Something happened last week that I cannot stop thinking about. It bugged me enough that I went straight to LinkedIn to share it, and I’m still chewing on it now. So let me tell you about it.
How Losing Two Clients Pushed Me Back to Upwork
2025 and the very early part of 2026 were tough years for me professionally. I lost two pretty decent-sized clients, and no, it had nothing to do with the quality of my work. One client was an agency that lost a few of their own clients, and when they went, so did I. The other simply decided to move all of his SEO work in-house to an agency. I had been the writing piece of that puzzle.
Financially, it hurt. A lot. Especially because in this business, there isn’t always much notice. The first client didn’t even give me a heads-up, which stung more than I expected. We had been working closely together for over three years, and I had been writing eight or more blogs a month for their agency. Just like that, gone.
On top of that, I took some time away last spring when my mom got sick and then passed away. And my publisher (for those of you who don’t know, I write romance novels alongside my copywriting work) raised her rates at the end of 2025, with three books on deck for me this year. So yeah. It was a lot.
Why Freelance Copywriters Sometimes Take Low-Paying Projects
All of that meant I needed to get serious about lead generation. I started bidding on projects on Upwork that I wouldn’t normally have touched. I got back on LinkedIn to rebuild my algorithm. And on Upwork, I decided to take on a few lower-paying projects just to stay busy and keep income flowing. The logic was simple: cheap work is better than no work. (For the record, I still had 10+ active clients. I just needed to fill the gap.)
One of those projects involved writing service pages for a client in the roofing industry, based in a southeastern state. And honestly? I enjoy writing home services content. As a homeowner, I always learn something new, and roofing is no exception.
The Problem With Grammatically Incorrect SEO Keywords
The client briefs included a long list of keywords with very specific instructions about frequency and placement. Fine. Keywords still matter. Even though keywords don’t carry the same weight they once did, they are still part of a solid SEO strategy. For anyone not yet up to speed on this: search engines now evaluate pages based on how well they answer a query, not how precisely they mirror a string of words. That’s a meaningful shift.
But the problem was that several of the keywords were grammatically incorrect. We’re talking phrases like:
- roof service company [city name]
- [city name] roofer
- roof repair cost [city name] no warranty
- best roofer [city name] fast
- roof damage [city name] help now
Stringing phrases like those into actual, readable sentences is genuinely difficult. And here’s the thing: you don’t have to do it anymore. Google is smart enough to understand that when a writer adds a preposition or a transitional word, it was done for readability, not keyword avoidance. To be clear, search engines have moved well past word-matching. They’re in the business of reading intent now.
So I did what any writer with a grasp of modern SEO would do. I fixed them. I wrote the keywords in a grammatically correct way that still communicated the same search intent.
And the client told me to change them back.
I tried to explain that this approach was outdated, that it could actually work against his client’s content. He wasn’t interested. He’s the one paying the bill, so I went through the content and reverted everything to the original, grammatically incorrect form. (Or, as I put it to myself, I “uncorrected” everything.)
I feel genuinely bad for the end client, who will likely never know there are effectively typos on their website because of an SEO strategy that hasn’t kept up with the times.
What Happened When I Fired My Client (and Found a Better One)
After wrapping up that project, I told the client I wouldn’t be writing for him anymore and asked him to close out our contract. And then, almost immediately, something interesting happened.
A new prospective client reached out to me, also looking for a roofing writer in the exact same geography. I mean the exact same city. He was still looking for a discounted rate, but his expectations were reasonable: a lower word count and no need for me to handle optimization since his team would take care of it on the backend. And he was paying a bit more than the first guy. Not my full rate, but not a steep discount either. So I said yes.
Before writing the first piece, I asked him about the keywords and whether I was free to correct them grammatically. His answer: absolutely, positively yes.
I am writing for him now, and enjoying it. His client will receive well-written content that is already better than what’s going live from one of their direct competitors in the same city. That part I find quite satisfying (though I do really feel bad for the other guy’s end client).
Why You Should Never Discount Your Rate Twice for the Same Client
That original client? He reached back out and asked if I’d write a blog for him. He asked my rate, even though I had already told him when we first worked together. I reminded him of my standard rate, and he pushed back: Why was it so expensive? He had hired me for less before.
I explained that the first project had been a temporary discount, offered specifically to win his business. It wasn’t my rate. He shared his budget. We were too far apart. I said no, and he went off to find someone else.
The takeaway: Scrutinize the project before you take it on. And if a client is asking you to produce work you’d be embarrassed to put your name on, walking away is not just an option. It’s the right move.
Outdated SEO Practices Are Hurting Your Website Content
This situation is a good reminder that not everyone who manages content, even professionally, has kept up with how search works today. If your content strategy still revolves around exact-match keyword stuffing, it’s worth a second look. Readable, well-written content that genuinely answers what a searcher is looking for will outperform a page full of fragmented phrases every time.
If you are working with a writer or an agency and they’re telling you to keep the typos in, that’s worth questioning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do keywords still matter for SEO in 2025 and 2026?
Yes, but the way they work has changed significantly. Search engines like Google now focus on how well a page answers a query rather than how many times it repeats a specific phrase. This means you can write naturally, use synonyms, and fix grammatical errors without worrying that it will tank your rankings. Readable, relevant content consistently outperforms keyword-stuffed pages.
Should my website copy use keywords exactly as they appear in search queries?
Not necessarily. Exact-match keyword insertion was a common practice years ago, but it often produces awkward, hard-to-read copy. Today’s search algorithms are sophisticated enough to understand context, intent, and natural language variations. A well-written sentence that covers the same topic will typically perform just as well, if not better, than one that forces in an unnatural phrase.
What should I look for when hiring a copywriter for SEO content?
Look for someone who understands both writing and current SEO best practices, not just one or the other. A good SEO copywriter will be able to explain why they’re making the choices they make, including how they handle keywords, structure content, and write for the reader first. If a writer is asking smart questions about your goals and audience before they start typing, that’s a great sign.
Is it worth hiring a copywriter at a discounted rate?
It depends on what you’re getting for the discount. A lower rate can make sense if you’re a new client building a relationship with a writer, or if the scope is smaller than usual. But consistently paying rock-bottom rates often means getting content that reflects those rates. Poorly written or outdated SEO content can actually hurt your site’s performance, which costs more to fix later than it would have to do right the first time.
How do I know if my current SEO content strategy is outdated?
Here are some red flags.
- Your briefs require exact-match keywords that read like broken phrases
- Your content sounds robotic or unnatural
- Your writer has never mentioned search intent, EEAT, or topic authority
If the strategy hasn’t been revisited in a few years, it may be working against you. A quick conversation with an experienced SEO copywriter can help you assess where things stand.
What is EEAT, and why does it matter for SEO?
EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. It’s the framework Google uses to evaluate the quality and credibility of content. Writing that demonstrates real-world experience, is authored by someone with relevant expertise, comes from a trustworthy source, and is backed by accurate information will rank better than thin or generic content. For local service businesses, showing genuine knowledge of your trade and your area goes a long way.