Smart entrepreneurs know that a thriving venture is always backed by a team where every member plays to their strength. You’re one of them, which is why you want to hire CopySmiths to handle your content requirements.
But you can’t figure out how to identify a great writer. Let’s help you get started.
While writing isn’t an inherently difficult task, it takes years of hard work and experience to weave magic with words and tell stories that evoke responses.
Good stories are the content that supports successful digital marketing campaigns for brands. And, at the heart of that content are experienced CopySmiths.
CopySmiths can create compelling narratives around your products and services and form a bond with your potential clientele. This generates leads which ultimately convert to successful sales.
Now that you’re on the lookout for an exceptional CopySmith to outsource content generations responsibilities, here are a few traits to help you identify one:
- Superlative research skills
- Knowledgeable about the target audience
- Understand SEO practices
- Committed to self-improvement
- Self-assured, thick-skinned, punctual
- Abhor plagiarism
- Anti-perfectionists with an eye for detail
Superlative Research Skills
Great CopySmiths can write about anything under the sun. But that doesn’t mean they know everything. What they do know is where and how to look for information relevant to the assignment.
Effective research is not just typing a few random words into a Google search box or reading material a client might have provided.
It involves the discerning ability to identify the right sources of information and conduct interviews with stakeholders.
Experienced writers understand that compelling content is based on in-depth research. They know how to back their ideas with facts, which lends credibility to their work and helps them earn the readers’ trust.
With 60% of internet users being inspired to purchase a product after reading about it online, your blog must exude expertise and authority to connect with the audience and increase sales.
Knowledgeable About Target Audience
Legendary copywriter David Ogilvy said, “If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language…”
Effective copywriting – whether it is for Google ads, product descriptions, taglines, metatags, Instagram posts, or a blog – is essentially a conversation with the reader. It requires insights into the thought process, speaking style, and needs of the consumers.
Good writers understand the target audience persona and explain ideas clearly without over-simplifying the message, all in a language that consumers identify with.
Proficient wordsmiths have flexible copywriting styles tailored to readers’ preferences. They’ll use a crisp, professional tone of voice when they generate content for corporate executives and a more casual one when addressing college students.
They also gain an understanding of the consumers’ requirements to ensure the copy highlights aspects of the product that meets those needs.
Understand SEO Practices
Expert CopySmiths understand the internet well enough to know their copy must meet search engine optimization (SEO) requirements besides being engaging and easy to read.
Some of the critical SEO attributes that proficient content writers focus on include:
| Search intent | This refers to what your audience is looking for when they key in a search term. Getting it right is a critical skill because if your posts don’t address the readers’ needs, they’ll move on to a competitor’s blog. |
| Keyword research | Keywords are common search terms used to look for information. Great content writers know how to identify keywords that’ll get search engines to pick up your blog. This helps generate interest and attract readers. |
| SERP | Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the list of websites that Google shows you when you ask a question. Experienced CopySmiths know how to write content that’ll get your blog placed high up on the list. A better rank means growth in the number of new visitors. |
Committed to Self-Improvement
A good CopySmith is a curious one. They’re addicted to acquiring knowledge in a constant bid to improve how they write.
The world of online content is constantly evolving. Every day people come up with new ways to present content, better tools to scale the efficiency of marketing campaigns, in-depth analysis of consumer behavior, etc.
A dedicated CopySmith keeps themself abreast of such information and adapts their work to suit the consumers’ preferences.
Great writers also happen to be voracious readers, especially those who freelance for multiple clients per month. Reading helps them:
- Be well-informed
- Introduces them to various tones of voice
- Enhances their vocabulary
- Improves their grasp of the language
- Exposes their minds to a vast variety of ideas
- Broadens their way of thinking
All this reflects in their writing style which they can easily adapt to suit customer requirements.
You can bet that a CopySmith who reads will also go the extra mile to ensure their copy is factually correct and replete with updated and useful information.
Self-Assured, Thick-Skinned, Punctual
Writing is a creative pursuit that depends on the CopySmith’s vision.
Great writers are self-assured enough to take a stand for their work when needed. They’re not defensive or combative but instead willing to explain their thought behind the word choice, taglines, copy structure, etc.
But, experienced CopySmiths also understand that all writing can be improved. They’re open to discussion and constructive feedback without being adamant. After all, their focus is on the audience and they’ll do whatever it takes to make their work reader-friendly.
Speaking of focus, writing is a solitary pursuit that needs undivided attention. A CopySmith must engage in brainstorming to generate a certain number of blog ideas to write per month.
While it’s easy to lose track of time and difficult to discipline oneself, the best writers successfully strike a balance. They stick to deadlines and produce error-free work on time, every time.
After all, even great copy is worthless if not presented to readers at the earliest.
Abhor Plagiarism
Plagiarism is to writing what money laundering is to financial services.
Nothing destroys the credibility of a blog like plagiarized content. In extreme cases, content duplication might have legal repercussions because the original CopySmith has intellectual property rights over the source material.
Copied content defeats the core purpose of Google E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trust). It sabotages your SEO efforts and leads to loss of visitors. All search engines have in-built plagiarism detectors which flag duplicate content and affect your SERP rankings.
A passionate CopySmith who is dedicated to their work doesn’t appreciate it being copied. It’s also malpractice they’d never indulge in. While they may read other’s works to educate themselves, they’re skilled enough to present their thoughts uniquely.
They also run every single copy, even product descriptions, through plagiarism detection software before submission to ensure it is original.
Anti-Perfectionists With an Eye for Detail
Leonardo da Vinci had reportedly said that art is never finished, only abandoned – a mantra that creators live by.
CopySmiths worth their salt know that even the greatest pieces of literature can be improved but are pragmatic enough to realize that impeccability is elusive. They’re anti-perfectionists who pull the brakes on time to meet deadlines and word limits.
But at the same time, experienced writers are great editors as well.
They pay hawk-like attention to detail when it comes to content readability, factual accuracy, spelling and grammar usage, sentence structures, and other key components of good copy.
A trustworthy CopySmith will never submit a piece without proofreading it thoroughly for they know that some typos can be persistent enough to slip through multiple rounds of editing.
The team at CopySmiths comprises handpicked writers who take pride in their work. Our in-house SEO training makes us adept at producing original, accurate, interesting, and informative content every time.
Reach out to us for your content marketing needs and watch your business scale new heights.
