Do You REALLY Need an SEO Copywriter?

The short answer is, "no".

The long answer is, "yes, but only if you're more concerned with pleasing visitors than pleasing search engines".

"Huh?" This from an SEO copywriter???!!!

Here's the truth of the matter. Writing search engine-friendly web copy is pretty easy. You just have to include enough of the write words in the right places. Sure, there's a learning curve and it takes a little practice, but it's not rocket science!

Writing visitor-friendly web copy, on the other hand, is much more difficult. No matter what you're selling, your visitors are a lot more sophisticated than search engines (yes, even more sophisticated than Google's algorithm), with much more complex needs. They need to be engaged, educated, persuaded, guided, respected and compelled to act. What's more, every visitor is different. Oh, and let's not overlook the fact that very few visitors are keen to part with their money...

In other words, when you look at the phrase, "SEO copy", the "SEO" part is merely technique. The "copy" part is the artform.

So if you're thinking about engaging an SEO copywriter, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Yes, a seasoned SEO copywriter will help you increase your search engine ranking. But if that's all you want, you could do it yourself! (See divinewrite.com/seocopy.htm for more info on writing SEO copy yourself.) The true value of an SEO copywriter is in their ability to write search engine-friendly copy that is still engaging and compelling to visitors.

So in reality, you only NEED an SEO copywriter if you want copy that is both search engine-friendly and visitor-friendly and you're not confident you can achieve this balance yourself.