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Should your SEO company create your content?

July 29, 2010 • posted by Heather

I had the most interesting email exchange the other day with a SEO firm.

This particular firm (one that is well known in the industry…and no, I will not name them) contacted me because they wanted to outsource their SEO copywriting. This isn’t uncommon  – in fact, many SEO firms offer SEO copywriting services but don’t keep that particular skill set in house.

The exchange was pleasant, nice and positive. I sent over my prices. My contact wrote back and said that the price was too high. I responded that I work with a number of Certified SEO Copywriters – perhaps I could refer them? I then asked how much they were willing to pay per page.

The answer: $20 per page. And their old writer spent about 30 minutes per page.

I was floored. Literally floored. It takes a lot to shock me (as my friends know.) This was…shocking.  Let me explain the reasons why:

Quality SEO copywriting (or any type of quality writing) takes time. I’ve been a full-time writer for most of my adult life, and I would never – ever – spend 30 minutes on a sales page and call it good. That’s barely enough time to write a rough draft (and that’s on a short-copy page.) In order to write a good sales page (and not crap) you have to:

  • Research the competition and know how to differentiate your client
  • Create the best tone and feel for the page (or know how to replicate your client’s preferred tone and feel)
  • Understand the micro and macro sales focus on the page
  • Highlight the main benefits (both company and product/service)
  • Write a headline (by itself, this could take 30 minutes or more)
  • Create a rough draft
  • Edit the draft mercilessly until it’s “right” (and this can also be highly time consuming)
  • And then…finally…you’re ready to submit your draft.

You see what I mean? No matter how many efficiencies that you’ve built into your writing (and I’ve built in a number of them over the years,) writing quality content takes more time than 30 minutes. Much, much more time.

And then I started wondering, “I wonder if their clients – many of them big-brand clients – know that this SEO is paying their writer $20/page, marking it up to who-knows-what and selling it as quality content.”

(Mind you, I have no problems with a company marking up the cost – that’s just good business. But if you’re working with large brand companies and promising “quality SEO copywriting services,” shouldn’t you WANT the best for your clients?)

This situation puts the client (you) in a buyer beware position. It’s easy to trust a SEO firm when they say, “Don’t worry about the SEO copywriting. We have people who can help you.” It sounds all warm and fuzzy and nice and comforting – and you’d figure that of course the company would have good, experienced, whip-smart writers on staff.

But don’t count on it.

So here’s what to do if you’re thinking about having your SEO firm write your content.

  1. Ask about their writers. Are they Certified in SEO copywriting? How many years experience do they have? How does the SEO company vet their writers before they hire them/ outsource to them? The last thing you want is to find out that their “experienced SEO copywriter” is someone fresh out of college who (as my father used to eloquently say) “doesn’t know their ass from third base.”
  2. Ask about the company’s writing process. Can you have direct contact with the copywriter (highly recommended – otherwise, your information is being filtered through multiple people.) What’s the average time the writer spends on every page? Will the same writer be working on all of your pages, or will your pages be written by multiple writers?
  3. Ask what kind of continuing education the SEO firm provides their writers. The SEO/social media world is constantly changing – and if the writer hasn’t updated their knowledge for a couple years, that can negatively impact your results.
  4. Ask for writing samples from the writer assigned to your account. Always. If you don’t like the samples, request another writer.
  5. Consider chatting with a SEO copywriting agency at the same time. It doesn’t mean that you have to use a copywriting agency over your SEO. But you may find that the prices are similar (often less) than what the SEO firm is charging – and you’ll benefit from more experienced writers (who get paid a living wage.)

Is all of this due diligence necessary? You bet. The writing on your site represents your brand. It’s your “silent salesperson” online. And yes, you deserve to be highly picky. You (probably) wouldn’t work with a SEO firm if you knew they outsourced your account to India. Why would you buy writing services from a firm who devalues the writing so much  – and cares about your branding so little – that they’re outsourcing to the lowest bidder (and yes, Demand Media and Associated Content, I’m talking about you too.)

Think about it.

Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,Working with clients,Working with freelance copywriters

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Has Associated Content cheapened SEO copywriting?

July 8, 2010 • posted by Heather

My, how the SEO content development fur is flying.

In the July 6 issue of MediaWeek, the headline “Council to Counter Web Generators’ Growing Clout” was front and center.  The Internet Content Syndication Council (ICSC), comprised of representatives from firms such as Proctor and Gamble and Reuters, is complaining that content aggregators like Demand Media and Associated Content are “cheapening” the quality of Web content.

I couldn’t agree more.

For those unfamiliar with the business model, Web content aggregators make their money from syndicating content produced by freelance writers.  The production process is like SEO copywriting on steroids: Editors use savvy keyphrase research to ferret out SEO copywriting opportunities, and assign keyphrases to their freelancers.  However, rather than the emphasis being on the customer experience – that is, creating a quality, informative article that’s targeted towards a specific market, the emphasis is on content that’s “good enough” to get links or long tail rankings. For more information about Demand Media’s business model, check out this Wired article.

If you’re a site owner – and you don’t want to hire a copywriter or produce content in-house – you may be tempted to turn to Demand Media or Associated Content for an “article bank” of articles.  Heck, it’s cheap, easy content that you can instantly slap on your site. But personally, I’d think twice about using such services. Here’s why:

1. Syndicated content isn’t targeted. It’s great to fill content “holes” with new content – and that’s a great strategy. But you want it to be original content, targeted towards your audience and their specific needs. For instance, if I was writing an article about marketing with mailing lists, I’d be asking questions about the target audience, their existing knowledge levels and their pain points. Those specific writing touches helps to connect with your reader…and drives conversions. After all, “write for your reader” is the foundation of every writing gig for a reason.

2. You’re getting exactly what you’re paying for.  Writers working with sites like Associated Content aren’t making much money – at all.  For instance, Associated Content’s site lists upfront payment rates of $2-$15 per article. If someone has an $1,000 mortgage payment, they will need to write over 66 articles in a month just to make their mortgage. The focus isn’t on quality – it can’t be for those rates. Those rates breed a sweatshop, “Write it fast and turn it in” mentally (and how could it not, really?)

As an example, I searched Associated Content’s site for “SEO copywriting” and checked out the first article.  Here’s a direct quote discussing the advantages of SEO copywriting:

  • “Helping to work out various steps to increase sales

SEO content writing aims to increase the sales rate and marketing goals to achieve maximum profit.”

Really? REALLY?  ::hits head against desk:: No, this isn’t exactly “high quality” content that should be syndicated. At all.

3. Bad content reflects negatively on your brand. Would you rent a rundown storefront in a bad area to save money? Heck no. It would drive customers away. Same goes for poorly-written content – if the content is inaccurate, poorly written or just plain dull, it’s not going to help.

As a side note, I’m a tad disappointed that a search engine like Yahoo – who is intimately familiar with the importance of quality content – would purchase Associated Content. From a SEO perspective, Y! would have to know that articles syndicated across multiple sites probably won’t position well. And from a pure copywriting perspective, it seems like they’d want to focus on quality content – not copywriting for “outsource-to-India” prices. From a revenue perspective, I get it – cheap copy makes money. But I’d like to see them up their game a bit. Shame on you, Yahoo, for promoting content that you know isn’t top-notch.

For more on this topic, check out MarketingVox’s take.

Filed under SEO Content marketing,Working with freelance copywriters

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Think Penny Wise, Search Foolish when it comes to investing in an SEO copywriter

June 17, 2010 • posted by Heather

Hello, all!

Today’s post is by Pam Foster, a highly experienced SEO copywriter and one of the first Certified SEO Copywriters in the world. Enjoy!

The other day, a marketer for a sophisticated mid-size national company inquired about hiring a professional SEO copywriter to improve his website’s search engine traffic and sales results.

He admitted that his website is in very tough shape (weak search engine rankings, not much activity on this site), and that he doesn’t know why. This kind of awareness is terrific – it’s the first step toward making big improvements!

So let’s quickly hit the key points about what’s wrong with his site… those missing critical elements that drive results online these days:

•    The web pages don’t include a single keyphrase his ideal prospects may be using to find his company’s services in search engines such as Google and Bing.

•    The page titles and meta descriptions have absolutely no information about why someone would choose his company among the many options in search results

•    The messages on every page are all about “how great and cool our company is;” not focused on what the customer needs

•    It doesn’t seem to set itself apart from the competition. There are no messages that differentiate this website from others in the same business category

•    It isn’t “conversion-focused,” meaning there are no inviting calls to action; no compelling reasons to sign up for his company’s emails, inquire about services, or buy anything

And that’s just for starters.

So as you can imagine, this marketer would find tremendous value in hiring a skilled SEO copywriter who knows exactly how to bring his website to life with a smart keyphrase strategy, customer-focused messages, and compelling sales copy that offers unique and exciting reasons to choose his company over others. Right?

In other words, copy like this would be “found money” in the bank for his website, yes?

Well, sadly he didn’t see it that way. He balked at the fees for hiring a professional, skilled SEO copywriter – someone who will offer a terrific return on his investment and deliver measurable results. Instead, he decided to search for a cheaper resource; even though his company can and should make the sound investment in what works.

Ah, well. He’ll soon find that this “Penny Wise, Search Foolish,” approach means he’ll end up working with someone who doesn’t know all it takes to write successful SEO copy. Therefore, his frugality will come back to bite him.

We hope to help you avoid this problem with the following logic.

We’re not saying you have to take out a second mortgage to invest in SEO copywriting that works. But if you plan on a budget of at least $500-$800 or more per page, you’ll soon find that it’s a drop in the bucket when you consider the immediate and long-term gains you’ll realize.

For example, let’s say a single new client is worth $1,000 to you (if you’re a consulting service). Or 20 new product sales may equal $1,000 if you’re a retailer; even more if you’re a B2B marketer.

So would a $500 web page investment today, that returns $1,000 in business tomorrow, be worth it? I’m pretty sure I hear you saying, “Heck, ya!” Plus, when you consider the long-term gain of each new customer relationship, the revenue potential is infinite. Trust me on this one.

It’s important to banish short-term thinking when investing in your web content. Instead, consider it a solid foundation that will support your business revenue growth for quite some time. (You wouldn’t build your dream house on quicksand, now would you?)

Thanks for giving this some serious consideration. Here’s to your web success!
Pam Foster

Guest blogger Pam Foster is the owner of ContentClear Marketing and PetCopywriter.com. Pam recently became one of the industry’s first web content writers to achieve SuccessWorks SEO Copywriting Certification… the world’s only SEO copywriting certification program.

Filed under Freelance SEO copywriting,In-house Content Marketing,Tips and techniques,Working with freelance copywriters

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Outsourcing your SEO copywriting? 9 ways to get the best quote

May 27, 2010 • posted by Heather

Yesterday, a business owner sent over an interesting question.

“Why do I have to answer so many questions before you give me a quote? Years ago, if I wanted a copywriter to write a print ad, I knew it would be X amount. Why can’t there be more transparency?”

He had a point. I don’t list prices on my site – and neither do a number of my Certified SEO Copywriters. The main reason is because, “we don’t know what we don’t know” – short, catalog pages could be $250 a page – or up to $1000 if you factor in things like strategy, keyphrase research, customer persona generation and other factors.

And granted, a range like that could freak out the average prospect.

However, there is a way to get the information you need and find the right SEO copywriter for your next campaign. It may take more background research than sending a quick “how much do you charge” email.  And from the copywriter’s standpoint, there are some things that prospects can do to get an accurate quote, quickly.  Here are nine tips to get you started:

Do include your domain name in your initial email. At least twice a month, I get an email from an @AOL address that says something like, “I need five pages written for search engines. How much will you charge me? From a copywriter’s perspective, we can’t help you if we can’t see what we’re bidding for. Some pages (think longer direct-sales pages,) cost more. Others (like short catalog copy) can cost less. We won’t know what to tell you without seeing your site.

Do let us know your challenges. It’s wonderful when a prospect says something like, “We’re ranking well in the engines, but our sales copy isn’t converting.” Or, “We have a marketing team now, but they don’t know anything about SEO copywriting.” That information helps us evaluate your site and develop some ideas.

Do talk to us on the phone. I understand that it’s often easier to gather quotes via email. That’s OK. I do it too. But even a 15-minute conversation can help copywriters delve a little deeper into your challenges and explore different ideas. I’ve actually saved clients money because I told them that they didn’t need the big content marketing strategy they thought they did – and some simple tweaks would garner a great reward. We wouldn’t have come to that conclusion in an email conversation.

Do tell us what you’ll expect. Do you need us to provide status reports to your marketing department once a month? Are you working on an internal deadline, and need to have copy turned around by a certain date? Let your copywriter know what you’ll need before he zips you a proposal. That way, you avoid any future sticky issues – like your copywriter expecting to be paid to be on a three-hour branding conference call – when you thought it was a freebie (yes, this has happened!)

Do chat with multiple writers. It’s tempting to hire the first SEO copywriter who happens to meet your pricing and turnaround requirements. Just know that finding a good writer may mean talking to multiple people and asking lots of questions. Some writers will quickly “get” your business and will immediately generate some ideas. Other writers may not be as well suited for the task. Who you hire is crucial – after all, this person represents your brand – so make sure you find the best person for your business.

Do ask us for writing samples. Writers love to brag about our successes. Yes, by all means, ask for writing samples – especially when evaluating us against another copywriter. It’s important that you find the right fit for the right price, and writing samples (as well as case studies) help us showcase our value. Plus, from the client standpoint, writing samples will clearly show the difference between a $5 and a $500 sales page.

Don’t expect free consulting as a way to “prove our worth.” It’s important to find the right vendor – and many SEO copywriters will throw out some quick top-of-mind thoughts about how you should proceed. At the same time, asking us, “What strategy would you recommend” and “How would you specifically change the Titles” is moving from sales-process vetting to freebie consulting. Yes, ask us hard questions. Yes, ask for writing samples. But please know that the best copywriters (like the best doctors, attorneys and business consultants) won’t give it away for free.

Don’t tempt us with “more work later if you can lower your rate now.” In my non-scientific estimation, 99.9% of copywriters have lowered their rate in this scenario. And 99.9% of copywriters would never do it again. Unless we have a signed contract promising us “future work” – including a retainer guarantee – we can’t “bank” on future work. Ask us this question later, after we’ve worked together and we’ve built a successful relationship.

Do be open to higher fees  – but ask us how you can save money. Many people start the SEO copywriting vendor search process without a clue about per-page rates. Or, the prospect needs more than writing – they need strategy and better keyphrase research – and that drives up the price. At the same time, if you feel like the price is edging higher than you’d like to spend, ask about training (DIY always costs less in the long run,) running a longer campaign for a smaller (guaranteed) monthly spend, or even paying your agreement up-front for a discount. There are always ways to save some cash without sacrificing quality.

Filed under In-house Content Marketing,Working with freelance copywriters

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RFIs gone wild!

March 19, 2010 • posted by Heather

Ah, the RFI. If you’ve been in business for awhile, you’ve seen the multi-page “request for information” documents prospects use during the vendor-vetting process. Some companies love filling them out, figuring it’s a great chance to showcase their successes and land the client. Other companies dread the time and manpower RFIs take to complete, preferring to opt-out of the process. With questions like, “Share your philosophy about working with clients, ” and “Explain a recent problem you had with a client, and how your firm handled it,” RFIs often feel like job interviews – except everything is done on-paper rather than face-to-face.

Mind you, I’m a big fan of prospect due-diligence. Companies need to make sure that the vendor they hire will meet their needs – and sometimes, you can learn everything you need to know by reading written responses (especially if you’re hiring a SEO copywriting agency – if they can’t write compelling RFI responses, I doubt they could create good Web copy.)

But then, the other day, I received a very unique RFI – and I’m curious to see what you think…

The “typical” questions were there regarding how my firm worked with clients, and and asking about my firm’s writing process. But then, the questions started getting very…personal.  They asked me to name my top clients and their annual spend. Then wanted to know if I’ve worked with clients in certain verticals – and they wanted me to name the clients and engagement scope. And in addition, they asked for two year’s of financial statements.

Mind you, my husband didn’t see my financials until about two weeks before we were married.

Yes, there would have been a MNDA in place – so the information would have been protected. However, I didn’t know anything about the gig. Nothing. Not the scope of work. Not the budget. Nothing. This could be a $100,000 SEO copywriting makeover – or a $1,000 project. And unfortunately, the prospect was prohibited from providing any information until after they received the RFI – assuming, of course, that my firm made the cut.

How did I handle it? I took my firm out of the running. Even with a MNDA in place, I didn’t feel comfortable discussing my current clients with a prospect – not without my clients’ express signoff. And certainly, I did not feel at all comfortable sending over two years of financial documents before I could even speak to the prospect (and truth be told, I would never send over financials to a prospect.) It’s a shame, because I’m sure that I could have helped them. But the RFI process soured me on the gig.

But you tell me.  What types of RFI questions are appropriate – and what feels like “RFIs gone wild?” Am I being stubborn? Would you have provided that information in the hopes of getting the gig (keeping in mind, of course, that you wouldn’t know what the gig was before submitting your information.)

What do YOU think?

Filed under Working with clients,Working with freelance copywriters

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Why some SEO firms don’t employ copywriters

February 2, 2010 • posted by Heather

Last week, I heard from a very frustrated prospect.

This nice man had been working with a SEO firm for a few months. The firm had been doing all the back-end stuff that needed to be done: Cleaning the code, creating new Titles, building links and generally sprucing up the site. In general, the company did an OK job making the site more visible to search engines.

But here’s the thing: The prospect comes from a marketing background. He knew his existing copy didn’t “pop.” And he knew that better writing would equate into higher conversion rates.

When he expressed his concern to the SEO firm, they handed him a list of “SEO copywriting best practice guidelines” and told him that they “didn’t do SEO copywriting – he’d have to write the copy himself.”

His question to me was: “Shouldn’t all SEO firms employ SEO copywriters? Isn’t it such an important part of SEO that they’d want to have that part covered?”

Well, yes and no. It depends on the SEO.

Many SEO firms are technically focused, meaning that they are masters at untangling the most ugly bits of code, making it easy (or easier) for search engines to access the site. A savvy technical SEO shop can work wonders with a site – and a few technical changes can unlock the positioning floodgates.

However, technical SEO firms aren’t filled with marketers. Their job isn’t to help your copy convert better. Their job is to make your site better for the search engines.

There’s a difference.

Other SEO firms work with copywriters, but the copywriters mostly add keyphrases into copy and create new Titles. Granted, keyphrase editing (or what some firms call “on-page optimization”) is very valuable to the SEO process. But the focus again is to make the existing copy “better for search engines.” They aren’t addressing the conversion aspects of the page. That’s not their job.

This is a challenge for clients who really need writing help. After all, if your copy wasn’t converting before it included keyphrases, adding keyphrases without changing the copy won’t magically help. It won’t make your writing “pop” to the user and entice them to read more (or buy more.) It’s just that the page is better for search engine positioning.

This is where asking the right questions before you sign with a SEO firm comes in…

If you know that your conversion rates are low (or maybe you’re not sure – but you know that your copy is dirt-dull boring,) ask the SEO firm about their approach to SEO copywriting. They may say that they don’t handle the copywriting. Or that they “edit” copy – but they don’t rewrite it. In that’s the case, you have some options:

1. Handle the writing in-house, and give the new copy to the SEO firm. If you have smart in-house copywriters, they can learn how to create top-converting and keyphrase-rich copy. There are also resources such as (shameless plug) the SEO Copywriting Certificate Program that will teach you the ropes.

2. Find a technical SEO firm that does employ SEO copywriters. They are out there – you just have to be very specific about what you need (content marketing services.) If you do go this route, it’s important to gain writing samples from the writer who will be handling your account. That way, you can request another writer if the original writer’s work doesn’t “speak to you” (and don’t worry – the original writer won’t take it personally. Different writers “click” with different clients, so it’s OK to be picky.)

3. Work with your “technical SEO” and hire a SEO copywriting and content marketing agency for your content creation. This may seem clunky at first, but it’s actually very workable. The technical SEO worries about your site architecture and links – and the SEO copywriter focuses on your customer persona and your conversions. Since good SEO copywriters are also SEOs in their own right, they can easily work with other SEO providers. Plus, both firms get to focus on what they do best.

Whatever option you choose, you can easily have the best of both worlds – a technically-savvy site and top-ranking copy that converts like crazy. Once your copy and site are top-notch, you’ll truly enjoy the power of “good SEO” – and you can start building on that success.

Filed under In-house Content Marketing,Working with freelance copywriters

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