Whether designing a brand new website or completely restructuring the one you have, hiring good web content providers and SEO content writers is a must. They are not necessarily the same, so what is the difference? Which do you choose for what?
The best web content writers also understand marketing. They know that content should be written to the reader’s interests, not just be a description of a company selling products or services. When a reader comes to your website, they are coming with a purpose in mind. If they don’t see that purpose addressed, they will leave.
The customer’s purpose is seldom just buying a product. The purpose is more about what it will do for them, i.e. the results of buying the product. If I’m in a bad mood and want a book that will pick me up, I don’t want to read about the history of its author. I want to know the plot and how it will end up making me feel. A good content writer describes the product or service in words that appeal to the results, slipping a product description in between and leaving its technical specs until last.
The job of the SEO content writer is to make sure that your website can beat the competition in search engine results. They know (how to find out) the kinds of keywords the public enters in search engines when they are looking for products or information. They know how to tell how much competition you have, how to select keyword phrases that will match or beat the best of your competitors, and where to place them on your website. They know which search engines to target, and how to generate backlinks that show the popularity of your website. They are a subset cadre of marketers.
Let’s say you have a really good web content writer who doesn’t know much about SEO (search engine optimization). They write an excellent series of articles, blogs, and product/service descriptions that customers can relate to. Your website will show up in top search results, if your product is unusual. If you sell a product readily available from other companies, you will likely show up in the first several search pages, because your site is written for the customer and is authentic, which is what search engines are crawling for. If you do not have good content, good luck.
Here are the likely results of four different scenarios:
- If you have a website not particularly targeted to the customer, you will have a hard time being seen by search engines.
- If your website is not written for the customer, but is optimized for search engines, you will get lots of visits and few sales.
- If your website is written well for the customer, a high percentage of those visitors who find you will buy.
- If it is written well and optimized, you will have lots of visitors and lots of sales.
Susette H is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
