How to Check if Your Copywriter Writes Quality SEO Texts?

What’s the ideal model of cooperation with a copywriter? And how to verify whether a given text is written correctly? Many ordering parties struggle with finding answers to these questions when receiving ready texts. Although the issue may seem particularly complex and determining the perfect model of cooperation appears to be infeasible, it’s certainly worth taking a closer look at a few important aspects that will allow you to get prepared for the upcoming challenges and eliminate stressful situations.

Copywriting and types of created content in a nutshell

What does it actually mean to be a copywriter and what skills are required to create content? When analyzing various job offers, it’s hard not to associate this profession with a knack for the written word. Although this work type has never been defined precisely, copywriters are expected to effectively create diverse texts concerning different subjects and fields.

At the very beginning, it needs to be pointed out that the abovementioned knack for the written word doesn’t equal bloviating. Copywriters are supposed to be experts who inspire trust and present readers with facts and knowledge supported by thorough research. The ability to create engaging content that summarizes the most important points and answers users’ questions characterizes the most professional copywriters.

In the work of a copywriter, it’s possible to distinguish various specializations that cover various fields and subjects. The most popular ones include:

• SEO copywriter – a person who creates texts that are user- and search engine-friendly. Texts written by such copywriters are a combination of valuable, engaging content that fills the website and draws the attention of Google to the most prominent, business-related keywords. SEO copywriter creates texts for company websites and blogs, product subpages or presell pages written to position the indexed content.
• Creative copywriter – is supposed to create advertising slogans and unique content, which, apart from its informative function, concentrates on the message, language and wordplay with the recipient. This specialization requires a very profound knowledge of the target group and creativity in presenting one’s own ideas.
• Content writer – usually creates lengthy texts, sales proposals, PR content, and professional industry-related entries which are in line with SEO principles and allow to improve the company’s position in the search results. Content writing is a popular content marketing communication method.

In a nutshell, copywriters are usually responsible for creating sales content which is supposed to inspire target groups to take action.

Content matters – but why?

Countless amounts of new content are published online on a daily basis. However, recent years have clearly shown the importance of creating substantial, unique, and user-friendly content. When looking at the state of affairs from the SEO perspective, we need to admit that updates of Google algorithms certainly rocked the boat of the online reality.

Google started to penalize solutions like keyword stuffing, buying low-quality links, copying entries from other websites which consequently led to creating external duplicate content, or writing texts that aren’t attractive for users. The emergence of Panda and Penguin algorithms yielded an increase of the importance of quality, reliability, uniqueness, and transparency of content.

When preparing for work, copywriters should conduct thorough research and present the gained knowledge in an understandable way that indicates both the search context and the most important pieces of the content.

The cornerstones of successful cooperation with copywriters

Cooperation with a copywriter requires appropriate communication to clearly define the requirements and expectations of each party. Before selecting the person you want to commission the task to, it’s worth getting familiar with his/her portfolio. This will allow you to evaluate the style and quality of the created content.

Lack of detailed guidelines is the first problem that may be encountered by a copywriter. Before starting the cooperation, an experienced and professional copywriter usually sends a brief with the most important questions that will make it possible to clarify expectations of the ordering party.

The ability to keep deadlines is another important issue that concerns both parties. In order to avoid misunderstandings, it’s advisable to choose a copywriter who can easily determine the time period needed to conduct research and write texts.

How to verify the expertise of an SEO copywriter?

Cooperation between a copywriter and an SEO specialist requires good communication and understanding of different points of view. The copywriter is supposed to write stylistically and linguistically correct texts based on thorough research, whereas the SEO specialist focuses on appropriate optimization that may bring desirable effects. Does the copywriter always understand the SEO specialist? And how to make sure that the content is in line with SEO principles? Below you can find a shortlist of elements you should pay attention to!

Natural use of keywords

Before starting performing the order, the copywriter usually receives a list of keywords and the most important guidelines and pieces of information concerning the content. As it turns out, it’s necessary to pay attention not only to the frequency of the keywords but also to their location in the text.

Copywriters should be able to apply keywords naturally in the introduction, headers, and content itself. Remember that texts shouldn’t comprise solely keywords. Google robots are able to properly analyze inflected forms of keywords so don’t be afraid to use them. Especially that this type of content is considerably more attractive for users and remains in line with White Hat SEO principles.

An appropriate choice of keywords and long-tail phrases that may help users find more accurate search results is also extremely important. Keywords shouldn’t constitute more than 5% of the content volume.

Eye-catching headers

Although copywriters are known for attaching great importance to linguistic correctness and creation of unique texts abounding in wordplay, the ability to properly implement elements that allow to logically structure content is also extremely vital. This is when headers that catch the readers’ eye and indicate the text’s hierarchy come in handy.

From the SEO perspective, given page values should be marked with the appropriate H1, H2, H3 header (these three parameters are applied in most cases). Header types are supposed to differentiate page content and assign specific values to it. When writing, copywriters should focus on applying the most prominent and business-related keywords in headers in a natural way that encourages users to read the content. To learn more, go to our previous entry: What is a website header?

It’s all about quality content

What do we mean? The updates of Google algorithms led to the implementation of numerous changes that aim to inspire the creation of unique, natural and professional content. So how to react when Google introduces changes to its algorithms? First and foremost, don’t copy or duplicate content from other websites as such actions are often penalized. Intriguing, engaging and substantive content that is linguistically and stylistically correct can effectively contribute to improving your visibility in the search results. Before accepting a text written by a copywriter, please make sure that it’s not copied from the websites of your market rivals or manufacturers. That’s how you can easily avoid getting banned by Google.

Division into sections

The Internet is governed by its own laws, therefore, make sure that your texts are legible before publishing them. Long blocks of text may deter users and discourage them from further reading. When receiving a text from a copywriter, make sure that the content is divided into sections, numerated or bullet-pointed.

Remember about internal linking

Providing links to different subpages is a part of every proper SEO strategy. Thanks to it, website navigation gets easier not only for users but also for Google robots which can quickly index your page and improve its visibility in the search results. Internal links enable reaching better positions on Google, therefore, when commissioning the task to copywriters, it’s worth listing the subpages they can link to in order to make sure that the anchor content is related to the subject matter of your website.

Last but not least…meta description!

It’s worth thinking about this aspect even before starting the work on the text. Although meta descriptions don’t impact the SEO process directly, catchy texts with keywords can effectively attract users to the site and consequently improve your CTR.

Cooperation with a copywriter requires efficient communication and constant contact. It’s worth remembering that this profession has a few specializations which deal with different fields. The requirements concerning SEO copywriters are completely different from the requirements concerning creative copywriters. Successful cooperation with a copywriter can pay off and bring numerous benefits. If you want to promote and advertise your business online, remember to position yourself as an expert in the field and create content that meets users’ expectations and at the same time remains search engine-friendly. We hope that the above-mentioned pieces of advice will help you verify the SEO knowledge and language skills of selected copywriters.