Most people involved in internet marketing agree that quality web copy is just as important, or perhaps more important than an impressive website.  Web copy is also critical for successful Search Engine Optimization, no doubt.

Yet website owners are still not completely sure of what they can reasonably expect from a website copywriter in their employ and how they can be sure that what they are paying for is what they will be getting.

Ten Essentials

1.    Get a fixed quotation.  If a copywriter offers his or her services on a hourly rate and use a host of excuses as to why they cant give you a fixed quotation, perhaps you need to look elsewhere.
2.    Get a signed contract, it does not have to be a legal one but it should be in writing and signed and should outline the work to be done, the costs attached and how changes or amendments will be handled.
3.    Copywriting can be a lengthy process, so it is a good idea to ask for a time line as this will do away with unreasonable expectations.  Quality writing takes time and you have to allow time for reviews and feedback which can be lengthy and can potentially lead to a bottleneck.
4.    Try to get a copywriter to give you a plan of how they will approach your project, you have this right.  Knowing how they work goes a long way to making you feel comfortable about their work ethics too and being able to expect drafts and revisions at certain milestones along the way will keep you involved.
5.    Ask your copywriter for samples of their past work. Copywriting is a specialised profession and they must be able to offer a high level of work, study their work and approach it as if you were a customer.
6.    Ask for a professional biography or CV as this needs to reflect their experience in the copywriting field.
7.    Customer satisfaction is vital, so ask for testimonials that can be substantiated.  Most copywriters are happy to produce this as they are proud of their work, yet their testimonials should come from bona fide customers and not from friends and family.
8.    A high level of traffic comes from search engines and a copywriter needs to prove that they have SEO copywriting skills. On top of that ask them to outline their approach to SEO and if they conduct keyword analysis or not.  Ask them how they measure the right keyword density and ask them to show you a high ranking site they have written copy for.
9.    Don’t pay more because it is SEO copy you want.  If keyword analysis is done and you know where you want them to be used then writing should not take any longer than usual.  SEO is not an added element to copywriting; this is how all web copy should be written.  If you have to pay extra then it should be for keyword analysis, adding HTML code, text links and for providing advice or structure to your site and for sourcing inbound links.  Don’t pay extra for SEO copywriting.
10.    Copywriters should have experience in writing for online media as it is vastly different than writing for print mediums.  Those who read online or print copy differ; they have different objectives which makes the reading conditions different.  A copywriter should know how to cater for this.

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