Did you know the top result of a Google search gets approximately 32% of all clicks?
So, it’s no wonder content creators fight to climb to the number one position in the SERPs. Secure that spot, and you’re sure to generate tons of organic traffic for your website.
The only problem is that not everyone is well-versed in the world of SEO best practices. When that happens, you have a couple of options – either learn how to do it yourself or hire SEO content writers to tackle the job for you.
We’ve compiled some reasons why it’s beneficial to outsource your SEO content writing to folks with a deep understanding of best practices and optimization. There are also a few things you’ll want to make sure your writer knows.
What’s the Difference Between SEO Copywriting and SEO Content Writing?
Now that you’re moving to hire content writers for your business, you might wonder if you should hire SEO copywriters or SEO content writers since there are some differences between the two.
As you likely already know, search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing your website and its content to boost visibility in search results. Because search engines like Google search for the most helpful and valuable content to share with users, it’s important to publish quality content your target audience is actually searching for.
First up, SEO copywriting focuses largely on converting that traffic into leads and sales for your business. These copywriters handle the creation of things like email campaigns, sales pages, product descriptions, and website copy. Overall, SEO copywriters focus their skills on persuasion and inspiring someone to act.
Meanwhile, the goal behind quality SEO content writing is creating people-first content optimized for search engines through keyword optimization. Writing this way allows you to focus on providing value through content and use optimization as an additional asset to generate more organic traffic for your website. SEO content writers typically craft blog posts, guest posts for other industry sites, service pages, and landing pages.
6 Reasons to Hire SEO Content Writers Trained in SEO Best Practices
You’ve decided to start with updating your blog strategy, so SEO content writers are the best choice for your business needs. Is it going to be worth the investment to pay for SEO content writing services? Or would it be better to tackle everything on your own? The size of your team will determine whether you should outsource or hire for your internal team. Meaning, it’s important to understand some reasons why you should bring on a writer with SEO content experience:
1. They Can Create High-Quality, Well-Written Content
Poor writing can make your business look unprofessional. If someone stumbles upon your website for the first time and discovers content riddled with bad grammar and spelling mistakes, they’re less likely to trust that you know what you’re talking about. Hiring content writers who have a high-level understanding of the language you write in is essential to successful content.
A professional writer will craft high-quality, well-written content that appeals to your readers and adds value. This will help you get sustainable results with your content. These SEO writers use content to make connections with your audience and should have industry experience that positions you to be successful in your niche. That means that they can convince people to take action because they’ve offered them a solution to a problem.
SEO content that provides value and is well-written is the smartest thing you can do for your content marketing strategy, and it starts with a professional content writer.
2. They’re Knowledgeable on SEO Best Practices
It’s safe to say the world of SEO is pretty competitive. After all, other creators in your industry target the same keywords you’re after. And much like you, they want to secure that coveted spot at the top of Google’s SERPs. For that reason, you want to hire content writers who are well versed in SEO and can keep up with this ever-evolving industry.
Your ideal writer will take time to understand your target audience and branding. This will allow them the space to utilize keywords while still putting people first. Whether they do keyword research for you or you have a content strategist, these writers understand how to implement your keywords throughout your content so it’s well-optimized but never forced.
Since Google regularly updates its algorithms, ensure that the writer you hire is committed to staying on top of all the changes and adapting their writing style. This step is essential to using data and metrics successfully in your content. If your writer doesn’t understand why they should be using a certain keyword or how to do that on multiple levels, you could risk a drop in your rankings.
A content writer trained in SEO has the knowledge to optimize your content because they know the best on-page strategies. Because, while creating engaging meta descriptions, complex header sequences, and even keyword distribution might seem easy, a master understands how to blend these tactics the best. And this seamless mix of SEO and expert writing chops will get you closer to the perfectly crafted content you need.
3. You’ll Generate More Traffic and Conversions
Because your content writer understands how Google and other search engines crawl and catalog content, you’ll be able to see the results of this investment more quickly. Your monthly page views can skyrocket because of the uptick in organic traffic. And all of it is because you have a writer who understands search intent from your target audience through SEO.
As your traffic increases, you’ll likely start seeing more engagement throughout your website. People will visit multiple pages, stay on pages longer, and start leaving comments. Even better? Amazing copywriting can boost your conversion rate.
People will start filling out your contact form or joining your subscriber list because they trust you know what you’re doing. This usually converts visitors and subscribers into paying customers that you can retain with ease. That makes the investment in hiring a writer worthwhile.
4. It’ll Save You the Time and Hassle of Doing it Alone
If writing isn’t your strong suit or you don’t know the first thing about SEO, trying to master both can feel overwhelming. Luckily, you don’t need to invest the time and energy into bettering your writing skills or studying SEO unless you want to. Instead, you can hire SEO content writers who are skilled professionals to handle the job for you.
These writers are better suited to creating content so you free up your time. You’ll improve efficiency in the content creation process because they can complete these tasks quicker and easier. It will also allow you to be more consistent with posting since you’ll have a steady stream of optimized content coming in.
And, with your time reclaimed, you can focus on the other tasks that need to be completed to grow your business. You can build out new or improved processes for your employees, develop stronger relationships with clients for retention, and even make product and service development a priority if you’ve had to put it off.
5. It’ll Help You Build the Know, Like, and Trust Factor
To create success in business, it’s important that you build the Know, Like, and Trust Factor. This is because people want to buy from businesses they like and trust. If they don’t trust you, they could take their business to your competitors.
So, what’s the secret to building trust? Well, One of the best ways to establish such a strong connection with your target audience is through your content.
You want to publish content to your site that addresses their pain points and interests. Then, you can provide a solution to their problems and add value to their lives or business. Without these points of connection, you can’t build a relationship with your readers.
When you hire content writers passionate about creating online content, they’ll craft content that speaks directly to your target readers to form a strong partnership. From there, it’s your job to continue nurturing that relationship by engaging with them.
6. Your Readers (and Google) Will Appreciate Your Content
Hiring SEO content writers is a surefire way to ensure you publish content your readers will love. Through keyword optimization and other SEO strategies, you can better address the interests and needs of your audience to consistently provide valuable content while building your readership. And your target audience will view you as a trusted resource to continue to come back to.
You can’t ignore the search engines while creating content. And hiring a trained SEO writer will help you keep Google happy. With the Google Helpful Content Update, it’s more important than ever to focus primarily on creating people-first content.
A great writer can balance the expectations of helpful content with SEO to create a powerful strategy. Plus, you’ll feel confident knowing that your readers and Google will love what you publish.
What to Look for When Hiring SEO Content Writers
Now we’ve covered the value of hiring SEO content writers to assist with your content creation, your next task is to hire someone that fits the bill. You know you can’t just bring on anyone to create your blogs, landers, and other educational or informational content. It’s time to find someone who has writing skills and knows SEO best practices so they can effectively optimize your content.
So, how do you know if someone is the right fit for the job? Consider how important it is for your business to work with someone who understands your industry and target audience. You ensure they have some level of background knowledge on the topics they cover.
There are a few other things you can look for when hiring SEO content writers. Here are a few:
- A Stellar SEO Content Portfolio: You want to hire content writers who have SEO and writing experience so you can trust they know what they’re doing. This means they should have a portfolio featuring previous writing samples to give you a taste of their work. These samples allow you to assess their overall skills, writing style, and ability to match your company’s unique voice.
- Proof of Their Ability to Get Results: Again, since you want an experienced writer, they should have no problem providing proof of the results from their previous work experience. If you’re hiring internally, ask potential writers to provide examples of articles they’ve written that perform well in the SERPs. Ideally, you want to see these articles ranking in the first two pages of Google. If you’re thinking about outsourcing, ask for testimonials or case studies showing proof of how a content writing agency has helped a client.
- Solid SEO Writing Technique: It’s also important to evaluate the SEO writing techniques of the writer you’re looking to hire. To do this, ask questions about their SEO writing procedures. Do they know how to conduct keyword research? Do they understand the importance of keyword density? Is formatting blog posts properly in their wheelhouse? Are they aware of how to write meta descriptions and use H2s and H3s? Ensuring that they understand the basics is essential to avoid wasting time.
- A Promise to Consistently Create Quality Content: Consistency is crucial in the world of content creation and SEO. You want to make sure you hire content writers who can promise to create well-written and optimized content consistently, so you know they’ll be a dependable and trustworthy part of your team.
Finding SEO content writers who understand best practices, get your business, and are trainable might feel like a shot in the dark, but if you keep all of these things in mind, you’re well on your way to a content team that you can be proud of.
Try Our SEO Content Writing Services
Tired of spending all your time vetting content writers who just don’t work out? The team at Express Writers are professional SEO content writers. They understand how to craft content that works for you and dazzles your audience.
Our industry writers have a variety of backgrounds and degrees, in addition to their years of writing experience. We train our writers in best practices while focusing on people-first content. You can trust that your content will be optimized for search engines without sacrificing readability and expertise.
Contact us today to see how we help you craft unmatched content that grows your business.
First published in 2013, updated for 2022.