The Added Value of an SEO Content Writing Service

Setting up a business is hard. There’s no question about it. There’s just so much to think about in those initial stages – more than initially meets the eye. Beyond establishing the what and how that you’re going to provide, which is, obviously, key, you realise that your presentation to the world actually matters just as much, if not more. See, if you’re not able to tell people what you do and why they should choose you to do it, you realise that they’re not going to hire you (or are much less likely to, especially if you have direct competitors who are doing just that).

This is where marketing comes in – branding, specifically. It’s choosing a name for your company. One that tells people what you do but is unique enough that it won’t be lost in the sea of similar-sounding names. Then comes the logo. Is it simple enough, complex enough? Next is the colour palate – what do you want your customers to feel when they approach you? Are you a luxury brand, or a family-run business, or both? And then comes the brand voice. That’s where a copywriter (or content writer) comes in, so let’s dive into what they do, the difference between the two, and the value that an SEO content writing service can provide to your business. 

What are copywriters and content writers? (And copywriting vs. SEO content writing services)

If you’re reading this blog post, you’re likely considering hiring a copywriter or an SEO content writing service, so let’s start by establishing what that actually is. Sure, we’re talking about writers, but they don’t write books – that’s a different skill entirely. We’re talking about writing for a specific purpose. Let’s start with copywriters:

A copywriter is a professional who writes specifically to convince readers to take action, whether that’s filling out a form, picking up the phone, or sending an email.

Copy is short-form writing most often found on a webpage or landing page, as well as sales emails and social media ads.  

Now, when it comes to writing online content, two words are often used interchangeably, though they’re not really the same thing: copywriting (done by a copywriter) and content writing (done by a content writer). So, what’s the difference? 

While copywriting is short-form writing designed to persuade, often using storytelling, subtle selling techniques, neurolinguistic programming strategies, and tapping into the customer journey to guide them to take that all-important action, content writing is much longer form.  

Content writing is used for blog posts, articles, e-books, press releases, newsletters, case studies, and reviews. It’s designed to be informational, to provide value to customers, and, often, to help with SEO*. 

*(We’ll get into this a bit further on, but if you’re interested in finding out more about SEO specifically, check out our blog posts about Maximising Your Global Reach with Multilingual SEO and Implementing SEO on a Multilingual Website.) 

You might be wondering if the same person can write content and copy, and we’re pleased to say: they can! A copywriter can – and often does – also write content, and the specific toolkit they have as a copywriter can also make their content more convincing. However, often, content writers aren’t trained to write copy, which requires certain tools to be effective, so it all comes down to the type of content/copy you need and whether it lines up with the skill set of the professionals available to you.

Why companies hire a copywriter/ SEO content writing services

Now that we’ve established what a copy/content writer is, let’s get into why they’re necessary. It’s pretty straightforward actually: like any service, whether it’s creating a website, designing a logo, fixing a blocked pipe, or mending your car, we think you’ll agree that it most often pays to hire a professional.

When it comes to writing your website, sure, your web developer could stick some copy in there, just like your plumber could offer to tile your bathroom while he’s there, but is that going to give you the outcome you need, or will it take twice as long, and then just need re-finishing, costing you twice as much?

See, a professional copy/SEO content writing service will have a series of questions they’ll need you to answer because they need to get to know you from the inside out to be able to convey what you do and what makes you different. They’ll work to highlight exactly what makes you the person to solve the problem hounding any potential customer who clicks onto your website. A content writer will craft content that shows off your unique qualities and how you do things differently, and a copywriter is trained to meet customers where they’re at, answering questions niggling in the back of their minds and taking them on a fluid journey from clicking onto your homepage to getting in touch with you and buying your product/hiring your service.

All this work complements a well-designed website, giving your brand a voice that connects with your potential customers, making you both approachable and memorable. These professionals create and stick to your brand voice, ensuring that wherever you’re communicating, your voice is recognisable and that your potential customers feel welcomed, heard, and understood. That’s their entire job, and, like any service that’s well done by a trained professional, they’re worth the investment because you’ll soon see the palpable return in higher leads and, more importantly, higher conversion rates.

SEO content/copywriting services

We mentioned earlier that content writing goes hand-in-hand with SEO, and that’s not an understatement (if you’re unfamiliar with the concept of SEO, please do check out this blog post).  

To explain as plainly as possible, search engines want to present users with value, which comes in the shape of a positive user experience. As such, search engines monitor the extent to which customers engage with your website (scrolling down the page, clicking on links, getting in touch with you) – all of which is maximised by effective copywriting. However, search engines have also started ranking content based on its quality, using the parameters of EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to determine whether what’s presented truly does add value.  

Beyond those two factors is the all-important factor of keywords, which any experienced copy/content writer will integrate naturally into their texts, ensuring that your website is findable to anyone searching for it.  

In short, the days of “just writing anything” are long gone, and if you want to be visible online, every facet of your strategy needs to be streamlined and implemented by someone who knows what they’re doing to ensure it’s effective.  

Multilingual Websites: Copywriting vs Transcreation

So, now that we’ve established that you could write your own website copy (just like you could re-roof your house, fit the electricity in your office, and tailor your own clothes)  it just may be more effective to hire a trained professional and come out cheaper in the long run, how do you tackle a multilingual website?  

You’ve got a few possible paths to consider.  

Path 1: sitting down with a copywriter who works in your language - or a language you speak well - answering all their questions, and watching them bear your business’s soul in writing, then approving the final copy. Then hiring one (or a few) professionals to transcreate that content into (a) different language(s).  

Not translate? 

No. 

A direct translation won’t work for online content, as the cultural nuance, sales techniques, and approach will often have to be tweaked to ensure it resonates with different cultures. Some countries work well with aggressive sales techniques; others are entirely put off by them, so all this needs to be taken into consideration.  

(Often, you’ll be able to find all of these professionals at a single agency, which makes your task a lot easier, as skilled project managers will handle all the steps from the get-go).  

Path 2: hiring copywriters for each of your target languages, answering their questions, and watching as each one crafts unique copy that resonates with your different audiences down to their very core. While the transcreation in path one used the original copy as a springboard for all the other languages you might need, writing each language from scratch ensures that your particular services are showcased entirely uniquely in each language, giving the professionals the full creativity they need to craft copy/content that resonates in each culture.  

(Again, if you’re working with an agency, they can coordinate these professionals to ensure that the brand-new copy in each language follows the same framework and keeps to the same tone in each language).

AI in SEO content writing services: Can It Replace Humans?

Now to address the elephant in the room: AI. With ChatGPT making its way into many workplaces, those seeking content have often turned to AI to produce what they need, so, let’s answer the question: why would you hire a person if a machine could give you what you need for free? 

In our eyes, it’s simple: because a machine lacks the very ingredient that we deem most important: creativity. Sure, AI can write all sorts of things, and at first glance, what it produces seems pretty professional. But how about at a second glance? When you actually think about what it’s saying? That’s where we often stop and realise that though there are words on a page, that all-important spark of value is simply missing. What AI writes is most often not original – it can re-create a voice, grab information and piece it together, but that’s where it stops. It has trouble writing content that truly engages because it is unable to follow the human experience and empathise with where a customer is at in their journey.  

Does it have a place? 

Sure, it’s great for producing outlines, fetching and compiling information, rewriting a sentence here or rephrasing an idea there, but to really engage users, you need a human (who knows what they’re doing) masterminding the operation to add the all-important feeling behind the words.

Finding the right SEO content writing services

So there you have it – the role of copywriters and SEO content writing services, how they operate, and why they’re necessary to provide value to customers and ensure that your website is findable by search engines.  

Ready to give your business a voice?  

Now all you need to do is find the right SEO content writing service to expertly sell your business through words. Our team at Diskusija, made up of project managers, copywriters, and creative translators, works like a well-oiled content-producing machine, shining the brightest of lights on your business. From knowing the right questions to ask to creating a streamlined workflow that ensures polished content that connects with your potential clients, we’ve perfected the art of producing SEO content that works, and we’re always eager to show yet another client just what a difference we can make.  

So, all that’s left for you to do is say yes.   

Get in touch to find out more about how our expert SEO content writing services!