After I was laid off by a content mill (primarily thanks to clients picking AI, but then again, low quality content can be replicated en masse), I landed a role as a contractor copywriter for this fantastic agency. My manager is very thoughtfully loading me with clients at a slow and steady pace so I can acclimate to the company culture, brand personas, etc. However, early in the process, he also indicated that previous writers needed about 1 to 2 hours to complete blogs. I have to track my hours so I've been timing myself. It takes me 3 hours. I have been copywriting for six years now, and while I understand that content mill and high quality copywriting are different, I have intermediate skills. I'm not totally green. The expectation on these blogs is to have a fully polished and SEO optimized piece complete before the client approves it. This means research, semantic keyword planning, brand voice and tone matching, internal (and sometimes external) linking, formatting, proofing, and editing. I also have to reoptimize under performing blogs, which involves primary and secondary keyword research and competitor analysis. And optimizing for AEO and GEO is also part of the process, along with meta descriptions and uploading approved work. In my previous role, the company had an editor, but now I'm doing that myself, and I also didn't have to do this level of optimization. I could easily breeze through 2k words in 4 hours, but now it takes me 3 hours to finish a 1,200 piece. For the amount of work and care that goes into these blogs, it seems unbelievable that it can all be done in one to two hours. But that's what he said, so I can't help but feel like I am terribly slow. I am taking some of the load off using AI trained in the brand to tone and product claim check after I'm done with the writing, just as a second set of figurative eyes. That shaves off a bit of time and makes me feel more confident that the brand voice has been captured. So tell me: is 3 hours slow for the amount of work being done?   submitted by   /u/bocchibunn [link]   [comments]