10 Things You Should Never Say to Your SEO Copywriters (if You Want to Do Great Things Together)

As a content writing firm, Idunn works tens of clients every month. And that’s just for our copywriting projects. The SEO copywriters we work with are happy with the client interaction in 99% of the cases.

But there’s always that 1% that can mess up an SEO copywriter’s productivity and even creativity.

This list is designed for that 1%. More and more businesses of all sizes outsource copywriting – did you know that 75% of tech companies have been doing it since 2014? Thus, it’s most likely that you are (or will be quite soon) working with SEO copywriters.

If you want their work to benefit your business goals, refrain from saying these things:

10 Things You Should Never Say to Your SEO Copywriters

I know, when you hire SEO copywriters for the first time, building a trust-based relationship can seem quite intimidating and frustrating. I’ve been there, too, even though I’ve been one myself. Still, when I first set out to hire SEO writers, I found myself at a loss.

Why, you ask?

Well, I know what I wanted as a freelance copywriter, but this doesn’t mean that we are all cut from the same cloth. In time, after working with a lot of brilliant writers, I realized that we all have a few things in common.

And most of these things have something to do with client interaction. Yes, most SEO copywriters are introverts. But this doesn’t mean that they aren’t excellent communicators!

Use their abilities to the maximum and get outstanding ROI from your relationship with them by NOT saying these things:

1. It’s a Simple Job

Do you know what any SEO writer hears when you say this: “a monkey could do your job”. Sorry to be blunt, but that’s how copywriters feel when you take their abilities for granted.

I’ve said it over and over again in countless articles on the Idunn blog: SEO copywriting is so much more than jotting down phrases as they pass through your mind. The greatest SEO copywriters have a knack for marketing, they do keyword and completion research and they are well-versed in the latest search engine optimisation trends.

And no, it’s not an easy job. I’ve interviewed tens of people who thought that, just because their English was flawless, they could be SEO copywriters.

The truth?

They couldn’t! Every phrase they wrote sounded either unnatural and forced as if they tried to use all the fancy words they knew in a single paragraph or too much like chat speak. “Kthxbye” is NOT a good way to end an article.

2. I Could Do it Myself, I just Don’t Have the Time

There is one exception here: when you are a copywriter yourself or you have a copywriting agency. We’ve done a lot of work for copywriting or full agencies, so we know this can be true.

However, people in this field rarely say the phrase above. They are most likely to say something like: “Could you help us with content for some of our clients?” or “We need SEO copywriters who are specialized in a certain field.”

If you are NOT an SEO copywriter and say something like this, it’s almost as bad as saying “it’s an easy job that anyone could do”. You see, just like any other professional, writers also like to have their efforts acknowledged and their talents recognized.

So, even if you are 100% certain that you could do this job, don’t say it. We all know that the lack of time is one of the main reasons why companies outsource their copywriting. Just leave it at that.

3. I Got Offers for Half of What You Are Asking

If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed since I was a freelancer is this: I still don’t fall for this line. The typical follow up to the phrase above is, obviously, “could you do it for half?”

And the answer is always “no”!

Sometimes, I also add: “but good luck to you and all the best”. That’s because I know there is a 50% chance for the client to return within less than a month. You know, about the time it takes them to realize the quality of the content written by SEO copywriters that charge half of our fee.

I know that Idunn is by no means an expensive content writing firm. So I also know that our prices are fair for the quality we offer. Anything lower than that means you are working with a beginner SEO copywriter or an agency who hires the cheapest (and worst) copywriters.

While our pricing can be flexible, I’ve learned that clients who ask a 50% discount are never keepers. I’ve written about other types of bad clients before, if you’re curious.

4. If I Cut 100 Words, Can You Lower the Price?

No, not unless the whole project was for 200 words. You see, word count is just a fraction of what good SEO copywriters or agencies should be basing their prices on.

As I said before, there is so much more to SEO copywriting than the actual writing. The amount of work a writer puts into research doesn’t change at all if you lower your word count by 100. It just shows the writers that you don’t really care about their work.

And, most importantly, you should know that most SEO copywriters are VERY fast typists. I myself can write 100 words in about a minute, so how could that have a serious impact on the price?

5. Could You Please Give it Another Try? Just Rewrite the whole Thing

See, in my early days as a freelance copywriter, I would have taken this personally and believe that there was something wrong with my copy. Now I know that all clients who say this have no idea what they are looking for. And they will ask you to do this over and over again until you somehow read their minds and get incredibly lucky.

This is why at Idunn we always ask for briefs. When there aren’t any, we create briefs ourselves and ask for the client’s approval before we get to work. Also, I’ve never asked any of my SEO copywriters to redo work just because the client said so without adding a clear direction or a good reason.

I explained that we are happy to do revisions (for free, of course), but we need to know what to revise for. Otherwise, we’d just be shooting in the dark and wasting everybody’s time.

6. You Don’t Need to Write from Scratch. Take Our Copy and Add Some “Wow” to it

Yeah, this literally means writing from scratch. And if it doesn’t, it’s worse.

It’s every SEO copywriter’s nightmare to have to “add wow” to something written by someone’s who’s NOT in the industry. I rarely accept such demands for my team. In order for me to say “yes” to such a request, I’d have to know the client pretty well and have a sense of what copy they typically produce.

Otherwise, I pass politely. Besides being very time consuming and frustrating, such a project usually ends up with multiple revisions. When a client asks you to “add wow” it typically means they don’t know what they are looking for.

7. Write Something Like This

No good team of SEO copywriters will accept ripping off another website. Of course they will browse the Internet looking for inspiration. But the end results will not be a spin-off of another article. It will be a completely original piece, with a new angle.

It’s always a bad idea to try to mimic others, no matter how good they are. But if you want to do this, you don’t need to hire SEO copywriters. You just need spinning software.

8. Can You Add More Keywords?

No. This is 2017, not 2005. Keyword stuffing will make you just another average blogger that no one wants to read.

Listen to your SEO copywriters. If they are worth their name, they will use the right keyword density plus some other optimization tools. They can also make the article both SEO-friendly and engaging without repeating the same keyword over and over again.

Every Google algorithm change tells us the same thing: Google favors websites with content for human readers, not search engines. So forget about keyword stuffing and have your SEO copywriters produce something your readers will enjoy. Google will, too!

9. I Read an Article about SEO Copywriting, I Know how You’re Supposed to Do Your Job

Need I elaborate this? I’ll just add one thought: would you like it if people told you they know all about your job from one article?

Of course not!

Not to mention how objectively wrong this is. There is literally no job on Earth that you can master by reading an article. No, not even unskilled labor. A worker who’s been doing this for years will still be much better at it than you and know more about it.

10. I’ll Pay You Later

Change later to: “next month”, “next week”, “when I get paid” and so on. You see, I don’t know about others, but I know my SEO copywriters (and myself!) enjoy eating and paying their bills on time. Just like you probably do.

I have no problem with negotiating payment terms. But I’d like to have a say in it. I think it’s only fair, especially since clients also have a (big) say in deadlines.

When your writers deliver everything on time and within budget, why not pay the invoice when it arrives?

Getting the Most out of Your Collaboration with SEO Copywriters

As with most business relationships, this one can also be successful when it’s based on mutual respect and trust. If you’re looking to build that with your SEO copywriters, start by appreciating their work and giving them real feedback. You’d be surprised at the results you will get!

Looking to work with SEO copywriters who can boost your ROI? Just fill in the form below and we’ll take it from there.