From perspective of a business owner, webmaster, or marketing manager, change exhibited by Internet is profoundly exciting, yet profoundly disturbing. The information (and misinformation and disinformation) it offers, business benefits it promises, and rules it is governed by change at such a rapid rate that it’s almost impossible to keep up.

These changes have led to a growing appreciation of value of quality web copy. This appreciation has, in turn, led to an influx of opportunistic ‘copywriters’ promoting themselves as website copywriters or SEO copywriters. Don’t get me wrong, there are quite a few excellent SEO copywriters out there, and you should definitely shop around. The purpose of this article isn’t to scare you; it’s to help you find SEO copywriter who’ll deliver honest service and excellent results.

So with that in mind, take a look at following ten tips. These are things you have a right to expect from anyone wearing a name badge that reads “website copywriter”, “SEO copywriter”, “internet copywriter”, or “web copywriter”… (See also 10 Things to Expect From Your Website Copywriter and How to Make Most of Your Website Copywriter.)

1) An understanding of SEO

Obviously, your SEO copywriter must have a solid understanding of essentials of Search Engine Optimization. They must know that ranking is essentially result of a website’s relevance (i.e. keywords) and importance (i.e. inbound links). There are a whole lot of other factors involved, but if your SEO copywriter doesn’t understand these two basics, you should look elsewhere. If you’d like to ensure your SEO copywriter knows a little more than just basics, take a look at SEO for CEOs, Writing SEO Copy, SEO Trade Secrets, Web Copy - How Much is Enough?, and How to Top Google by Writing Articles for some clues as to what you might like to ask in order to assess their knowledge.

2) Proven experience

The proof is, as they say, in pudding. It’s not enough that your SEO copywriter can talk talk; they must also be able to walk walk. Ask to see some examples of websites for which they’ve obtained some good rankings. Note that it may be very difficult to find an SEO copywriter who has actually worked on both keywords and link generation, so if you find one who has, and they write well, snap ‘em up! They’ll have a very broad and useful working knowledge of search engines.

3) An understanding of how many keywords to use

You don’t want to fill every page up with every keyword you’re targeting. This simply dilutes your site’s relevance and reduces readability. Ask your SEO copywriter how many keywords they would recommend targeting on each page. Hopefully they’ll suggest no more than 3, preferably 2. By targeting 2 keyword phrases per page, you can use them a lot without impacting readability.

4) Clear agreement on who will provide keywords

Someone needs to perform a keyword analysis in order to figure out what words you should be trying to rank highly for. Your SEO copywriter should be able to do this for you, but it’s quite often more cost-effective if someone a little closer to business does it. Either way, make sure your agreement with your SEO copywriter makes it very clear who is performing this task. Don’t assume SEO copywriter is going to do it, because they may assume you’re going to do it, and then you’ll blow your budget.

5) Keywords or keyword phrases

Expect your SEO copywriter to offer some advice regarding how specific you should be with your keywords. In most industries, competition for keywords is so fierce that you’ll be forced to target very specific keywords in order to rank – at least at outset. For instance, if you’re in IT, you probably wouldn’t start out by targeting keyword “IT”. The competition is immense (at time of writing, there were approx 3,240,000,000 results for this search in Google.com) and IT giants already dominate search engines for this keyword. Instead, try using a more specific keyword phrase like “IT infrastructure consulting new york” (at time of writing, there were only around 4,000,000 results for this search in Google.com). The other benefit to targeting more specific keyword phrases is that you’ll generate more relevant leads.

Many business owners and marketing professionals have valid concerns about letting an outsider develop their content. After all — it's your business, you know it best, and your image is critical. However, you're wrapped up in your business every day. A good copywriter can see your business in a new light, draw out key benefits of your products and services, and communicate that excitement to your clients and prospects.

Working with a writer isn't a complicated ordeal, however it will benefit you tremendously to become familiar with how relationship typically works and ways to help process move along smoothly. So, here are my top 11 tips on how to choose and work with a copywriter:

1. Understand your mission beforehand.

A crucial factor in streamlining writing process is determining principal points you need to communicate — before you bring in a writer. Who is your target audience? What is your message? What is unique about your company? In what type of tone do you want to speak to your reader? What type of response do you ideally want reader to make? Having this information agreed upon before you get a writer involved will save you unnecessary copy revisions and keep your costs down.

2. Develop a realistic schedule.

Yes, you've heard this all your life, but haste makes waste. Avoid hastily hiring a copywriter and dumping a rush job on her. Not only will you not have time to thoroughly check her experience and references, but, no matter how wonderfully talented she is, her first drafts will not be "fully cooked." This is because copywriters need time to let words and ideas simmer.

Most writers will request a few weeks to develop your copy, so set a realistic schedule to give creative process ample time. Count on going through one or two revisions as your writer refines piece's angle and conveys key benefits of what you're promoting.

3. Make sure writer you hire has written for medium you want. Let's say you need someone to re-energize copy on your Web site. A freelancer who has only written magazine articles won't likely have skills to create content for a dynamic Web site. She's probably not proficient at breaking-up copy into easily digestible bits, integrating hyperlinks that entice your users to take action, and keeping your end-user in mind to plan a friendly, easily- navigable site. She may be able to learn how, but you'll be paying for her slow ramp-up speed. Take time instead to find right person — it will save you many headaches down road.

4. Experience within your industry isn't always necessary.

"So you've never written for a _______ company before?" I'veheard many prospects say. Don't worry. A writer's ability to write well for medium is more important than her having prior experience in your industry.

Many writers are true generalists and write just as well for an edgy new media start-up as they do for a giant hospital network. They're very proficient at diving into your business, learning it inside and out, and churning out great prose to entice your target market. Now of course, if you're producing a technically oriented business-to- business Web site or marketing piece, you may want to hire a writer with experience in both your project's medium and your industry. If you find a good one, hold on tight. You've struck gold!

5. Ask for references, and contact them.

All writers can show you samples of well-written material, but how do you know if they'll work to understand your communication needs, meet deadlines, and act professionally in front of clients? Any great copywriter should have an ample list of references that she can share with you. Be sure to contact at least two of them, and ask them about writer's weaknesses as well as her strengths.

6. You get what you pay for.