Why You Need a Website Copywriter for Your Business
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What is a website copywriter?
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When it’s time to hire a website copywriter
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Pros of hiring a website copywriter
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Cons of hiring a website copywriter
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Where to find website copywriters
- Freelancing websites
- Traditional job boards
- Word of mouth
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How to hire a website copywriter
- Testing their skills
- Do your research on them
- Have an onboarding system
- Hire slow and fire fast
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Final thoughts
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A website copywriter is someone who is professionally trained in creating high-quality written content for use on websites, blogs, social media, email marketing, and more.
There are plenty of reasons why you may want to hire a website copywriter, but they all boil down to saving time with content marketing and growing your business.
Lots of brands outsource their content writing to freelance writers and website copywriters.
For example, Investopedia works with freelancers from all over the world to create content centered around investing, personal finance, and financial education.
Forbes is another well-known website that does a great job at hiring freelance writers to contribute content for their website.
They publish hundreds of articles a week, which makes them an authority website in the world of business.
Are you thinking about hiring a website copywriter for your business?
This article will discuss everything I learned from hiring a website copywriter for my business and whether or not you should look into outsourcing writing for your business.
What is a website copywriter?
Website copywriters often specialize in creating content for a specific niche.
For example, I’m in the real estate and finance niche, so I needed to hire a freelance writer to help produce content for my real estate clients.
It’s important to understand that some content marketers may only work with clients in their niche, while some website copywriters may be generalists who can write about many different topics.
High-quality website copywriters do more than just create content.
They optimize their content for search engines to make it more likely that you’ll rank on the first page of Google.
Copywriters should have basic knowledge of SEO principles and be able to demonstrate their approach to content marketing from an SEO perspective.
Without basic knowledge of on-page SEO, link building, and keyword density, you’ll never see the results you are looking for with your website copywriter.
» MORE: How to Start Freelancing with No Experience
When it’s time to hire a website copywriter
Hiring a website copywriter is a big decision.
You’ll be onboarding a new member to your team who hopefully sticks around for a long time producing quality content for your company.
Below are some of the signs you should look for that indicate it’s time to hire a website copywriter:
When you’re too busy running your business
If you’re a business owner, content writing and SEO most likely isn’t the first thing on your to-do list–you have a business to run!
That’s why it makes sense to hire a professional content writer who can handle your content creation.
Freelance writers often write for their clients as a full-time job and can take on plenty of the content you need for your website.
If writing isn’t your strongest skill
Let’s face it–not everyone is a strong writer.
Some people have better speaking abilities or technical skills, while others are good at crafting well-written articles that engage and persuade an audience.
If writing isn’t your forte, it may make sense to hire a website copywriter.
If you don’t know SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) encompasses all the strategies that professionals use to get their content at the top of Google search results.
SEO focuses on organic search traffic rather than paid traffic, and it takes a long time to see results with SEO.
If you don’t know the basic principles of SEO and the software tools professionals use, it may be a good idea to bring on a professional SEO expert.
» MORE: The Best SEO Software for Small Business
If you have a marketing budget
Companies that have money to spend on marketing will benefit the most from outsourcing their content creation.
You’ll be able to interview different content creators that charge varying rates and choose from the very best ones.
It will be difficult to continue to pay high-quality copywriters without a marketing budget.
If you want to see fast results
While organic SEO takes several months to see any type of results, professional SEO experts and copywriters can help get you there faster.
What are some of the keywords you want to rank on Google for?
Outsourcing content writing to a highly-skilled writer will speed up the amount of time that it takes to see results with SEO and content marketing.
Pros of hiring a website copywriter
Hiring a website copywriter comes with benefits and drawbacks.
Below are some of the top benefits you’ll get from outsourcing content creation for your website:
Expert copywriters can dramatically help grow your business
Outsourcing content creation to an expert with a proven track record can help bring more traffic to your website and generate more sales.
Regardless of your industry, getting at the top of Google search results is almost guaranteed to grow your business–and an expert website copywriter can help get you there.
You’ll see results faster
Expert SEO professionals can get your website to the top of Google search faster than you’ll ever be able to.
They do this for a living, so trusting a high-quality writer with your content creation is often a safe bet to seeing results faster.
» MORE: Business Copywriting Basics
It will save you time and money
Running your business is hard enough–it’s almost impossible to manage a business and handle all the marketing yourself.
Hiring a website copywriter will save you and your employees time and money so you can focus on running your business the way you know how.
You’ll learn their skills too
Website copywriters should be more than happy to share their tactics with you as the client.
Good copywriters will take the time to explain their strategies to their clients to ensure they understand how and why they do the things that make them an expert.
You can and should ask your copywriter questions to help understand the world of SEO better.
Expert website copywriters have diverse skill sets
Most copywriters also offer other digital marketing services like social media marketing and running Google advertising campaigns.
Talking with your potential website copywriters and asking them what their skillset consists of is a great way to understand the scope of their services.
Cons of hiring a website copywriter
While hiring a website copywriter is a good option for many business owners, there are some downsides that you should consider before onboarding a new team member to handle your website content.
Website copywriters can be expensive
Most copywriters charge on a per-word basis, meaning they charge you based on the length of the content they produce.
Average rates for high-quality copywriters start at 12 cents per word, meaning a standard 1000-word article will cost $120.
If you want multiple articles per week for your blog, you should expect to allocate a significant amount of money to fairly compensate your writer.
It can be hard to find good copywriters
Freelancing websites like Fiverr and Upwork are riddled with copywriters with no experience who want to make a quick buck by writing a few articles for people online.
This means that finding high-quality copywriters with reasonable rates can be difficult.
Hiring and onboarding can be time-consuming, expensive, and easy to mess up
Content writers need a lot of instructions on your expectations for them upon joining the team.
They need clear direction on the style and structure of the content you want them to create.
You’ll need to spend time creating templates for articles with clear instructions and directions on formatting and how you want the articles to read and look.
You may end up doing the work yourself
Content writers usually need a few trial articles in the beginning to understand what you’re looking for in a writer and your expectations.
This means you’ll need to spend time editing their work, providing feedback, and making changes as needed.
You may feel that, with all this time spent on managing your website copywriter, you could have done the work yourself for free.
Where to find website copywriters
If you still think that hiring a content writer is a good idea, you’ll need to know the places to find high-quality writers at an affordable price.
Freelancing websites
Websites like Upwork and Fiverr are becoming more popular since nearly anyone with an internet connection can sign up and say that they’re a freelancer.
Low entry barriers have saturated the freelancing market–especially for writers.
However, plenty of high-quality writers are on these websites and are available for ongoing work.
You should only interview writers with reviews from past clients and those who can prove that they have a proven track record in your industry.
» MORE: How to Start a Freelance Business
Traditional job boards
Job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter are perfect places to find website copywriters.
However, much like Fiverr and Upwork, there is too much supply for the demand for content writers.
This means that there are many more freelance writers looking for work than those that are hiring.
You should expect to get dozens of applications or more for any type of job posting looking for a content writer.
Word of mouth
Word of mouth continues to be one of the best ways to find high-quality copywriters.
You should ask your personal network if anyone knows freelancers or has worked with anyone in the past and has gotten good results.
Personal referrals are how many marketing consultants generate revenue and acquire new clients.
How to hire a website copywriter
Hiring a website copywriter isn’t as straightforward as you may think.
You’ll want to be sure you’re working with a professional and put them in the best position to meet your expectations.
This means you should never hire a content writer based on work samples alone.
» MORE: Learn Direct Response Copywriting
Testing their skills
The best way to test the skills of a potential copywriter is to give them an actual article to write and to pay them for it at an agreed-upon rate.
This will ensure that you’re getting a good idea of their experience in your field and if they are a good fit before onboarding them.
Relying on past writing samples isn’t effective since these are the best examples of their writing which could also be someone else’s writing altogether.
Do your research on them
Ideally, you want to work with a professional content writer who has a track record of results and has worked with a variety of clients in the past.
Some copywriters may have a social media following which will be useful to peruse before onboarding.
You’ll want to ask for references of current or past clients to ensure the potential candidate is truthful in their claims of getting past results.
Have an onboarding system
You should have a plan for how you’re going to onboard a new writer to your team.
Will you have video calls for them to learn about the company and your mission?
How will you manage communication? Plenty of companies use Slack for collaboration and communication which tends to be very effective.
Hire slow and fire fast
This old adage couldn’t be more true when it comes to hiring website copywriters.
You should do plenty of due diligence to ensure that this new content writer will be a good fit for you and your business in the long term.
It’s a good idea to interview several candidates without making quick hiring decisions.
If your new writer turns out not to be a good fit, you should consult with your team and then let go of them quickly to avoid messy disputes.
Final thoughts
Hiring a website copywriter is often a time-consuming and stressful process.
You want to make sure you hire someone who is competent and can get you the results you need to grow your business.
Click here to learn why Interphase Marketing is one of the top copywriting agencies that has been getting results for clients since 2017.
Our team of writers has a proven track record of working with clients across many different industries and moving the needle for their businesses.
Send us an email at info@interphasemkt.com or visit our website to learn more about why business owners trust us with their content marketing.
Related: Types of Copywriting Niches for Beginners
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-
What is a website copywriter?
-
When it’s time to hire a website copywriter
-
Pros of hiring a website copywriter
-
Cons of hiring a website copywriter
-
Where to find website copywriters
- Freelancing websites
- Traditional job boards
- Word of mouth
-
How to hire a website copywriter
- Testing their skills
- Do your research on them
- Have an onboarding system
- Hire slow and fire fast
-
Final thoughts