Writing content is like a passion for many people. Some write contents for the newspaper or articles and do blogging. The thing that makes a writer good is their work which is different from how they research and function from others.
In this digital era, where there are numerous content websites online, only writing what is on your mind is not enough. Embedding an exceptional talent with the right way of processing, makes your writing remarkably fine.
Drafting a content to communicate a message to the target audience in simple terms is a content writer’s job.
Whether you are writing blog posts, website articles, web content, or books, the following tips will help to enhance your writing skills to be a pro content writer –
- Start with good keyword research that provides a pitch. Using keyword research tools like Adwords, Moz’s Keyword Explorer or another option would help you discover which terms people search for on Google. Try to incorporate those keywords into your content.
- Take care of how you frame the heading. The easiest way is to check related articles and see how the title is created because the headline is the foremost thing the viewer reads.
- Dig into latent semantic indexing. It’s a term that describes the process search engines use to understand how words on web pages are related to one another. This can help your content rank for a wider array and thus create more traffic on your content.
- The content should be valuable and worthy. Your audience should be able to take away something from the content piece.
- Include basic outline while writing such as a primary keyword, a brief description of your topic and the problem, ideas for potential content upgrades and breakdown the content’s structure.
- Competitive research is extremely important for any content writer to understand. Before writing, you need to know what’s already out there.
- Get your hands on as much of your competitor’s content as you can. Then, make note of the kinds of terms and industry lingo they use, determine their voice and tone etc.
- Try narrating your outlines using speech to text in Google Docs. Google Docs makes this easy using its Speech to Text feature.
- Start by timing yourself and keep a record of how long it takes to write an average piece of content and finish it with that period.
- Write First, Edit Later. Refine your work before you publish it. Edit your work on your own, Grammarly and Hemingway are indispensable tools to help you for free.
- Use emotive language into your headlines. Such headlines are probably the ones that inspire readers to feel something that compels them to click.
- Write at least 15 to 20 headlines at a minimum level to get the best and catchy one.
- Start with interesting facts. Something which is truthful but hard-to-believe fact is one way to approach readers.
- Start with the end of your story first. Build climax and suspense by working your way through how you arrived at that conclusion.
- Open with an anecdote. Give your readers something they can relate to.
- Ask questions. This makes readers stick around to know the answer.
- Push your readers off a cliff. Not literally, but with a cliffhanger.
- Be confrontational. Don’t be overly aggressive and don’t be afraid to call out common-but-detrimental behavior your audience frequently engages in.
- You should write like you are representing the organization. It can help to define what your brand’s tone and voice actually are so you have some concrete parameters to work within.
- Be Comprehensive. This led some marketers to believe that simply giving search engines more text to crawl will equal better results. Include all the information your reader needs to know about your topic and you’ll be more likely to succeed.
- Avoid using passive voice. It just makes your writing sound dull. Opt for active voice instead.
- Write Better Title Tags and Meta Descriptions. Use Google experiments with how search results appear from time to time.
- Include your primary keyword in your title tag. This is one of the most important on-page SEO elements for you to pay attention to.
- Make your meta-descriptions compelling. What is it that people should read your post? Think of these like short snippets of ad copy to sell searchers on the idea of reading your pos.
- Stay within the recommended word counts. Otherwise, they’ll get cut off and people don’t like to see the extra text.
- Write content with the purpose in mind. Use the introduction from your blog post in an email to promote it to your mailing list. Borrow stats and quotes for social media messages.
- If you have a YouTube video related to your post, adapt some of your blog copy for your YouTube description.
- Put the audience first. Try to say “You” or “We” more than “I”. Be mindful of how you can focus more on your reader than yourself.
- Write according to your genre. If you don’t know a topic inside and out, don’t try to fake it. Instead, do your research and make yourself an expert.
- Keep your paragraphs short and convincing.
- Avoid starting sentences with interrogation. Use simple and small terms.
- If you’ve said your statement once, you don’t need to say it again.
- Instead of repeating the same points over and over on the same topic, create entire blog posts on topics you have covered. Then, link back to those posts in the future, instead of repeating.
- Build uniqueness in content. Search engines understand that your site is full of unique, high-quality and related content. That’s because search engines use links between pages to understand and compare yours to different pages.
- Avoid jargon because most of the readers don’t understand. Instead, use language you know your audience will understand.
- If you’re stuck trying to find a more common phrase for an overused cliché or piece of jargon, try using Unsuck It. Type in the offending phrase and it’ll give you better options instantly.
- You should absolutely avoid over-cramming keywords into the content. It doesn’t help to give your content a rank. In fact, it’s more likely to get your stuff de-indexed from Google.
- Think of readers first and later for search engines. This means make sure your keywords are included in your content, but don’t force-fit them in a way that sounds unnatural. Use common sense and prioritize people over search bots.
- Use language that motivates and inspires the reader. An easy way to do that is to incorporate action and power words into your copy.
- Credit the sources. If you borrow a quote or piece of information from somewhere, link back to them.
- Consider reaching out to sources and letting them know when your post publishes. They’ll likely share it via their own channels and give you more exposure and traffic.
- Showing that your claims have support. Showing your research shows you didn’t just make something up out of thin air.
- Making your content more useful. Linking out to additional resources makes your content more useful to your readers.
- You’re not creating content for your own sake. You want it to get read and deliver real results. That means you need to be measuring the impact of every piece you write.
- Learn how to use Google Analytics. Nearly every site and blog out there is hooked up to a Google Analytics account.
- If your content is underperforming, refine your social media copywriting skills. If you’re not spending enough time writing thoughtful content, start doing that. Recommended Reading and implementing the same.
- Try to avoid plagiarism. There are various reasons you shouldn’t copy others’ work without permission or citing sources. Search engines reports duplicate content and decrease the quality of your work.
- Stop missing deadlines. When you’re able to visualize your upcoming workload, managing deadlines becomes much easier.
- Deliver your content with relatable images or infographics. This provides the gist of the written paragraph through quickly grabbing infographics and explains a lot through the images.
- Conclude with a positive and encouraging note. Let the end-thought linger in the minds of your users and ask them for feedback.
- Add the element of SEO to your content to get noticed in the digital traffic, filled with numerous information. The internet is full of useful and not so useful content and it is the duty of a pro content writer to stand out from the crowd.
The key is to be a good content writer. What you have explained in the article should leave an impression on the reader. Practicing and working on such skills could make you a successful content writer.
