BASICS OF CONTENT WRITING – ALL THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
“Here’s everything you need to know about creating killer content in 3 simple words: Clear. Concise. Compelling.”
– Demian Farnworth
Language has been the prime medium to convey thoughts, emotions and ideas ever since the beginning of human existence. And the power of using that language with a smart choice of words doubles the supremacy of the same language.
Yes! If you’ve been good in communicating your concepts and ideas in effective and creative words and manner, chances are, you might be a good content writer as well! Now who is a content writer? Or what exactly is content writing in the first place?
With the downfall of traditional marketing and advertising, the term “content writing” has grown dramatically popular over the years. From blogging, and SEO strategies to email, and social media promotion, content writing has become an integral part in building the foundation of every and all kinds of digital marketing.
Before diving any deeper into its importance, let’s have a sneak peek into its definition and roles that are associated with it.
What Is Content Writing?
Briefly, content writing is the process of generating content, involving writing, editing, and publishing in a digital format. It is the art of planning, creating, editing, and publishing any written content for a diverse range of purposes including, marketing, education, entertainment, and much more.
In digital marketing, it is a type of professional marketing writing that aims at solving a problem for a specific audience by creating a valuable, informative, and relevant content that resonates best with the readers’ needs and concerns. This helps in establishing trust that is imperative to building a brand.
Who Is A Content Writer?
A content writer is a professional that uses his writing skills to create an informative yet engaging content that communicates the intended ideas, information, and stories in the most effective and compelling way possible. The main goal is to hook the readers with each and every next line.
He may work on a variety of projects such as blog posts, web copy, articles, social media posts, marketing materials, and script writing, promoting and editing etc. If you want to become a successful content writer, you must need to have strong command on writing skills. However, some other basic skills that you need to acquire as a content writer are;
In digital marketing, it is a type of professional marketing writing that aims at solving a problem for a specific audience by creating a valuable, informative, and relevant content that resonates best with the readers’ needs and concerns. This helps in establishing trust that is imperative to building a brand.
- Be able to research topics.
- Understand the targeted audience
- Write in a clear and concise style.
- Edit your work for grammatical and spelling errors.
Roles Of A Content Writer
Besides simply creating content, a content writer may also be responsible for editing, proofreading the content, as well as for developing the content strategies. However, as the definition of digital content proceeds to evolve, the roles associated to a content writer may vary as well.
One of the most fundamental roles of a content writer starts with understanding the target audience of the company they are writing the content for. He must know how to adjust his tone of voice and marketing efforts to come up to the expectations of the concerned audience.
Some basic responsibilities expected by a content writer are;
- Carry out a detailed research on the required information or topic.
- Create content that is to the point and crisp.
- Ensure that your words meet the goals of the related organization.
- Utilize writing skills for creating content of different typed such as blogs, marketing content, script writing, etc.
Other than the above mentioned roles, a professional content writer can also help in creating a content calendar so as to plan the publishing and promoting schedule of each piece of content beforehand. So, some other related roles might be listed as;
- Keyword research
- Content strategy
- Content production
- Proofreading and editing
- Publishing and outreach
Now that you know the detailed definition and role related to content writing, let’s know about its types.
Types Of Content Writing
Most of the people often consider content writing as similar to writing articles, however, it just doesn’t limit itself to blog posts but rather includes a wide array of areas involving different content formats. Some of the types to which content writing is important are;
- Video scripts
- Social media posts
- Podcasts titles
- Keynote speeches
- Email newsletters
- Web page copies
- Landing pages
- White papers
- Blogs posts
- Informational articles
- Product descriptions
- YouTube videos descriptions
- eBooks
- Press releases
- SEO writing
- Copy writing
- Business writing
- News-Journal & Report writing
- Creative writing
Be it any kind of writing that you pursue, remember that good writing is the foundation of any content that you publish.
How To Start Content Writing ?
If you’re a beginner and looking for pursuing a career in content writing, following steps would help you stay on the track;
- Choose and define your niche.
- Work on your writing skills.
- Research your topic diligently.
- Develop a unique voice and style of your own.
- Keep yourself updated with the ongoing trends and adapt with the changes.
Best Practices To Follow
Once you start working on content writing, you would need some best tips to ace your skills. Here are some practices which ensure that you start off on the right foot;
- Create an outline
- Start with a strong and magnetic headline
- Write introduction that hooks up the reader.
- Keep it easy to consume and share.
- Make it compelling, rich, and engaging.
- Choose interesting angles to hit on.
- Make it actionable.
- Make it authoritative by developing trust.
- Make it emotive.
Basic Tools For Content Writing
Remember that tools are only used to turn a good written content into better one! You can’t make a lousy one sound good with the help of tools. So, make the better use out of them. Some of the basic tools for content writing are;
- Grammarly: Used to improve grammar, spellings, and punctuation.
- Readable: Used to ensure that your content is readable.
- SEMRush: Used for SEO-friendly writing.
- Copyscape: Used to ensure your content is free of plagiarism.
- Hemingway editor: Used to improve overall written content.
Best Known Content Writing Platforms
Content writing is a vast area of skills that encompass a diverse and rewarding career path for those who keep a deep passion and interest for writing. It involves creating content for a variety of mediums. If you’re looking for starting your career in this field, following are some recommended platforms where you can find work for yourself;
- Upwork
- Fiverr
- Italics
- Zerys
- Media Shower
- Writer Access
- Constant Content
Embark on your journey as a content writer by following each and every step mentioned within this article and explore numerous opportunities that this field opens for you.