Any business operating online needs to give careful consideration to their copywriting. Although the internet is moving towards a more multimedia driven environment, its heart is still in copy.
Whether it’s due to time pressures or skill gaps, whether or not to outsource copywriting is a decision that most online businesses will have to address at some point.
Pros
- Making a good first impression
Well written copy makes a good impression. Or perhaps more to the point, badly written copy makes a poor impression. Without convincing copy, it’s hard to take a business seriously.
- SEO
Most online copywriters are now highly SEO aware and able to shoehorn the relevant keywords into your on-site copy, giving you a good start for your ongoing SEO campaign.
- Better conversion rates
A good professional copywriter is well versed in the art of persuasive writing, meaning your conversion rates will be higher than with copy written by a non-professional.
- Confidence
Even if you are a dab hand with a pen, hiring a professional gives you the confidence that your copy is doing everything that it should. It also allows you to be more objective in assessing the writing, making you less likely to accept sub-standard text.
- Time
Time not spent writing copy yourself is time available for your core business.
Cons
- No outsider knows your business like you do
Even with the best brief in the world, no one outside your business knows it as well as you do. They don’t know exactly what you offer, how you want to come across or what will appeal to your market in the same way as you.
- Disappointing results
You could end up paying for copy you’re not satisfied with, unable to overhaul it without laying out more cash for another writer.
- Time
Finding a good copywriter takes time. First you have to avoid agencies/freelancers who outsource to non-native speakers, then you have to find writers with some knowledge of your industry, and then you need to take the time to review samples.
- Money
Outsourcing costs money.
Weighing it up
None of the cons listed here apply any more to copywriting than they do anything else. It all comes down to whether you have the time to do it yourself, and the confidence to do it well. If not, outsourcing makes sense – just be careful about who you hire.
If you liked this article you may want to read: top 10 website copywriting tips
Image Credit: kevingessner
The Well Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman is a great book for those who want to sharpen and perfect their persuasive writing skills. But like you say, if you can afford a copywriter, it may be worth the money upfront because you’re likely to have higher conversion rates.
Holly Hanna recently posted..5 Ways to Be Fit for Success at Any Age
Hi Holly. Thanks for your comments and the book recommendation, I’ll be sure to look that one out.
It pretty much depends on many factors. At the end of the day looking for cheap article writer is pretty bad choice and expert opinion is expensive. If I have enough time, I would never outsource article writing.
Kaloyan Banev recently posted..Super User created new blog entry Post Panda Guest Posting Outreach Made Easy in Article Writing & Blogging
Thanks Kaloyan, there are certainly plenty of cheap article writing services around – I’ve seen the standard from a few of them, and you definitely get what you pay for.