A copywriter can make the difference between gaining a long-term client and losing a client.
If you don’t have a copywriter on your team, it’s the equivalent of a soccer team fielding a team without a striker.
A great copywriter can ensure that the ball is put into the back of the net and the long-term client becomes a steady cash flow into your business.
In this blog post, I’m going to show you how you can ensure that you hire a copywriter that will put the ball into the back of the net time and time again.
Let’s start with the basics….
Why hire a copywriter?
Having a copywriter is vital.
In life, As soon as we learn to talk and speak, we are using words; we are communicating with people, and the fact is, that the people who often get ahead in life are the best communicators.
If you hire a top-class copywriter, this will allow you to effectively communicate with your audience and get your message across. A copywriter will also help you develop the voice of your brand so that your customers will know what to expect from you and your company.
The reality of copywriters
Not having a copywriter at your disposal is almost akin to driving a Car that is covered in scrapes, bumps and bangs.
A great copywriter will polish your Car up so that it’s looking sleek, slick, and full of panache.
A copywriter will eliminate these scrapes and bumps so that your brand is looking like a showpiece brand that stands out from the rest of the trash that populates the world wide web.
Now.
Let’s look at the top 10 tips in hiring the services of a copywriter.
So why are copy-writing services so important?
Content is the way you speak to your audience. Content is going to be the first thing that your audience notices about your business. You should ensure that your content speaks directly to your audience whilst ensuring that your brand voice is adhered to.
If you are a new company, you will first have to determine what your brand voice is and a copywriter will help assist you in discovering and developing your brand voice. Your brand voice will greatly vary depending on what industry you are in.
For example, you have a business within the hair dressing industry.
The type of tone your copywriter will use when creating content will be greatly different from the tone you might use if a copywriter was creating content for the tax industry or the legal industry. Great copywriting will allow you to speak to your audience and ultimately gather that audience into the net.
2. Copywriters influence SEO
Content copy-writing services, when done correctly, will have a significant impact upon SEO.
If you intend to fully benefit from a content copy-writing service you will need to formulate a content strategy which will include: SEO, copy-writing, content creation, blogging and social media.
Copywriter Ireland tips
Whilst copywriting can and will increase traffic to your website, copywriting is but one component in a much larger machine, a much larger machine, where all the different parts need to be fed and nourished.
SEO copywriter
For example, if you hire a copywriter and he has no concept of SEO, then you are going to suffer some bad results.
Whilst a copywriter who can churn out an amazing blog of say 2k words is a great asset to have this type of copywriter might not produce the results and traffic that you want to achieve.
Real copywriting services will know the difference between creating content for an audience and creating content for the Google Algorithms. Just because a copywriter creates a superb article that everyone loves, this does not mean that Google will love the article.
Hire a copywriter who knows how to bank clients
As a copywriter, what would I prefer? An article that my friends, family, and everyone on social media loves or an article that Google loves? The answer is the article that Google loves. Why? Because if you can rank in Google, this will result in more money being deposited in your pocket.
It’s all very well for your friends and family applauding you, but what would you prefer, a pat on the back or a chunk of cash going into your bank account?
The reality of copywriting services
Many copywriters think once they create a good article, the traffic will begin to flow into whatever website they are creating content for.
Not so.
An SEO copywriter every time
Any copywriter worth his salt should know, at the very least, some basic SEO techniques. Who would I prefer to hire a great copywriter who knows zilch when it comes to knowing how to rank on Google or an average copywriter with great skills in SEO?
For me, as a businessman, I’m going to hire the average copywriter every single time. Why? I’m thinking of the cold hard cash, I’m thinking of ranking in Google, I’m thinking of the end result which is going to be money in the bank.
Of course, you will want a copywriter who knows how to create great content and also knows SEO as this will give you the best of both worlds, but overall I would choose the copywriter who knows how to make bank.
3. More on the importance of SEO for copywriters
Ranking on the first page of Google is what is going to make or break your business. For example, if I’m attempting to rank for the search term “copywriter for hire” and someone Googles this and they are on my website, what does that mean for me? It means that I am doing my job properly when it comes to content creation and SEO.
Best copywriters for hire
It means that there are people out there putting thousands of euros into their business trying to rank for that particular keyword and I am ranking for it naturally by virtue of my copywriting and SEO skills. What does that tell you? It tells you that this copywriter has got the whole package, not only can he create great copy he knows all of the SEO tricks and skills that you need when it comes to ranking on Google.
What I’m trying to say is You’ll want to hire someone who is not only a great copywriter but also a maestro when it comes to knowing how to rank on Google. You should seek to hire a copywriter that is in the midst of a prolonged love affair with Google because if you manage to gate-crash this relationship you might just find yourself in a three way romance from heaven whereby the dollar bills start rolling in at a frenetic pace.
4. When using copywriting services, think of the long run
The beauty about creating great content is that great content endures.
A great blog post you created several years ago will have the potential to take in both long-term and short-term traffic.
For example, a well-crafted blog post which has amassed lots of shares and backlinks has the potential to turn into a goldmine for you when it comes to long-term traffic.
If you hire a copywriter, you will need to be realistic with your goals.
If you think a copywriter is going to revolutionise your business after creating two or three blog posts, I’m sorry, but you are going to be bitterly disappointed.
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Hiring a copywriter is like planting a tree. It is a long-term investment that will pay dividends down the road.
One of the key things that any copywriting agency will try and get across to you is that consistent blog posts over time will cause you to see results.
But in a similar vein, if you hire a copywriter and he only creates an odd piece of content, you will not see results.
An analogy I might use is that a company hiring a copywriter is a bit like an obese man going to the gym and expecting that he’s going to look like a Greek god after two or three sessions on the treadmill.
The fact is, the obese man and the company hiring a copywriter need to think of long-term goals. Over time, if you keep doing the right things, you will begin to see results, just don’t expect miracles to happen overnight because if you do you will be sorely disappointed.
5. A copywriter needs to target an audience
One of the first things that a great copywriter will need to do is to target a particular audience. A great copywriter will have done is homework by researching what type of audience his content intends to target.
What kind of things will you need to consider?
There are several things you will need to consider, such as age, gender, country of origin, purchasing habits, etc.
Knowing this information will allow a copywriter to adjust his copy to suit his target audience and increase conversions.
Superior copy-writing services will have the ability to tailor make content and target their audience directly.
What you don’t want is a copywriter creating content that is generalised and not target orientated. Professional copywriting services will know the difference between targeting people from an older generation for conversions and targeting people from a younger generation.
Top copywriters are chameleon-like
For example, if you’re targeting younger people the content that they’ll to consume will greatly differ from those of an older generation and as such you will need your copywriter to adapt his writing style to the particular audience.
This is where the skilled chameleon like copywriter comes into play. A supremely talented copywriter will have the ability to craft content in a vast array of styles.
One minute he/she’s writing style can be serious and formal and the next minute he/she is landing grenades in all over the place.!
6. A copywriter needs to Identify your value proposition
One of the first things that you and any copywriting service will need to establish will be what’s your value proposition? What do I mean by “value proposition”? Basically, what I mean is that there are tonnes of different products out there, what makes yours different? What differentiates your product from the masses of other ones that populate the market?
Before you can sell anything, you will need to identify what value your product has, and then this information will have to be relayed to your copywriter. Every brand should have a unique selling point and this will push their product line.
Once you and your copywriter have identified why your brand is different, your copywriter should go ahead and create content in respect of why your brand and products are superior to the opposition. Basically, what I am talking about here is creating clarity between you and your copywriter and letting them know what is the unique selling point then getting them to create content around this value propostion.
7. What is the goal your copywriter has?
You will need to make it clear to your copywriter about what is the purpose of your campaign?
For example, will you want the copywriting to drive sales or just send traffic to your landing page or website?
You will establish your short-term and long-term goals.
Once you hire a copywriter, know what you want to accomplish in 3 months, in 6 months, in 12 months.
If you set targets for copywriting agency, this will allow you to measure their performance and whether they are meeting the targets that you and your company aspire to reach.
Once you have discovered your goal, you can get your copywriter to tailor make his content so that you reach your goals.
All too often, companies hire copywriters and they just let them create content without any specific goal in mind.
This is the wrong approach.
The top copywriters for hire will have a plan
Randomly produced content will produce random results. It’s a bit like a boat being let loose upon the high seas and the Captain has no idea where he intends to go. What will happen in this case is that boat will find itself being pulled along and manipulated by all sorts of currents and winds and eventually the boat will make anchor at some barren island or even worse the boat will find itself shipwrecked at the bottom of the ocean.
When it comes to copywriting, You need a plan. You will need a goal.
Successful copywriting services will have a target that they will have in mind. This targeting will allow them to strategize and plan towards reaching their goal.
8. Your copywriters headline
One of the most pivotal goals for any copywriter is the creation of a sexy, juicy and eye catching heading. Any self-respecting copywriter will know that a heading is absolutely vital when trying to attain traffic Why? Because the heading is the first thing that people read and if the heading sounds boring people won’t even open the door to your article.
There is a very valid reason why the term “clickbait” has been coined in terms of internet marketing. It works. Clickbait is a tried and tested formula which will allow you to steal a march ahead of your opponents. A well-crafted headline has the potential to take a vast amount of traffic inside the door.
The sad fact is, you might have created a brilliant blog post which is informative, witty, and full of helpful information and another person has created a dull, common as muck blog post but the person with the dull blog post will get way more traffic because he has taken the time to craft a great headline.
So how do copywriters created great headlines? Well, this is subject is an entire blog post in itself but some of the major components of creating a great headline include, keywords, asking questions, being controversial, surprising people and shocking people. I will delve more into this subject at a later date.
But if you intend to hire a copywriter always make sure that he knows about the importance of headings and how they can make the difference between a killer blog post or a blog post that is doomed to run into a brick wall.
9. Discovery
The very first thing that a copywriter should try and establish will be your type of brand and what are your brands targets and goals. I cannot stress hard enough how vital it is you and your copywriter are on the page when it comes to your brands voice and overall targets.
For example, there is no point hiring a copywriter who writes in any random type of voice. You will need to hire a copywriter who will tailor make his content to suit you and your companys needs. If a copywriter is creating content for an accountancy company and he is writing content that is full of excitement, rich with jokes and humour do you think this will work? Of course not! An accountancy company will want content created that has a more professional polish to it, and if your copywriter is creating copy that is reminiscent of Spike Milligan or Tommy Tiernan doing a stand up comedy gig, do you think this will work? Absolutely not.
The content that is created for an accountancy firm will need to be created in a more bland and informative fashion. So when you hire a copywriter make sure that this copywriter does his research and ascertains what you actually what to accomplish from the copy that he creates.
10. Overall
Getting your hands on a top-quality copywriter has the potential to take your business to the next level. Content copywriting services, when done properly, will result in an increase in traffic and an increase in conversion rates. As I’ve already alluded to in the list above there are a number of vital factors which you will need to take into consideration when hiring the perfect copywriter for your website and business.
Has the copywriter knowledge of SEO? Or is he just your bog standard copywriter with zero digital marketing and SEO skills, apart from the ability to create content? Whilst having content is great, when it comes to generating effective content convertible content for the online scene there is much more than meets the eye. A great copywriting service will have research skills, will be able to speak in your designated brand voice, will be able to incorporate a vast array of copywriting techniques into his skillset.
Just because someone can string a few random sentences together this does not mean that they are an SEO copywriter or any type of copywriter. Believe me, there are people out there who think they are the next equivalent of James Joyce because they can spell “Cat.” They aren’t.
These people are charlatans masquerading as copywriters. Not only is their content creating skills abysmal, they have zero level grasp on how to actually get traffic to their website, and I’m not talking about paid advertisements on Google Ads or social media what I’m talking about is traffic that is generated organically via copywriting. If you hire a copywriter to create copy and after a few months your traffic is still like a tumbleweed blowing through an abandoned street, it could be time to take stock and ask some serious questions about the content creators you have hired.
In finishing, all I can say is this, that hiring copywriters should be a vital part of any genuine marketing plan. If you have a team of copywriters and they are good at their job you and your company will begin to see the results.
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