Anybody that works in SEO copywriting will tell you it’s great. But is it really? What is the myth behind SEO copywriting and what is the reality? This is all essential information if you are considering a career in copywriting. So, let’s have a look at what people think copywriters do and what we actually do.
Myth vs. Reality
Facebook has recently seen an insurgence of images that depict different professions and explains what people’s views are about a job. These are called “memes”. One of my favourite memes is the one about SEO copywriters. It goes something like this:
- What people think I do seems to be being some sort of James Bond type person that spends time drinking Martini’s whenever it’s convenient for me.
- My mother seems to think that I am like Albert Einstein, spending all my time on the sofa writing with old fashioned pen and paper. Wait, what?
- What society thinks I do is beating the drums of the devil, trying to sell advertising or other products to unsuspecting readers.
- My boss thinks I spend all my time surfing social media web pages.
- What I think I do is kick ass, nothing short nothing less.
- But what I actually do… seems to be what my friends think I do.
Where Did the SEO Copywriter Myth Come From?
SEO copywriting is usually something people roll into, rather than a career that they choose and plan. Because of this, it is hard to describe what an SEO copywriter actually does. That, in turn, leaves the playing field completely open for myths to be developed. If people do know someone who is involved in SEO copywriting, they will probably explain things very briefly. I certainly do. When people ask what I do and what it entails, I tend to just tell them that I write internet articles from home. It’s so much easier than saying I’m a writer and getting asked what genre of books I writer, or saying I am a copywriter and being asked which newspaper I work for. Perhaps I am playing into the myth myself, but I’m too busy to explain things in more detail to people.
In Reality, What Is It?
The real question is, of course, what the myth versus the reality actually is. Myth number one is that because we work from home, we have all the time in the world. I have personally never worked as much as what I do now. I chose to find a career at home because I also wanted to be able to look after my son, take him to and from school and so on. As a result, I am now up an hour before the rest of the household so I can work for an hour and then spend all day and every night working even more. Count on at least 60 hours a week. Most the myths surround this issue: people think that we have a lot of time. They seem to think that just because you are at home, work shouldn’t be strenuous. For me personally, I work more hours than I ever have in the past, I have carpel tunnel in my fingers and RSI in my elbow, just because of my chosen profession. It’s hard work.
