How to hire the best copywriters

Before we get ahead of ourselves and talk about all the benefits of quality website content, you need to create quality content… or hire someone to write quality copy for you.

Writing quality content is a skill. You need to write for your customers, while making sure the copy appeals to search bots that crawl your content and decide to rank it or not.

That’s why hiring an experienced copywriter is the best way to guarantee this for your website.

Without knowing what you’re looking for, it’ll always be tricky to find the perfect writer for the job.

The qualities and telltale signs of the best copywriters

Someone who can write, duh!

Well, there is that, but there’s more to it.

There are many top qualities to look out for in your copywriter. Here are a few of the essentials.

Easy communicator

The best copywriters will always be chatting/messaging/emailing you and collaborating with you throughout the process of writing your content. And make no mistake – a good writer will ask you (the industry expert) a lot of questions.

For one thing, if the writer doesn’t talk to you about what they’re working on, you’re never going to know how the project is going.

But more importantly, if a copywriter struggles to talk to you, they’re not going to be able to talk to your audience either.

The key to it is finding the right way to communicate that works with you and your copywriter.

Formal education in writing or marketing, and a personal interest

Usually a copywriter has formal qualifications in creative writing, journalism or a marketing course/degree/qualification.

You also want to find someone with an interest in writing beyond copywriting. If they’ve written books or film scripts. It may not be copywriting, but it means they have a passion for writing and various writing experience.

Passionate about using Word or Google Docs, and has a favourite project management software, like monday.com

All copywriters will have their preference on Word or Google Suite, along with CMS or workflow management tools. Microsoft Office v Google Suite. WordPress v Wix. monday.com v Asana.

Talks about writing for users and SEO in equal measure

A quality copywriter who wants to get your website content right will always focus on who your customers are. But they’ll also make sure to have enough SEO data to create the right content to get your website ranking too.

This is particularly true if you’re looking to hire an SEO Copywriter.

And if you found them online, then you’ve got someone who knows their stuff about SEO.

If they’re already ranking well, they clearly know what it takes to get to the top.

Creativity

Every writer will be creative. They will want to find a new way to write something, and make it interesting for your customers.

Every top copywriter wants to craft copy that’s original, interesting, and appealing.

Detail oriented

Good copywriters spend time on the details. They don’t write to be vague. They want all the information to create content that makes the reader feel as though the writer is talking to them specifically.

Great copywriters will take their time by doing research into the topic and asking you a lot of questions about your customer or the topic. They may even ask you questions about your services or products that you’ve never really thought about!

These are all good signs. If you can spot a passion for depth of detail, you can be sure the writer doesn’t rush their work.

To get an idea on this, ask a copywriter what their process is to create content. Like a blog – ask what their process is. They should then say something along the lines of get a brief for the content, research the topic, do some light SEO research, plan an outline for the blog, 1st; 2nd; 3rd drafts, over to you for approval, publish!

Great reviews

Copywriters will collect reviews like any other business. These are a guarantee of quality as they’re left by real people.

Reviews won’t be hard to find either. Most copywriters will want you to know what other people think of them as it provides the opportunity to be hired by someone else!

Look into testimonials left by previous clients and endorsements from business owners and other writers they’ve worked with. You can check their own website and their LinkedIn profile for these.

If you’re looking to work with an agency, you’ll also be able to find reviews on Google and third party platforms.

What to ask a copywriter before you hire them

You shouldn’t hire a copywriter before talking to them. You need to do this to get an impression of who they are.

This is also your chance to establish their experience, their writing process, and how committed they’ll be to your project.

A lot of businesses like to invite writers for an interview, but it’s OK to have an informal conversation over a video call as well.

Here are a couple of things you should talk about.

Can I see your portfolio?

A copywriter’s portfolio is going to display the best examples of their work. Always take a look through this to get an idea of their tone and style.

A portfolio also allows you to see:

  • Who the writer has worked with before
  • What industries they’re comfortable with
  • If they’ve written for similar businesses

Don’t worry about portfolio length. Even a small portfolio will let you know the writer’s quality.

What is your hourly rate for copywriting?

Most copywriters have a day rate. In the UK, this rate is anywhere between £350 to £600.

So from the day rate you could work out the hourly rate. Again, this is usually about £50 – £75.

Depending on the size of the topic, a copywriter will try to work out a cost for the total project, or may even agree to a monthly fee for ongoing content.

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance copywriter

Should a copywriter be a permanent member of your team? It’s up to you, but primarily there are a few factors involved:

  1. The amount of content you need to write
  2. Budget
  3. Proving the value of content for the business

If you want to consistently create new content, a full time copywriter may be your best bet. They can work in-house with you, be trained in your specific style and tone, and work on whatever your current copy needs are.

On average, a full time copywriter’s salary starts at £30,000 per year. For more experienced copywriters you’ll be looking beyond £40,000 per year. This is where budget comes into play.

If you only need copy from time to time, you can hire a freelancer on a short term contract.

Say you want to update your blog with a few new posts or you need to craft some social media captions, a freelancer will be a more effective use of your budget.

Or you may start by hiring a freelance copywriter to prove the value of content creation. Then at a later date hire a full time, in-house copywriter.

Where to find copywriters

Personal fave – Google and see which copywriters show at the top

Speak for itself – if you search online for a copywriter and their website shows up, they’re a quality writer with an optimised website.

Two birds one stone – they create quality content that is optimised.

In-house

Have you already hired someone who has a background in writing? Try them in a copywriter role. You won’t have to train them in your brand voice – they’ll already be intimately aware of it!

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the best networking platform for finding creatives. You can post a job through their inbuilt job board and then advertise it from your feed. If you’ve already got an active network on there, you can ask them to share the opening as well.

Online job boards

Legitimate job boards like Reed and Indeed can be great places to find a copywriter. These boards attract over 500 million unique visitors every month, so you’ll be sure to get a few quality responses to your advert.

Which type of copywriter should you hire?

Not all writers specialise in the same kind of copy. Some get a kick out of creating compelling stories to get the media’s attention, others like creating website content to please search bots, and others like to create social media content.

We’ve covered six types of copywriters you should know about. We have much more info in this blog to help you hire the right copywriter for you.

Website copywriter

Website copywriters, quite obviously, write for your website. Anything that’s going to be placed on your homepage or product pages, etc., they’ll be able to produce results.

A website copywriter will have a lot of experience in creating product copy, blog posts, and landing pages. They tend to gear towards a marketing tone but can produce casual and informative content as well.

SEO copywriter

Search engine optimisation (SEO) copywriting is one of the most in demand type of copywriter out there.

If you’re hiring an SEO copywriter, ask about their keyword research. Investigate questions like:

  • What keyword research tools do they use?
  • What is their process for understanding user search intent?
  • What results have they achieved with their SEO content – every top copywriter has an amazing result to brag about!

You should also pay close attention to their portfolio. Have they worked with big names? Do they list some of their amazing SEO results?

We’ve got loads of SEO content results ourselves. Make sure you check out our results for Lucky Beans, ECS and Celebration Carts.

Email copywriter

Email copy is unique in the world of sales. If someone has signed up to receive emails from you, they’re already interested in being a customer. You don’t have to work to convert them from a visitor.

An email copywriter needs to strike a balance between providing valuable subject lines that’ll get clicked on and advertising copy that’s created to sell.

To do this, they’ll pay close attention to email metrics like:

  • Open rate
  • Click through rate
  • List growth rate

If the writer is clear about measuring and responding to these metrics, you’re talking to a good candidate.

Technical copywriter

Technical copywriting tends to be long form and highly informative. Their copy translates larger concepts into simple language. They can easily craft content like technical manuals or step by step user guides.

Technical copywriting is prominent in science and technology sectors. If your business is part of these industries, hiring a technical copywriter is the best use of your marketing budget.

Creative copywriter

A creative copywriter is more than a writer. They’re strategic. They’re an ideas person, and their brain doesn’t stop. They will look for different angles to get a message across.

They write taglines, headlines, and create awesome sales pages that get people onto it and keeps them reading.

Sales copywriter

Every business who has a product or service will need sales copy. It’s the most effective way to appeal to potential customers at a glance.

A sales copywriter will be proficient in creating content that sells, but doesn’t feel like they’re trying to sell you anything.

They’ll translate your product’s USP and communicate to your audience in a way that best suits them.

Hire a quality copywriter right here

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