How could I evaluate a copywriter and the works they did? Are there any criteria for this?

18 replies
Hi guys,
I've been hiring a copywriter for my affiliate website but I'm not completely sure how to evaluate the works he did. What element should I focus on? I'll be extremely thankful if someone can give me a detailed guide and examples.

Remi
#copywriter #criteria #evaluate #works
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  • Profile picture of the author Sanjay Jenkins
    Hey Remi!

    I would try to put yourself in the role of the target customer for the product offering. Approach the next two points with that mentality.

    1. Do you understand the offering clearer than before?
    - How long does it take to understand what the pitch is about?
    - Are you getting bored reading it? Be honest!
    - What are the key elements of the offering? What do you get?

    2. Are the benefits of the offering clearly explained?
    - If so, what are they?
    - If not, why not?

    You should be comparing your old copy with your new copy during the exercise above. It would be even better if you could look at both side-by-side.

    At this point, I would recommend testing. Regardless of traffic source being organic or paid, you should be able to run some basic A/B tests on conversions. Better conversions = more effective copy.

    It helps if you know someone who fits the criteria for a target customer if you don't fit it yourself. A great exercise is having them record their screen while they click through your site.

    I try to follow the AIDA model with my copy, whether it is on a webpage or in an email. If you're not familiar with AIDA, it breaks down to:
    A: Attention - Customer learns about your offering
    I: Interest - Customer starts to care about your offering
    D: Desire - Customer is engaged with your offering and has a positive disposition to it
    A: Action - CHA CHING. Your customer buys from you (or takes whatever action you want them to take)

    You want to walk the customer through the AIDA journey with all of your copy.

    I hope this helps! Hit me up if it doesn't. Hit me up and give me a virtual high five if it does!
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    • Profile picture of the author Remi1102
      Thanks so much for your response but you likely misunderstood my question. At that point, I mean about how to assess content from writer. I'm not a native speaker so it's fairly hard to me to know that is it good and attractive to readers?
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      • Profile picture of the author SARubin
        Originally Posted by Remi1102 View Post

        Hi guys,
        I've been hiring a copywriter for my affiliate website but I'm not completely sure how to evaluate the works he did. What element should I focus on?

        Remi
        Originally Posted by Remi1102 View Post

        how to assess content from writer. I'm not a native speaker so it's fairly hard to me to know that is it good and attractive to readers?
        Question: How do you know if it's good and attractive to readers? And what's the criteria for good copy...?


        Answer: Good and attractive are subjective terms. The criteria is in the numbers.


        How are people responding to your copy?

        Are visitors performing the action you want them to take?

        Since you say it's an affiliate site, I'm assuming you want people to click your affiliate link?


        If your numbers look acceptable, then the copy is good.
        If they're not, then it could be a number of things...


        Example: If 99% of people bounce within 2 seconds, then your headline could need work.

        If 99% of people bounce after 10 seconds, I'd say your headline could be OK, but your lede needs work. Or it could be the design of your site is distracting, and 10 seconds is all the attention visitors can give it, before clicking away.

        If most people stick around for a couple minutes, but still don't click your link, then the first part of your copy is probably OK, but your call to action could need work.


        So, how long are people sticking around?
        And, are a solid percentage of them taking the action you want them to?

        These numbers will tell you if your copy (and your website design) is good and attractive to your readers.

        All the best,
        SAR
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        • Profile picture of the author Remi1102
          Thanks SARubin, your answer is very clear for me. Honestly I'd like to keep people stay longer on my site at the moment. By the way can you introduce me some good examples of copywriting?
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by Remi1102 View Post

        Thanks so much for your response but you likely misunderstood my question. At that point, I mean about how to assess content from writer. I'm not a native speaker so it's fairly hard to me to know that is it good and attractive to readers?
        There seems to be two questions here.

        As a non-native speaker, the best way to evaluate the technical aspects of the copy (spelling, grammar, voice, etc.) is to hire a native speaker, preferably in the target market, to check it over.

        The best way to evaluate the effectiveness of the copy is to run the numbers.

        In direct response, you do that by playing "beat the control."

        Whatever you are using right now is your control version. It generates a certain set of numbers.

        You then test the new copy against the control by splitting the traffic each receives. If the new copy gets better numbers than the control, it becomes the new control and you start all over again.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Hi Remi,

    I would make Google your best friend. Look for top copy guys and gals,buy eBooks and follow blogs focused on copy. Learn a great deal about copy writing to find out if your hire is dead on with their work.

    Ryan
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    Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise
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  • Profile picture of the author 1Bryan
    Remi,

    The best way to sell as an affiliate is the "friend telling a friend" approach.

    If your copywriter (who is probably an article writer pretending to be a copywriter) ...

    If they can't write like it is a genuine friend telling a friend?

    They suck.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raiel Schwartz
    Does the copy excite or entice you?

    Are you converting new sales at a percentage that grant profits with respect to your ad spend on traffic?

    How does the copy compare to similar offers in your niche? Does the quality of the writing seem on-par with the crowd or superior?
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  • Profile picture of the author TomekProg
    I wouldn't rely on your personal perception. The only thing that matters in conversion, If there number is increasing, your copywriter is doing a great job. If not (even if you like the copy) - something needs to be changed.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    You are not your customer!

    It may take a thousand repetitions, hearing this from a thousand different people, before this sinks in.

    Your opinion is not important unless you are a member of the target market...and then, as the seller, your perception is skewed anyway.

    The only test is in actual performance with the target market. The rest is opinion. SARubin's post tells you what may need adjusting based on performance.
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  • Profile picture of the author NateOlsen
    As others have said the numbers speak for themselves. Since it isn't your native language I would recommend checking it with copyscape and make sure you actually received what you paid for.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony Marriott
    The only way to evaluate copy is by the results.


    For an affiliate site that will probably mean the value of sales per visitor.


    For different sales models you could test various parts of that model. i.e.


    How many visitors subscribe
    How many visitors make an initial purchase
    How many visitors buy OTOs
    How many visitors purchase in the follow up email sequence etc.
    How many purchases buy other products


    So measures of each point of the sales funnel will give you more detailed information on what is/needs improving.


    But bottom line is you need to test. And that means A/B or split testing.


    So run your current affiliate page alternately to each visitor against your new affiliate page. You will need to check up on what constitutes "statistical significance". That basically means how many visitors versus the difference in the performance. So when do you know that one page is really performing better than the other?


    Google these things for more detail.


    Forget perception of any individual. Their point of view will be meaningless. Different people judge things in different ways.
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  • Profile picture of the author Benjamin Ehinger
    Originally Posted by Remi1102 View Post

    Hi guys,
    I've been hiring a copywriter for my affiliate website but I'm not completely sure how to evaluate the works he did. What element should I focus on? I'll be extremely thankful if someone can give me a detailed guide and examples.

    Remi
    Personally, I would read the content like it's not yours and see if it sells you on taking action. If it doesn't sell you on taking action, it's no good.

    In addition, if you know you're feeding quality traffic to the content and it's converting at a reasonable rate, then it's good copywriting. If not, it may not be the best.

    Benjamin Ehinger
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  • Profile picture of the author drgreg
    Hi Remi

    Make sure that the candidate is a copywriter and not a content writer, or vice versa depending on your needs.

    You would want to first assess the writer's credentials on the subject matter (maybe qualifications if it is a specialized niche), portfolio of work (ensure their name is on any online articles or at least a reference from a website owner with their published content), ability to commit to a schedule and comparative rates.

    Then give the writer a trial run of at least 3 articles so you can evaluate the quality of their content specific to your needs. Only then should you commit to a more long term relationship or contract.

    Conversions can be due to many factors. It would be unfair to hold the writer responsible unless there is content by other writers that have a better conversion rate.
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaeI
    Well, you can always check if the content is unique simply by using Google. And track if the copy stimulates your audience to act the way you want it to act.
    But in general, there is no objective criteria for evaluation. You either feel that the copy meets TA needs or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author kjansen24
    A simple test would be whether or not you want to buy the product or service after reading it. That's a simple test, because you'll have the impulse to buy, even if it's your own product.

    More importantly, get inside the head of your demographic. This is the first objective of a great copywriter. You can't please everybody. There is however, definitely a way of writing and selling to your demographic that will appeal to the largest amount of people in it.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Hire a proofreading service, a real one, to do quality assessments on the content now and then once monthly or as needed.
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  • Profile picture of the author THEroyseo
    Obviously, your stats will speak for themselves.

    As a bilingual copywriter (English and French), I can tell you that language is obviously important for credibility but a perfect grammar text won't necessarily sell through the art of the written words.

    Your real challenge and a question to ask is: does your offer have a hook?

    You need 4 ingredients for a perfect hook

    1-What are you offering?
    2-What's the problem you're solving?
    3-Why your offer, what's different from other offers?
    4-What's the story of your offer?

    You need to hit your targeted avatar's subconscious in 3 steps
    1-Emotions
    2-Connection
    3-Value

    Take a step back, feel how your prospective client feels with a lot of empathy.

    This is what the copywriter you hire should be doing.

    Wishing you the best,
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    Nicolas Roy
    Warrior For Hire

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