Content Writer Micky's Blog

As a professional Website Copywriter, I get almost daily emails from people asking me if I can write clear, persuasive and optimised content for their business website.  Sure I can. But what is involved? What do I need from you and what can you expect of me?

Here are 10 Steps in Hiring Me to Write or Rewrite and Optimise your Website Content:

1.  Send me an email & tell me exactly what you need.
Include as much information as possible, such as answers to these questions:

• What website is it for (URL and/or explanation)?
• How many pages do you need me to write (if possible with the page names/topics)?
• Roughly how long do you want the pages to be?
• Is it writing from scratch or rewriting/editing existing content?
• Will you give me enough information to base the content on or do you expect me to do research?
• Who is your target market and where are they located?
• Do you know what SEO keywords you want me to use or do you want me to do keyword research?
• What is your timeframe?

2.  I will email you a quote.
The quote will briefly set out what I will do and what’s included. If I don’t have enough information to prepare a quote, I will email you back with questions and I’ll send you a quote once I have the answers.

3.  You accept the quote.
Send me an email to say you would like to hire me for your project.

4.  I email you my Terms & Conditions and an Invoice for the deposit.
My standard Terms & Conditions document sets out what is included and protects both you and me in case of any misunderstanding. I require a 50% deposit of the estimated total fee before starting the project. I will also give you an indication of when I can start and how long I think the job will approximately take.

5.  You accept the T&Cs and pay the deposit.
You can scan and email the signed Terms & Conditions document or simply confirm in an email you accept them. For the 50% down payment, I prefer a direct deposit into my bank account. However, I also accept payment by cheque, PayPal or credit card (also via PayPal).

6.  I confirm receipt and request further input from you.
You would have already emailed me some information in order to give you a quote, but I may require further input at this point to actually do the writing. Please send me everything you think may help me to understand your business, products and services and to help me write good content for your website.

Things that may be useful could include:
(not everything may be relevant for all projects)

• Link to your current website, draft new website on a test server or screenshot of your web design.
• Overview of all pages you need written with dot points of what each page should cover.
• What your USP (unique selling proposition) is, i.e. your ‘competitive edge’, and what your most important or most popular services/products are that you want me to highlight.
• Copies of relevant marketing materials, company brochures or publications.
• List of SEO keywords and phrases you want to target (word combinations you would like to be found on when people type them in search engines such as Google).
• If you know your direct competitors in your area, please give me links to their websites.

7.  I start writing your web content.
I will consider how best to present your company. I’ll write clear, professional and persuasive web copy in chunks that are easy to digest, and use important SEO keywords throughout the content and in suggested META page titles. Throughout the process, I will remain in touch with you and I will ask you questions if anything is not entirely clear. I will not write content based on assumptions but will always clarify things with you to ensure I get it right the first time.

8.  I will email you the draft content.
Depending on our arrangements, I normally send people the content in a Word document.

9.  You email me your feedback and I make revisions if needed.
All my clients so far have been very happy with the copy I have written for them, but sometimes I’m asked to change or tweak a couple of paragraphs. One round of revision is included in my services, and I’m more than happy to make changes where needed based on your feedback. You need to provide your feedback within 7 days, or with large projects within 14 days, for me to make the changes, so that the subject matter is still reasonably fresh in my mind.

10.  Final step: I close the project and send you the final invoice.
I will close the project and send you the final invoice 7 days (small projects) or 14 days (larger projects) after sending you the content, or earlier if you don’t need changes or any changes are done sooner than that. Payment of the outstanding amount is due 7 days after the date of the final invoice.

What’s next? This is usually where you give the final content to your webmaster and they incorporate it into your website. I love it when clients alert me when the new content is up so I can see the final result. I also often write about finished projects on my blog and link to client websites using SEO keywords, which helps with their search engine rankings.

Want to know more?

If you think you may be interested in hiring me to write your SEO Website Content, please email me, Content Writer Micky Stuivenberg, with as much information you can give me as per item no. 1 above.

For more information about my services, visit my Content Writer website, refer to my standard hourly rates, see my SEO copywriting portfolio or read some client testimonials.