Ep 019: How to become a top-gun SEO copywriter

In this episode, Bernadette chats to Matthew Farmer. He is the Content Team Manager at StudioHawk SEO agency. His firm was named as ‘Best Global SEO Agency’ in 2021 and count blue chip companies like Envato, Officeworks, Amart, Petstock and New Balance as their clients.

Matthew manages a team of 15 SEO copywriters and works closely with the clients to create SEO content that gets them on page one of Google.

In this episode, Bernadette talks to Matthew about:

• how he got started as a copywriter and why the impostor syndrome and lack of confidence set him back
• why the hard, early years of working in a call centre helped him become a better copywriter
• what he looks for when hiring an SEO copywriting freelancer
• what not to do when applying for copywriting jobs
• how to get your resume noticed (for all the right reasons)
• the 3 key pillars of SEO success and how you can leverage them for your business
• his process for writing SEO content for his clients
• how to create a portfolio if you don’t have any clients
• the best free keyword planning tools
• how to get backlinks to create more authority
• the best blog length for getting on page one of (and how often you should post a blog)
• the top 7 hotspots for keywords
• the importance of understanding ‘search intent’ when writing SEO copy
• why Google loves content that’s phrased as a question
• how his novel writing informs his copywriting and why the process is similar

About Matthew Farmer

Matthew Farmer is the Content Team Manager with StudioHawk, a boutique SEO Marketing company, and a Global Search Awards winner for Best SEO Agency, Globally. He leads a team of remote-working Freelancers, giving out briefs for blogs and web copy, and writing copy for their growing suite of SEO clients. He is also a published novelist. He is now, in his own words, ‘Sitting in what I consider my perfect job’.

Links mentioned in this episode

• StudioHawke
• Ahrefs – SEO tools and resources
• Semrush – Online Visibility Management Platform
• Google Analytics

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