How To Find A Good Freelance Copywriter

Not sure how to find a good freelance copywriter? I have the same problem with plumbers. When your toilet is on the blink, as mine merrily is, I can’t help thinking that the plumber I eventually call will charge me a fortune for a five-minute job, either to punish me for being too stupid to perform a very simple fix myself or just because they can.

If the world of copywriting is as familiar to you as the inner workings of a toilet are to me, you probably feel the same way. However, worry not. This guide will give you a few pointers to help you find a copywriter who’s capable, trustworthy and reasonably priced.

Do you even need a freelance copywriter?

You cannot overstate the importance of content these days for businesses that operate online. Even as a copywriter myself, the amount of content you have to produce to generate organic traffic from the search engines for competitive keywords, frankly, all seems a bit silly.

As well as optimised website pages and blogs to keep Google’s crawlers and visitors coming back for more, there’s also the copy for marketing emails, newsletters, social media posts, presentations, brochures, video scripts, webinars, opt-in forms and more. If you’re a small business without an in-house copywriter or marketing team, that’s an awful lot of copy to produce yourself.

If you don’t have the time to write all this content or the written work you produce yourself absolutely stinks, it’s definitely time to find a good freelance copywriter.

What qualifications should you look for?

There’s no official qualification or certifying body for copywriters. In fact, there are no barriers to entry at all, so anyone can set themselves up as a copywriter whether they can write or not.

I received an email just the other day offering the services of a creative writing team. They very proudly explained that:

“We serve around 92 customers especially on newsletters publishing and content marketing through press release distribution.”

Now, I don’t want to sound snooty, but to me, that doesn’t read like the work of a professional writer.

And that’s the problem. All an aspiring copywriter needs to do is create a quick profile on a freelance marketplace like PeoplePerHour or Upwork to bid on projects that they may not have the experience or ability to complete to a decent standard.

That’s not to say you won’t find a good freelance copywriter on either of those platforms, but you should approach them carefully.

In the absence of a certifying body or industry-specific qualifications, you should use the writer’s experience, genuine third-party reviews and their copywriting portfolio to guide you.

What type of copywriter do you need?

Copywriters have different specialities. You want a copywriter who can do the best job producing the specific content you need. That’s not to say a single copywriter can’t do everything to a high level, but be prepared to pay them handsomely if they can.

1. SEO Copywriter

If you’re struggling to bring organic search traffic to your website or your blog content, you need to hire an SEO copywriter. SEO copywriters understand the elements that they must include within your content to boost your search engine rankings. They can also identify opportunities based on search data and analyse what you’re doing well and where you can make improvements. Done well, SEO copywriting will bring higher rankings and increased traffic to your website.

2. Conversion Copywriter

This is the copywriting equivalent of a centre forward. Everyone else does the hard work while the conversion copywriter taps it into the net. Actually, that’s a little disparaging. Like centre forwards, good conversion copywriters are extremely valuable. They arguably do the most difficult job of all by converting visitors into customers. If your conversion rates are on the floor, this is the copywriter you need.

3. Creative Copywriter

This is the ideas man or woman who can churn out lots of creative content suggestions and write them up for you. They can help with campaign ideas, snappy headlines, creative ad copy and anything else that will grab the attention of your audience.

4. Brand Copywriter

If building a brand is your priority, a brand copywriter can define or refine your brand’s tone and style to give it a distinct and consistent voice. They can also come up with business names and taglines to make your brand more memorable.

Where can you find a good freelance copywriter?

Freelance Marketplaces

Signing up and posting the details of your copywriting project on a freelance marketplace such as PeoplePerHour or Upwork is a decent way to access plenty of copywriters. They won’t all be great, so it’ll be your job to sort the wheat from the chaff, but if you’re willing to spend a reasonable amount of money, you can get some good work done.

If a writer has lots of positive reviews and plenty of completed projects, that’s usually a sign that they’re up to the job. You should also ask to see samples of previous work in your sector.

A Google Search

If you’re struggling to find a good freelance copywriter, one of the safest bets is to ask for a personal recommendation. In the absence of a recommendation, the alternative is to head to Google and enter a search for the type of copywriter you need.

The good thing about this approach is that there is a barrier to entry, as any copywriters who appear in the search results will have invested the time and money to create and maintain a website, which is a big commitment. That ensures a certain amount of professionalism and dedication, as opposed to a copywriter who has spent ten minutes creating a profile on a freelance marketplace.

Reading a copywriter’s website is also a great way to assess the quality of their work. After all, their own website is their shop window. If the copy doesn’t grab your attention, keep you reading and make you want to take action, the likelihood is that they’ll also fall short for you.

Importantly, you should look at more than just the first few search engine results. These are likely to be filled by the copywriting agencies with the biggest budgets, but that doesn’t always equate to the best work. It’s worth looking at page 2, 3 and 4 of the search engine results and exploring the portfolios and pricing of some freelance copywriters to find your perfect fit. They will be out there; you just have to invest a little time to find them.

Not sure how to find a good freelance copywriter?

Take a look at my SEO content writing services, copywriting portfolio and copywriting rates for a better idea of what I do. Or, if you’d rather talk things through, get in touch and we can discuss your project to see whether I’m the right fit.