So you want help with website optimization, but you’ll write the copy. Fair enough; you know your business and your people have done the work. You’ve answered the difficult questions, been in the industry for years, and learned which (seemingly) small distinctions matter. Handing that knowledge to someone outside the company as part of your content creation process can feel like a gamble.
While some people will argue, I firmly believe that content, in its many forms, is the most important part of each project. It’s how you connect with your audience to get your messages across.
But creating that connection takes more than knowing the subject. A prospective client needs to find the page, understand what you offer, and decide whether you’re worth a conversation. That’s where your internal team and your optimization partner have to work together.
At a glance (TL;DR)
Here’s the good news. You can keep the writing in-house and still get help with your content strategy and search visibility. Sharing the content creation process lets your team keep responsibility for expertise, accuracy, and message positioning. In the meantime, we contribute research, structure, and optimization.
If your content needs approval from practice leaders, executives, or your legal department, build those reviews into the process from the start. Be clear on who needs to weigh in, what they’re reviewing, and how much time they need. With this hybrid model, your team keeps control of the message, and we understand what it takes to get a change approved.
Read on to learn how it works.
Four reasons organizations choose to write their own content
When I first started in this business, I wondered why someone would hire us for their marketing, but not use our copywriters to draft copy. Over the years, I’ve uncovered four common reasons:
You’re looking for a cost-effective solution.
If your team handles the writing, you can put your outside budget toward the expertise you need most. Just remember to account for your team’s time, too. Writing, reviewing, and revising still cost money, even when the invoice doesn’t come from us.
You want help refining your content marketing skills.
You believe you have the skills, if only you had a little guidance. Many of our clients have been in the same place: they had content creation down but weren’t sure about search terms, how to structure the page, or how to connect to related content.
We can work through those decisions with you and explain the reasoning behind our recommendations. You get help with the page in front of you and knowledge you can use on the next one.
You don’t trust anyone with your brand voice.
Or, more precisely, you haven’t found someone you trust with your internal language. Maybe you’ve tried this route before and didn’t like the results. Maybe the copy sounded lovely but could have described any of your competitors.
If so, I get it. Building an organization takes a lot of work, and you want to make sure that work doesn’t go to waste.
The subject matter is too technical for someone else to write.
Sometimes the work takes knowledge we just can’t get from a book. We either need firsthand experience or a discovery and research process with you and your experts. Having your team draft the content may be the best place to start.
The content creation solutions you choose should fit the way your team works. Maybe you want someone to write, edit, and publish. Maybe you’ll handle the writing and bring us in for strategy, research, and optimization. Either way, you should know what’s being published and have final say over how your business is represented.
The important part is agreeing on how we’ll work together before the drafts start flying.
POV: You’re responsible for search visibility and the content creation process, but the wording is protected
As the marketing lead, you’re responsible for better visibility in search. However, the pages explaining your services contain language your practice leaders have carefully chosen. You can recommend changes, but getting them approved is another matter.
And their concerns may be perfectly reasonable. Changing “we advise on implementation” to “we implement” makes a sentence shorter, but it also changes what you’re selling.
At the same time, a page can describe your work accurately and still leave a prospective client wondering whether you can help them. They might not recognize your terminology, understand the situations you handle, or know what an engagement involves.
We investigate search behavior, identifies gaps, and explains the changes they recommend. You establish the audience, business priorities, and brand requirements. Your subject matter experts confirm technical accuracy, service scope, and the claims your company can support. Together, you agree on who approves the final wording and who publishes the approved content.
That gives you a useful place to start the conversation: what does a prospective client need to understand that this page doesn’t yet explain? Now your internal experts have a specific question to answer, and we have a clearer understanding of where our recommendations are needed.
Getting those answers onto the page takes some coordination. Adding optimization to the mix shouldn’t leave you or your team chasing drafts, interpreting recommendations, and settling every disagreement on your own. Before work starts, agree on who will handle each part.
Then work through a few practical questions, such as:
- Which page are we improving, and what should it help a prospective client do?
- Which terms or statements have to stay, and why?
- Who can answer questions about the service?
- Who makes the final decision when feedback conflicts?
- Who implements the approved changes on the website?
- How will we know whether the updated content is doing its job?
Use a content brief to keep track of those decisions. It doesn’t need to become a novel. It’s a reference sheet for you, so you don’t have to explain the same requirements every time someone new touches the page.
Start with your content development strategy
Before deciding who writes what, agree on what the content needs to do. Which service are you trying to grow? Who needs it? What does that person need to understand before they’ll consider a conversation? Those answers help you decide which pages deserve attention and what information belongs on them.
That’s your content development strategy taking shape. Your content development process puts it into practice: choose the page and its purpose, gather input from your experts, draft the copy, review accuracy and optimization together, approve, publish, and assess the results. You may already do most of this. The useful part is making the steps and responsibilities clear enough for everyone to follow.
Protect your position, then improve the page
“Keep our positioning” is a reasonable instruction, but we need to know what that position is, and why. For example, your firm might advise clients on choosing and implementing financial software, but leave the installation and configuration to another provider. There is a necessary boundary there, right? Your clients hire you for independent advice, and your copy needs to make that role clear.
Say your page explains: “We help finance leaders evaluate software and plan its implementation.”
An overenthusiastic rewrite might turn it into: “We install financial software to streamline your operations.”
Whoa. That’s a different offer.
A useful revision would explain the advisory work without promising implementation services:
“We help finance leaders evaluate financial software, compare it against their business needs, and develop an implementation plan for their chosen provider to carry out.”
Your experts would confirm the details. Now your prospective client has more information about what you do and where your involvement ends.
Sometimes the original sentence should stay. But sometimes a little context, a clearer heading, or a link to a supporting case study will give your reader what’s missing. Writing for humans and optimizing for search requires making those decisions carefully.
Make the review easier on your team
For changes that affect the meaning, add substantial information, or remove important details, you should see three things: the original wording, the proposed change, and the reason for it. You should be able to see whether we’re addressing a buyer question, clarifying the service, improving navigation, or responding to relevant search evidence.
That also gives your reviewers something specific to assess. Does the revision keep the meaning? Is the added explanation accurate? Does it make a claim you can substantiate? Review the meaning and accuracy first. You can polish the sentences afterward.
Be specific about the feedback you need. “Please confirm that this description accurately explains where your advisory work ends” gives a busy practice leader a clearer task than “Please review this page.” If several people need to weigh in, gather their comments in one place and resolve conflicting feedback before sending the draft back for revisions.
If your reviewer knows something is wrong but struggles to put the correction into words, try talking it through. A short working conversation can uncover what prospects misunderstand, which questions come up before an engagement, and what makes your approach different. With permission, we can record that discussion and work from the explanation your expert actually gives. That gives us more to work with than “this doesn’t sound right” and helps us understand what matters to you before making another revision.
What you should gain from the partnership
Keeping the writing in-house can be a sensible choice. Your team brings knowledge, experience, and a voice your clients recognize. You can still benefit from an outside perspective on how people search, what the page leaves unanswered, and where the next step becomes difficult.
You should come away with stronger content and a clear understanding of why we recommended the changes. Your experts should recognize their work in the finished page. And your prospective clients should have an easier time deciding whether you can help.
That’s the job: helping you turn your copy into the best marketing asset it can be.
Want to keep the writing in-house but need help deciding what to improve and why? Talk to us about content marketing. We can help you connect your business priorities, your team’s expertise, and your search visibility goals starting with one page that matters to your business.
A few questions you may still have
Can we work with a content marketing agency and still write our own copy?
Yes. Your team can handle the writing while your agency helps with audience research, content planning, search optimization, and review. Agree on the scope and responsibilities upfront, so you know what support you’re getting and what stays with your team.
What’s the difference between a content development strategy and a content creation process?
Your strategy establishes who the content serves, what it should accomplish, and which subjects or pages deserve priority. Your process defines how that work gets done, from gathering expert input through writing, approval, publication, and measurement.
How can we improve search visibility without losing our voice or changing technical meaning?
Identify the language and distinctions that need protecting, then look for what the reader still needs explained. Useful changes may include clearer headings, additional context, answers to buyer questions, and links to supporting evidence. Have your experts confirm accuracy before publishing.
Who should approve content when both our team and an agency are involved?
Your subject experts should check technical accuracy and service claims, while your marketing lead checks audience fit and brand requirements. Your agency should explain its optimization recommendations. Name a final approver before work begins so conflicting feedback doesn’t leave the draft stuck between reviewers.
