Why copywriters are expensive
I’m going to make an educated guess about you.
You pay a hairdresser to cut your hair and hire a mechanic to mend your car. When your boiler breaks down you get a plumber to fix it. For jobs that you can’t do yourself, you employ a professional.
Then why do so many people try to write their own web copy?
OK I hear you. Because it’s free. Why should you pay a copywriter? You can write, you can spell. Heck, you even know the correct use of a semi-colon; and you know tons of stuff about your business. What’s the problem?
Here’s the problem: you know tons of stuff about your business. Let me explain…
The “we” issue
What do you think is the most important thing about your website? Your business, right?
Wrong. It’s your customer.
I can always tell when someone’s written their own content. How? Because the business itself takes centre stage and the starring role is taken by the words “we”, “us” and “our”. If your content is all about you, it’s failing to speak to the person who’s actually reading it: your potential customer.
Copywriters spend a great deal of time researching your target market. Who are they? What are their problems, needs, goals? What’s stopping them getting there? How can your business knock down the hurdles, solve their problems and meet their needs? Which tone of voice speaks directly and personally to them?
In short, the magic word for copywriters is “you”. Which leads me on to the next reason why we’re expensive.
Clear benefits
Copywriters see benefits. Most businesses don’t.
To be honest, it’s perfectly understandable. You’re looking at your business from the inside. You’re an expert in your field, you know your stuff. Your website has probably highlighted the fantastic features of your business – great customer service, huge experience, big-name clients, the awards that you’ve won.
Do you know what? Your site visitor isn’t interested.
No one buys features, they buy benefits. Trained copywriters understand that there is one question in the minds of your customers.
“What’s in it for me?”
We answer that question. We transform features into benefits. By looking at your business from a potential customer’s point of view copywriters will make your product or service sound attractive, sexy and impossible to resist.
Show me the money
You’ll have noticed that I’m an SEO copywriter. You may also have noticed that SEO copywriters can be more expensive than other copywriters. There’s a good reason for this.
We make money for you.
Websites need lots of traffic. OK, that’s a no-brainer. More traffic means more potential customers. But here’s the thing: websites only become profitable when they attract the right kind of traffic.
Part of an SEO copywriter’s job is keyword research. Good keyword research isn’t just about finding popular search terms. It’s about finding the right combination of lead keywords and “long-tail” keywords – highly specific words and phrases that make up 70% of online searches. These words are valuable because they attract accurately targeted visitors who already want to buy your services.
After this, we weave those golden keywords seamlessly and naturally onto the page. Your website makes sense to search engines because all keywords are correctly matched to optimised page titles, headings and meta descriptions. And crucially, it makes sense to your reader because they don’t notice that the keywords are there.
When you hire an SEO copywriter you’re getting more than a professional writer. You’re getting knowledge, experience, expertise and ongoing research in an area that is constantly evolving.
I don’t cut my own hair, I pay an expert to do it for me. Do the same for your website.
About the author: Helen Beckingham
“Helen Beckingham is an SEO copywriter at Keyword Copywriting. Expert scribbler on websites, blogs and e-books, rather good bassoonist, terrible singer. Contact helen@keywordcopywriting.co.uk”
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