You need a writer for your business. But which type of writer do you need?
Digital marketing has changed the way businesses use writing, and it has also changed the way many writers identify themselves. This can make it difficult for businesses to find the right writer for their content projects. To help, I assembled this quick list, which describes different categories of writers and the types of writing they do.
But first, some advice.
When seeking a writer, regardless of their title, be sure to evaluate whether they can produce the content you need for the purpose you want it to serve. This is because different writers produce different types of content. A writer may choose to specialize in creating just a few types of content, such as emails, webpage copy, or ebooks, or they may have several areas of expertise.
Each writer will have a different combination of strengths and weaknesses as well. For instance, the writer who excels at creating white papers may be average when it comes to producing social media posts. A microcopy expert may choose to avoid projects that require long-form writing.
Copywriters
Do you need copy that is intended to drive newsletter signups, purchases, or registrations for a demo? That’s the type of writing traditionally performed by copywriters like the legendary Joseph Sugarman. You would look for a copywriter if you wanted to create a high-converting landing page or email drip campaign. Good copywriting takes special skill as it should draw readers in and move them closer to “yes” with every line.
Your readers should be so compelled to read your copy that they cannot stop reading until they read all of it as if sliding down a slippery slope.
-Joseph Sugarman, The Adweek Copywriting Handbook
As you search for a writer for your project, don’t be surprised if you see the term copywriter used to identify nearly any type of writer who creates marketing- or sales-related content. In recent years, the term “copywriter” has become a bit of a catchall phrase, and even people in the industry can’t agree on its proper use.
Content writers
Like copywriting, content writing is a broad and not rigidly defined category of writing. In general, content writers are professionals who create content that is intended to support a business’s content marketing efforts. “Content marketing,” by the way, is another term the industry hasn’t quite finished defining.
Content marketing is crucial to build awareness about and interest in your brand, and to prove its trustworthiness and value to your audience. Someone has to write that magical content.
-Pam Berg, Content Writer vs. Copywriter: What’s the Difference?
In general, content marketing makes use of videos, podcasts, texts, and any other type of “content” to inform, educate, or entertain an audience with the goal of moving them along the buyer’s journey. A content writer creates blogs, articles for online and offline publications, case studies, white papers, video or audio scripts, and other knowledge-sharing content to raise brand awareness, establish credibility, and communicate your business’s values and benefits.
While the terms are often used interchangeably, content writers and copywriters have different objectives for their writing. The copywriter’s objective is to prompt an immediate conversion while the content writer’s objective is to set the stage for future conversions.
SEO writers
Search engine optimization or SEO writers create content that is very similar to the type that content writers produce. Their writing may veer into copywriting territory as well. The distinguishing characteristic of an SEO writer is that they create content designed to communicate with humans and search engines.
To write for SEO, “create compelling, engaging, informative and well-structured content and website architectures in the same way you would write, and build sites, for humans.”
-Dawn Anderson, A deep dive into BERT: How BERT launched a rocket into natural language understanding
SEO writers must artfully incorporate targeted words or phrases (keywords) into their content to show search engines that the content is a good match for people using online search tools. Otherwise, the content on your website may not appear in organic search results.
SEO writing hasn’t always had the best reputation because some SEO writers focus on stuffing their content with keywords rather than producing useful content for searchers. However, a skilled SEO writer will use keywords while also producing meaningful content. This can help your blog and other ungated online content get noticed.
Website writers
What about your non-blog website copy? Who writes that part? Writers who exclusively create text for web pages may call themselves web writers or website writers. But they may also be identified as copywriters, content writers, or SEO writers. This is because creating good web copy requires skills associated with each of these specializations, plus a few more.
The writer or writers you select for your website will depend on its purpose. For a conversion-focused landing page, you may want a copywriter. If your business has a longer sales cycle, a content writer may be right for you. And, you’ll want someone with user experience (UX) writing skills to ensure that site visitors find it easy to navigate.
Business and technical writers
Not all business writing is intended to support marketing or sales efforts. Written communication is also essential for sharing information with internal and external stakeholders. Your business may decide to hire a freelance writer to help create press releases, employee newsletters, scripts for instructional videos, non-marketing emails, reports, and other business communications. In which case, you are likely to categorize them as business or technical writers even though they create content that may look similar to what a content writer or copywriter would create.
Many, many others
There are many other types of writers and other content creators who can help your business communicate with both internal and external audiences. To focus your search for the right person for your project, I recommend making a list of your goals and the possible deliverables. Then, start a conversation with someone whose writing you admire. Tell them what you need and let them tell you how their skills fit. We creatives tend to flock together. So even if the person you speak to can’t meet all your needs, they can probably help you find someone who can. Most of us maintain a network of trusted peers we can call on for assistance.
Where do I fit in this list?
I fit into the content, SEO, and business writing categories. I specialize in writing content that informs and educates, whether that content is an employee newsletter or a lead generation ebook. I also create social media posts for some of my clients and help them extend their reach by answering questions on Quora. I create video scripts and podcast summaries as well as guest posts and blog series.
My skillset combines the marketing and creative writing knowledge I gained as an undergrad with the critical reasoning and research disciplines I developed while in law school. I like gathering information from diverse sources and then distilling the best bits into value-adding content. And, I particularly enjoy helping brands develop their domain authority and engage their audience.
Over the next several months, I’m going to continue to share the knowledge I’ve since I became a freelance writer. I hope you’ll visit my blog again to learn more about content marketing and how it can help you reach your audience.