This article will go over why it’s important to hire an SEO writer, what their responsibilities are, and how much they should cost, so you can make the best decision for your business.
What do they do?
On a basic level, SEO writers are tasked with optimizing pages of content to rank highly in search engines. However, writing for SEO also means that a lot of your work should be tied to keywords and phrases.
For example, you want to optimize your page about buying new shoes so that it ranks well when someone types new shoes into Google or another search engine.
That being said, if you can think outside of keywords and write naturally while following (or creating) specific guidelines set forth by your company or client, you have what it takes to be an excellent writer in any field—not just marketing or copywriting.
Who do they work with?
Search engine optimization is one of many specialties where a writer can thrive. There are many options out there for companies that need freelance help, but it’s important to make sure you hire someone who is qualified and reliable.
Make sure they have experience in writing content that appeals to search engines, and ask if they have any references. If so, reach out to some of those references to get insight into what kind of work they do.
Find out how professional and communicative your potential writers are before you sign them on. If possible, ask them about previous projects in detail to see if you think their approach would be effective for your company.
What are their daily tasks?
Most SEO writers are responsible for creating and distributing content that earns traffic from search engines. Their job is to create articles, blogs, press releases, videos and more – anything that will be found in a search engine.
They need to stay up-to-date on best practices for writing content so they can optimize each piece of content so it is ranked high enough to earn organic search traffic.
It can take some time to learn how to write in such a way that you maximize your rankings while still pleasing your audience, so newbies should start off with shorter posts (about 1,000 words) before building up their portfolio of 2,000 word+ posts.
Does it cost more than content marketing?
The cost of content marketing seems to be a significant consideration for businesses interested in taking advantage of content marketing, but it shouldn’t be.
Sure, there are cases where hiring an SEO writer can cost more than writing your own articles (i.e., when you factor in how much time it takes to plan, research and write quality content), but that doesn’t mean hiring someone else is too expensive or out of your budget.
As with anything, consider not just your budget, but also what you get by spending less or investing more. It's important to be able to ask: What am I willing to spend on my business and what will I gain from investing a little more?
Can I do it myself?
SEO is complex and overwhelming, even to many professionals. If you want to get your brand in front of new customers but don’t have much money, it might seem like you only have two options: hire a freelancer or do it yourself.
However, instead of biting off more than you can chew with DIY SEO or breaking your bank with freelancers, consider hiring someone on a part-time basis to manage search engine optimization.
Part-time workers are often cheaper and require less management because they work remotely—which means there’s not as much time lost in explaining tasks and re-explaining them when mistakes are made.
Example of a typical day in the life of an SEO writer.
A typical day in my life looks something like waking up at 5:00 a.m., rolling out of bed, brushing my teeth, and making a cup of coffee. After spending 15 minutes writing in my journal,
I sit down and review my progress from yesterday by looking over what I wrote, and then plan out what I’m going to write about tomorrow. Afterwards, I spend about two hours doing research for articles before writing them.
Because I make sure to check for grammar errors using Grammarly as well as look over things like keyword density before publishing articles on various websites, it takes me about four hours to write one post; however, due to last-minute changes, that number can fluctuate by a couple of hours either way.