Remember that essay you wrote in middle school or the thesis you formulated in college that got really good feedback? In educational environments, we’re taught that writing in a formal way using complicated vocabulary is the way to score the highest grades.
If that’s the mindset you’re bringing with yourself as you take your initial steps in the world of content writing, you unfortunately won’t be able to take your career to a higher level.
This is because content writing techniques for digital platforms are entirely different. Wanna know how? Keep reading to understand the basis of how to become a content writer in 2024 and the best approaches you can adopt to ensure your content reigns supreme!
What is Content Writing?
When I first started looking for content writing jobs, I only knew about blogs and articles as being the foremost types of content writing tasks. It was only after reading endless job descriptions that I realized that this tunnel was deeper than I had expected.
Content writing is a process of crafting content that engages your readers in different media formats, including the following:
- Case studies
- White papers
- Social media posts
- Product reviews
- Brochures
- Articles
- Landing pages
- Product descriptions
- Video scripts
- Any promotional material
Importance of Content Writing
If you look closely, you’ll see that there are several modes through which brands can stay in touch with their audience. These include social platforms, websites, e-commerce platforms, and more.
While attaching images to these forums enhances their appeal, pictures alone aren’t enough to convey the message, instructions, or services of the business. This is where content marketing and writing step into the scene to fill the gaps in successful communication between sellers and buyers.
The more personalized your content is for the readers, the greater will be your chances of getting some form of reaction from them. This is a prime reason why 61% of established companies are now using first-party data to incorporate personalization in their content.
Apart from that, when writers take the time to craft content that is especially designed to attract their readers, potential customers recognize your efforts and are more likely to engage with your material over others on the web.
Best Practices for Content Writing
As a content writer, my utmost priority is to answer reader queries with my content in a way that seems relatable to them. By doing so, I increase my chances of drawing their attention while providing maximum value to them.
While you don’t have to possess a degree or any other qualification for content writer jobs, following the best practices mentioned below surely helps in taking your writing from rookie to pro.
Develop Personas
Did you know that 74% of customers feel annoyed when a website’s content is not personalized? And remember, the quickest way to dig your grave in content marketing is by making your audience feel frustrated.
Thus, understanding your audience’s buyer persona is crucial. This is basically a character sketch of your potential customer developed from market research and real-time data attained from existing customers.
By creating their persona, you can better understand how they view the world and, hence, address their needs, concerns, and interests directly. This not only ensures that your content is designed to speak to their pain points but that it’s also relevant.
Do Appropriate Linking for Stats
Imagine you have acne, and two of your friends suggest separate remedies for clear skin. Where the first friend shared their personal experience with the said remedy, the other simply recommended a solution they read online.
In this case, whose suggestion would you trust more? Similarly, your readers are more likely to follow your instructions if you show them proof of your statements.
Therefore, try linking your content to authoritative sources or industry experts. This builds credibility with your readers and gives them the opportunity to fact-check your claims, which is a foundational element of excellent writing.
Use Visuals
Visuals play a dual role in content writing. Apart from providing an exciting appeal to your content, they also break up sections of endless texts and draw your reader’s attention.
Hence, it’s always a brilliant idea to add relevant images, illustrations, charts, videos, infographics, and graphs throughout your content where possible to save your readers from falling off the cliff of interest and bringing them back to the article.
Create a Content Checklist
There are many different types of content writers, each having their own technique for research and writing. My biggest asset is a content checklist.
For me, I like to add the basic requirements I want each post to cover, but this can be different for each writer. This way, I can ensure consistency in all my pieces without getting lost.
Ensure Consistency
Businesses look for writers who can consistently reflect their core values employing the same style, tone, and diction across all their copies.
As suggested above, there are various ways a business reaches its audiences, such as social media posts, ads, emails, and website landing pages. Your voice should consistently span all these platforms and channels.
An unvarying voice builds trust with the audience and enables them to recognize your brand regardless of the content format they view.
Watch Your Formatting
Receiving a high rank on Google’s result pages is as difficult as solving a puzzle blindfolded. Say, for instance, your webpage gets picked for the top three search results, and the user opens all three pages simultaneously on different tabs.
Before even reading the information on all three sources, 73% of users will skim through those articles and look for readability.
This includes headings, short sentences, bullets, images, and basically anything and everything that would help them consume the information they’re looking for as fast as possible.
Your best chance to impress your audience is to maintain a readable structure in your content that doesn’t overwhelm the reader at first glance but gives them a blanket and a coffee mug while they read your piece.
Never Sound Salesy
Imagine opening a website to find out how to start content writing from home, but after every few paragraphs, it urges you to sign up for their newsletter or register with the website for an X amount of daily jobs.
What a turn-off! By depriving your readers of the informational and educational content they were looking for, you’re increasing your metrics of getting more and more users who fail to convert into customers.
Instead, use helpful details that will provide value to your readers and urge them to subscribe to your plan or purchase your product without constantly being bombarded with requests.
Content Writing Skills You Need in 2024
Grammar and Writing
What you write is how you communicate with your readers. Hence, having exceptional writing skills is an indispensable prerequisite for writers since the better you can write, the more effectively you’ll be able to convey a desired message.
Just as a dish without salt gets rejected by consumers at a restaurant, content without exquisite grammar gets downgraded both by Google and its readers. Keep an eye out for tiny details concerning grammar, punctuation, or spelling that could distract your readers.
SEO Familiarity
Today, if you’re entering the realm of content writing without knowing how to optimize your content for SEO, you’re like a soldier marching into the battlefield without your fighting gear.
Some aspects of SEO to keep in mind include heading tags, meta descriptions, target keywords, and titles.
Research
Research educates you about the topic you’ll be writing on. Only when you yourself are familiar with the subject being discussed will you be able to write about it in the most simplified way for your audience.
Readability
Would you rather step into a store where all the items are scattered on the floor or a store where all the products are stacked neatly on their designated shelves? Just like that, readability is what attracts your reader to your content.
Top 5 Content Writing Tips & Techniques
Regardless of whether you’re a novice writer or a seasoned pro, the following tips will aid you in amping up your content writing services.
Start With a Catchy Headline
Consider the following two examples of blog titles for DIY Hydrafacials:
“Unlock Your Glow: DIY Hydrafacials for Radiant Skin at Home!” and “A Guide to DIY Hydrafacials: Steps and Techniques to Try”
Did you notice how the first one really draws your attention by taking a crafty approach to engage its audience? When your reader sees these two blog titles on the SERPs, it’s pretty clear which one they’ll click on and which one they’re likely to scroll past.
If you can make your readers stop by captivating their attention with your words, you’ve successfully completed the first step to converting your reader into a customer.
Focus on a Single Purpose
If you’re writing an article titled “How to Become a Content Writer in 2024,” then your main focus should be on arming aspiring content writers with tips and techniques that will help them supercharge their careers in the new year.
If, however, you also start talking about how to scale content marketing efforts, best SEO practices for 2024, and is content writing a good career, you’ll be losing your reader’s attention.
And that, my fellow writers, is not the territory you’d want to explore. Make sure that your audience doesn’t get lost in a clutter of information but can easily consume and understand your story.
Add Your Own Voice
Most upcoming writers read a couple of sources on the web and decide to mimic their tonality in their content. While this may get the job done, adding your own distinct voice is a fine way of integrating your personality into your articles and building a relationship with your readers.
Try discussing your unique point of view, perspective, approach, or opinion that is more personal than what can be found online.
Be Better Than Your Competition
Your research must not only be limited to educating yourself about the topic at hand but also to find out what tactics your competitors are employing to win over their readers.
Of course, the information that you’ll be sharing in your content will be more or less the same, but you can beat your digital competitors by adding humor, bullets, images, infographics, charts, videos, or statistics to address the topic more effectively.
Target Your Reader’s Intent
Write not just for the sake of it but to address all the concerns, pain points, needs, and goals of your audience. There’s no scarcity of the amount of resources available on the web for a particular search query.
Hence, the only way you can ensure that Google gives you priority over other web pages is by crafting content that meets the needs of your readers.
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
How to start freelance content writing?
You can start freelance content writing by looking for clients on online platforms such as Upwork, Fiver, or LinkedIn. These channels give you a chance to bid for content writing projects and secure jobs that will help you kickstart your content writing career.
How to start content writing from home?
To start content writing from home, you need first to polish your writing skills, learn about search engine optimization techniques, and practice writing content for different formats.
Next, create a professional portfolio that broadcasts your writing talent and resume, both of which you can share with clients when you apply for remote working jobs on LinkedIn or a recruitment platform.
Bottom Line
I can assure you that there’s no shortcut to becoming a successful content writer. The best advice I can give you in this regard is to remember that your journey begins and ends with your audience.
When a user clicks on your blog or article, they’re probably confused or looking for something.
Your focus should be on providing maximum clarity to your readers by answering their queries, appropriately formatting your content so they can effortlessly skim through it, re-checking your grammar to avoid distracting them, and formulating a consistent voice that connects readers with words.
For more content writing tips, stay tuned for my next post. Until next time!
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