Are You Relying on Your PPC and SEO Resources to Write Copy that Sells?

Can a graphic artist or web programmer write copy that sells?

Can a copywriter create on-brand designs that lead the eye to the response?

We’ve long understood that the “design” side of marketing versus the “copy” side of marketing require completely different skill sets — and it’s highly unusual (if not unheard of) to find a marketer who is highly skilled in both.

Yet, you may be assuming that your technical SEO specialists can also write copy that sells. Does that make sense? Many companies derive a majority, or at least a large portion, of web traffic from Organic search (or could be). If you don’t have an SEO copywriter on your SEO team, you may be relying on a techical person to write the copy designed to drive clicks on search engines  (yikes!)

You may also be assuming that PPC specialists who understand how to research keywords and set up Google Ads and other PPC campaigns can also create ad headlines and descriptions that sell. Is that likely?

The Role of SEO Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

It’s common on google.com to see untargeted Page Titles and Descriptions that don’t differentiate the company or the particular product or service.  And that’s a critical piece of SEO — yes, you need to first get your pages to appear for your important keyword phrases when someone searches on google.com — but if the Title and Description aren’t written to get the click, you’ve still wasted your SEO budget.

There is an SEO “art” to Page Titles — you want the most important keyword at the beginning of the Page Title, and you want the first 5 words (which is what Google says they look at) to focus on what your audience is searching for.

Too frequently, Page Titles are too generic — pre-created by some automation tool or WordPress plug-in. You shouldn’t be paying a monthly SEO fee for that.

Page Title is the headline on google.com — it needs to flag your audience and tell them you have what they’re looking for.  The Description should tell them why yours is unique. Are your Descriptions  written that way — or do they talk about the same benefits as your competitors?

Another common problem is Page Titles and Descriptions that are way too long. Frequently, important message elements are being truncated — and not even being seen by your target prospects. Have you looked at how your Titles and Descriptions appear on google.com — and what’s not appearing?

It doesn’t make sense to pay for SEO services — and not have an SEO copywriter writing (or at least reviewing) your Page Titles and Descriptions. Look at your click-through percentage on Google Search Console. Your SEO resource should be actively working to improve that percentage every month.

Pay-Per-Click Copy Challenges

Google Ads has become a specialty unto itself. Keyword research, Campaign settings, keeping track of actual Search Terms and adding Negative Keywords, adding Sitelinks — there are so many more “technical” elements to pay attention to for every Campaign and Ad Group. And now with Responsive Search ads, it’s difficult to have an ad rate at least “good” by Google unless you create some 15 different headlines.

Who is the copywriter who is crafting that stable of headlines that you now need for every Ad Group you’re running? Is your PPC specialist an expert in both the “techical” elements of running PPC campaigns and in writing headlines?

The challenge right now with Google Ads is creating enough headlines to keep the Google system happy (and achieve at least a “good” rating) — and still include enough specific and targeted words so you don’t attract a lot of unqualified clicks.

There are some expert PPC agencies that don’t write the copy at all — the agency merely manages the account for the client, and the client is responsible for providing the copy.  Hopefully in that case, the PPC agency is regularly discussing with the client what headlines and descriptions are being shown by the Google algorithm more frequently.

What’s the Solution to Maximizing Results?

When many clients hire SEO resources, they’re looking to achieve a particular position for certain keywords. “I want to see us rank in the top 3 positions for these keywords.”

What happens after the ranking? Is anyone clicking on those Organic listings (and what’s the click-through you’re achieving on Google Search Console)? Are you tracking Organic traffic — both the quality of that traffic and resulting sales?

SEO is so much more than “what position are we in this week?” By getting an SEO Copywriter involved in crafting Page Titles that flag your audience and Descriptions that differentiate your offering, you’ll boost the return from your SEO investment.

Get your copywriter involved with your PPC specialists as well.  A writer who is looking at headlines from the point-of-view of attracting your particular audience should be able to help your PPC resource greatly boost CTR and conversion.

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