others in your industry as a voice of authority.
Not only does this build trust in your business, it’ll also send more clients your way.
Ten. Boost your search engine rankings
Yep, every step will lead to this – improved search engine placement. Y
ou can never guarantee you’ll be in the number one spot or that every single page will rank on page one. But by creating pages and blog posts, you’ll start ranking better and you’ll increase your website traffic and conversion rates.
If your site isn’t ranking or showing up on search engines, check out my article, Why is my website not showing on Google? (& 12 great fixes!).
So, can a copywriter help with SEO?
The answer is an emphatic YES!
Search Engine Optimisation has changed a lot since the days of stuffing loads of keywords in and Google rewarding you for it.
All your old, over-stuffed content is now be out of date. An SEO writer can help by reworking and refreshing all your old content. Pretty cool! Now, let’s move on to something I promised I’d explain earlier in this post.
What are semantic keywords and related search terms?
Semantic keywords and related search terms are words and phrases closely connected to your main topic. They help search engines understand your content without you repeating the same flippin’ keyword 47 times.
For example, just a handful of semantic keywords related to this article,’ Does a copywriter help with SEO?‘ include:
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Content Creation
- SERP Data
- SEO Copywriting
- SEO Best Practices
- Content Strategy
- SEO Content Writing
- SEO Content Strategy
- On-page SEO
- Search Intent
- Website copywriting
And bucket loads more.
What are longtail keywords?
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific search phrases. They often have lower search volumes than broad keywords, but because they’re more specific, they can attract people looking for exactly what you offer, including people who are closer to making a purchase.
Again, for this blog post, they’d be stuff like:
- How a copywriter improves SEO
- Benefits of hiring an SEO copywriter
- Can copywriting boost search engine rankings?
- Should I hire an SEO copywriter?
- How much does an SEO copywriter cost?
Can an SEO copywriter help with AI search and AEO?
Yep!
Dead good SEO copywriting and Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) have loads in common. Both involve understanding the questions people ask and providing clear answers that search engines and AI tools can easily understand.
Clear headings, direct answers, useful examples and genuinely helpful content make things easier for humans, search engines and AI platforms.
How to find a good SEO copywriter
Now you know why you should hire one, all you need to do is put the advice in this article into practice (especially the longtail keywords bit). Google one or check out a whole list of writers on ProCopywriters. Or cut out the bother and hire an SEO copywriter with loads of experience, like me.
I’ve worked with loads of clients to improve their SEO and boost their search engine rankings.
For more on SEO, check out, Can AI improve my website SEO? or my service, Website SEO Audit.
Get in touch and let’s chat about how I can help you.
Until next time
Matt
PS. Want to learn more about local SEO? Then check out my article, How Liverpool businesses can improve SEO (you don’t have to be based in Liverpool to read this, just swap out place names for ones near you!).
PPS. For more stuff on working with writers, check out 12 benefits for copywriting for small businesses, Help: I need a copywriter! and When should I start working with a website copywriter?
