10 Key Things to Expect from Your SEO Copywriter

In today’s fast-evolving digital world, where algorithms change in a blink and online competition grows fiercer every day, knowing how to work with an SEO copywriter is more important than ever. Whether you’re a business owner, marketing manager, or website strategist, here’s what you should expect when you hire someone to optimize your content for search engines and real people.

1. A Solid Grasp of SEO Basics

A great SEO copywriter understands that good search rankings depend on two key things: relevance (how well your content matches search intent and keyword queries) and authority (the number and quality of backlinks to your site). While SEO involves dozens of ranking factors, your copywriter should at least master these fundamentals and know how to apply them to every page they write.

2. Proven Writing Experience

Look beyond promises and buzzwords. Ask to see examples of pages or sites they’ve worked on, especially those with visible search performance improvements. Bonus points if they’ve worked closely with SEO strategists, content teams, or technical marketers. Real-world experience translates to more impactful content.

3. Strategic Use of Keywords

SEO today is about quality, not quantity. A skilled copywriter won’t overload a page with keywords. Instead, they’ll recommend targeting 1-2 primary keyword phrases per page, enough to rank without compromising the reading experience.

4. Clear Responsibility for Keyword Research

Someone must decide which keywords to focus on. This could be the copywriter, an SEO team, or you (the client). What matters is that this responsibility is clearly agreed upon before work begins. Avoid confusion (and wasted effort) by clarifying this upfront.

5. Guidance on Keyword Specificity

Ranking for broad terms like “marketing” or “IT” is nearly impossible for most businesses. A professional SEO copywriter will suggest long-tail keywords that are more niche and easier to rank for, such as “local IT consulting in New York” or “B2B content marketing strategies.”

6. Recommended Word Counts

Not every page needs to be 2,000 words. Your copywriter should recommend word counts based on the page’s purpose, industry standards, and SEO goals. For some, 300 words might suffice; for others, in-depth content is the key. It’s not one-size-fits-all.

7. Awareness of Keyword Density

While keyword stuffing is outdated (and penalized), density still matters. A smart copywriter will aim for 2–5% keyword usage without sacrificing readability. They should also be willing to revise content to meet density targets if required.

8. Thoughtful Keyword Placement

Where you use keywords is just as important as how often. Your copywriter should place keywords in strategic locations such as headlines, subheadings, meta descriptions, links, and opening paragraphs. These placements help search engines understand content relevance more clearly.

9. Insights on Site Structure and Internal Linking

Great SEO copywriters don’t just write text, they understand how content fits into the bigger picture. They should be able to recommend internal linking structures, category pages, and content hierarchies that support crawlability and user experience. Text-based links, contextual navigation, and silo structures are all part of the toolkit.

10. Realistic Expectations (Not Instant Results)

If an SEO copywriter promises you #1 rankings overnight, be cautious. Content optimization takes time. It’s a process of building relevance and authority gradually. What they can promise is that your content will be structured, optimized, and written to perform well over time.

They may also support you in submitting optimized articles to syndication sites, building backlinks organically, or leveraging other content marketing strategies that compound your visibility.

Final Thoughts

A good SEO copywriter does more than sprinkle keywords on a page, they act as a bridge between your business goals, your brand voice, and what your audience is searching for.

By knowing what to expect, asking the right questions, and aligning on deliverables, you’ll not only avoid common pitfalls—you’ll set your business up for long-term search visibility and stronger content performance.