Content writing can be challenging, but there are steps you can take to stand out among the hundreds, if not thousands of writers entering the market every year.
I was browsing through Facebook today and saw an advertisement pop up for a software application that was being marketed as a one-stop solution for content writing.
Curious, I stopped to read the ad and then skimmed through some of the comments underneath. Within moments I was laughing at the witty responses from actual content writers responding to this perceived challenger in their industry.
The truth is, no piece of software can cheat the system. You can’t have a meaningful conversation with a machine that has no feelings and no empathy for your situation. A good content writer will always win.
So how do you become a good content writer? Well, following the steps below is a good place to start!
6 Important Steps for Better Content Writing
1 Keep Reading
The best teacher is experience, right? Before we ever become writers, we are first readers. We read what others have written and then we write our own stories.
If you want to write quality content, you need to be out there reading quality content. Find other writers in your niche and read what they’re writing about. A quick search of your field in Google should offer up hundreds if not thousands of opportunities for you to see quality content writing in action.
Save snippets of your favorite articles for later, especially the headlines that made you want to click and read more. What are they doing that you found so appealing? Pay attention to their voice and style, how it speaks to you or to a problem you have that they might solve. Study their beginning stories and their closing paragraphs.
2 Take Notes
When we’re writing articles, we will generally have a specific topic that we’re writing about.
Depending on your audience, this might be something extremely broad, like ‘How to Publish a Book’. Or it might be something extremely niche, like ‘What to do if your cat chewed off that tiny red mouse button in the center of your old Dell Laptop computer’.
One way to approach each project, is to do a little research. Let the internet be your best friend. Do some searches, make some notes.
Find out which keywords bring up the best information and which ones are the most searched for.
Jot down references and any quotes from industry leaders that you’d like to use. Make a list of things you’d like to cover.
Once you’ve got material to work with, you can go back through and sort it into easily consumable bites for your readers.
3 Learn Your Keywords
These days, content marketing is largely online. Yes, we may still be asked to create mailers or flyers to reach low- tech or no-tech communities, but smart phones have brought most of today’s shoppers onto the internet.
For that reason, every writer should learn at least the basics of search engine optimization (SEO), a term to describe how well Google can find your page or article online.
There are new pages and articles being created every day, so if you want yours to be found, then keywords are important. Learn the niche keywords for your industry and your article within that industry.
Think of how you do a search on the internet. You search for “blue dog collar” or “wireless mouse and keyboard set”. These are keyword phrases. Use targeted keywords in the body of your text and in the header, whenever possible.
If you’re writing articles for someone else, be sure they have a list of those keyword phrases so they can include them in their site’s meta data.
4 Attention Grabbing Headlines
Just like reading can make you a better writer, paying attention to what makes you stop and read articles can teach you how to right good headlines.
When someone types their keyword search into Google, a list of pages and articles will show up. If you want people to find you in that list, then your title needs to stand out and grab their attention.
Make sure it targets the exact way that you can solve their problem.
For example: “How I made $139,233 writing 1 article each day for 1 year”. Be specific. Target what they’re looking for and how you can solve their problem.
5. Your First Paragraph Counts
Use your keywords and make that first paragraph count. Give them a reason to keep reading.
Using the headline from above, you could continue with something like, “In 2018 I was a dead broke author on the verge of becoming homeless. After taking a content marketing course and learning the secrets I’ve listed below, I managed to make $81,612 with my website in the first three months, which snowballed into an income that has saved my home and allowed me to finally feel secure in my career choice.”
Obviously, you’ll want to write a paragraph that targets your audience and your industry, this is just an example. Show them how you can help them and why they should keep reading your article.
In most cases, you have less than 10 seconds to gain their attention and make them want to read more, so make this first paragraph count.
6 Be Honest and Be Yourself
This could be broken down into two steps, but they are both pretty much the same thing. You need to be your true self. Be honest about who you are. Show empathy for their situation and that you want to help, but don’t mislead them. If you’ve got a sense of humor, let it shine. Be human. Share a little of your back story and your reason for wanting to share this information.
Go back and read that first paragraph again and see how it incorporated a reflection of where the author was coming from. Let your unique voice and experiences help readers relate to you as a writer so they don’t feel like they’re just reading something that has been written by a robot.
If you’re writing about something that you don’t have a personal relationship to, you can still create an emotional response by infusing humor and talking to the readers as you would talk to a close friend. Keep the tone inviting, warm, and open for further conversation.
