Content – you can’t live without.
Whether it’s creating new web content, brochure copy, an email campaign, white paper, case study or article, it takes time, skill and a certain flair to produce something that’s engaging.
You usually tell yourself you don’t have the time to create it yourself when the simple truth is sitting down and writing something for your customers fills you with dread.
That’s why you look for a professional copywriter to do it for you.
Of course, a professional writer will charge professional fees – so what exactly do you get for your money?
What a copywriter delivers
A copywriter doesn’t just write.
It takes a lot more than that to create something that the search engines love, and your audience wants to read.
Regardless of the project, they’re working on the first step is always:
Market research
To create the perfect blog, brochure, email or page of web content, your writer has to understand what your audience wants.
They need to know what’s happening in your industry, the most popular topics shared on social media, and what the pressing issues are that your audience is facing.
All of that takes time.
Keywords
Stage two is identifying relevant keywords. These are the terms people type into the search engines or ask Siri.
Only by identifying the right words can you be sure your content will stand a chance of being found.
Of course, it’s not just keywords, your copywriter also has to identify the synonyms and related terms the search engine will expect to find within the content. Then they need to place them in the right places (H1 and H2 tags and body copy) sparingly.
Subject matter research
Stage three can be very time-consuming.
Research can be through internet searches, going out and about to relevant locations, interviews with you, your team and other subject matter experts.
It can easily take up to four times longer to conduct research than it takes to write an article but the result is worth it. You will get a well-balanced piece of content that’s beautifully written.
Writing, editing, revising
Although at the start of the contract, you would have agreed how many rounds of revisions your writer is happy to include in the price, the initial draft you’ll see won’t have come hot off their keyboard.
Copywriters are perfectionists by nature. Even though the first draft is to be shaped further, it would have gone through numerous re-write, proofreadings and rounds of editing before it reaches you.
So much more than writing
Next time you engage a professional writer, think about this before you dismiss her quote.
Hiring a professional copywriter isn’t expensive when you look at the whole process and the quality of the outcome.
Sally Ormond is a professional copywriter with over ten year’s experience. Let her find the right words for you by emailing or calling 01449 779605.