How You Can Make A Career Out Of Content Writing?
A content writing professional excels at providing unique, relevant, and compelling content for websites, and other online/offline platforms. Every business has a specific target audience and needs the right content to draw more traffic to its website. That’s why every content needs to have relevant keywords that will help boost a website’s search engine ranking.
The best content writing professionals ensure that the content is free from any grammatical errors and misinformation. Also, they help readers easily understand a specific topic through effective communicative writing.
They can provide search engine optimization (SEO) services as well in order to build a website’s online presence on the internet.
The Importance Of Content Writing Today
Writing for the internet is not that different from conventional writing found in newspapers. The same basic writing rules still apply, and as long as the keywords used are relevant and optimized for search engines, it shall be successful.
The reason why many website owners hire a professional content writer is that their written articles are one of the primary ways of attracting traffic to their website, thereby generating leads for their businesses.
Search engines, especially Google, are looking for informative content to which they’ll lead the customers who are looking for specific topic information.
Articles in high-ranking websites are usually written in simple language, and the content is well-explained. They may also include a resource box that contains backlinks to source websites. This is one way to do off-page SEO to increase the chances of the customer purchasing a certain product or revisiting a specific website.
The content of the articles must also be engaging, not just informative. It’s essential to have informative content that’s also original and will appeal to the target market.
Creating high-quality content can boost a business’s SEO ranking online. This happens as search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) check the quality of the content posted by the website through algorithms and reward them with a better rank if the content contains accurate and valuable information.
Writing articles can be time-consuming. However, with the help of the right content writing service provider, the process becomes less tedious for business owners.
5 Tips To Get Started on The Content Writing Profession
Many aspiring content writers can jump into building their careers today as the demand for content creation gets higher each year. Now, you might be asking, “How rewarding is the job and how much money do bloggers make?”
Well, even people who are not initially into writing are doing the intense career shift and taking writing courses in order to get started on this path. Most of them gain career stability over time and hard work. If you plan to trek this path too, doing the following will help:
1. Develop Your Writing Skills
Content writers usually use strategic planning to draft and edit articles intended for the marketing of a business. They need to work on related skills to master the art of effective writing. Here are simple steps you need to do to hone your content writing skills continuously:
- Join free training or enroll in paid courses: As mentioned, content writers are in-demand today, which means that you’ll have several competitions when you decide to turn your passion for writing into a career. If you want to stand out from the competition, maximize free training or enroll in paid courses. These platforms provide valuable information on what you need to know about the industry, and how you can start as a content writer.
- Think of the purpose of your writing: Writing is a very versatile career as you can write for different industries – and this might even be the reason why you’ve decided to make a career out of content writing.
As a novice, there’s nothing wrong with starting by writing different niches as this is actually a good way to build your portfolio. However, if you plan on working as a content writer for years, it’s best if you gradually focus on a particular niche. Businesses are looking for subject experts, and it’ll be challenging for you to meet their qualifications if you’re a “jack of all trades, master of none” when it comes to writing.
- Develop your own writing style: This means that you should use a specific format of text when writing. You can either stick to the standard paragraphs or use bullet points or subheadings. You should also consider your article’s tone, which will depend on the target audience you have. For instance, if you’re writing for a business article, your tone should be formal. Overall, make sure your style suits the specific niche or topic you’re writing about.
- Strive to produce high-quality articles: Businesses are hiring content writers because great content is one of the most effective tools in boosting their SEO ranking. For you to fit this opportunity, it’s vital that you always strive to write high-quality articles.
If you want to make a career out of content writing, your articles should be flawless, which means that it should be grammatically correct, have a good choice of words, establish effective arguments or ideas, and use conversational language. Your content should be comprehensive and have a clear, seamless flow to ensure that readers can easily comprehend your writing.
These are just some of the basics you should consider when honing your skills in content writing. By applying these tips when you write articles, you can improve and develop over time.
2. Create Your Portfolio
A portfolio is basically an outline of what you have to offer and a compilation of your work samples. The contents of your portfolio shall demonstrate your skills and abilities in carrying out the tasks of a professional content writer.
The idea is to show yourself as someone who can write professionally, has a strong creative background, and has significant experience. You need to have a clear understanding of how to create a professional and interesting portfolio so that you can attract clients or employers and get them to work with you.
Plan your portfolio carefully and pick your best writing samples before collating and arranging them digitally in a presentable manner. Depending on your preferences, you can create a profile on websites that aim to help online job seekers like you and upload your portfolio online, or directly send it to potential clients you’re interested in working with. If you’re searching for remote jobs in Dallas or in any state in the US, you may also indicate your preference for flexible time and work-from-home setup. Make sure to tell them how they can benefit from this setup as well.
Regardless of how you’re planning to send your portfolio, it’s important that you exert time and effort in creating one. Remember, the content of your portfolio can make or break a client’s decision to hire you, so make sure that you impress them with it.
You’ll have better chances of landing a job as a content writer if you create a portfolio that contains a wide variety of writing samples. This will allow your clients to gauge your skills and determine if you’re the right fit for their business. If you have no idea what topics to write about when building your portfolio, you may consider the following:
- An article about a topic you’re passionate about;
- An article intended for a community, group, or campus publication;
- A press release;
- An essay about a controversial topic; and
- A profile of prominent figures in society.
If you already have an idea of what your client focuses on, highlight pieces on your portfolio that fit their content needs. If you’re going to submit your portfolio to a client who owns an e-commerce business, showcase some of your best works about business or technology. If you’re looking forward to contributing articles to a travel and lifestyle client, make sure that your portfolio contains content that’s suitable to their niche.
3. Market Yourself
Exerting time and effort to hone your skills and create a writing portfolio will be useless if no one knows your name in the industry. Sure, you might still be a novice in the industry, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything to make yourself known. On the contrary, there are actually many ways on how you can market yourself as a content writer, namely:
Use social media: You should also use social media marketing to make your name known in the online world. The internet has become an excellent place for people to connect. If you want to reach your potential clients, you should start posting content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites.
Submit guest posts: Another way to market yourself as a content writer is to get your name exposed online. By writing guest articles for other people’s blogs and websites, you can gain exposure that many career writers don’t have access to. You can also earn a reputation that can help you get published more often by other professional writers or editors who are looking for contributors.
Start your own blog: Starting a blog is easy and allows you to market yourself professionally as a qualified content writer. Aside from making your name known in the industry, having your own blog also allows you to practice your craft and engage with readers. You can even make money out of your blog!
4. Become A Better Researcher
In making a career out of content writing, while it’s often helpful that you’re passionate about writing, you should make sure that your content contains valuable and accurate information too. How can you convince clients to hire you if your content contains vague or non-credible information? Do you think your articles will help businesses improve their SEO rankings if this is the case?
It’ll be easier for you to make a career out of content writing once you’ve become a better researcher. When you know how to research, you’ll be able to turn your content into highly informative pieces that can help a business improve in the long run.
Here are some tips to help you become a better researcher:
When researching for information online, make sure that it’s from a reliable source. You can do this by researching online and finding out how popular a website is. Reading reviews about the website can also help.
If the subject is too broad, make sure to break it down into smaller topics before researching. The simpler your searches are, the more chances you’ll have of finding accurate resources online.
Keep your research organized by using tools that allow you to save notes and take pictures of the resources you’re going to use when writing.
5. Join a Community of Writers, Editors & Publishers
Today’s online writing job market is extremely competitive. That’s why joining content platforms for your career in content writing is beneficial.
A freelance writer who’s just starting can get their feet wet on a platform where they can get feedback from professional editors and get started writing online. When you join communities of writers, editors, and publishers, you’ll be able to get free coaching and support, gaining more valuable tips from people who are actually working in the same industry that you want to belong to.
The information you can gain from these individuals will allow you to manage your expectations about the writing industry, and know more about how to properly land and handle clients.
Aside from learning how the writing industry works, being active in writing communities can also pave the way for your first employment or client. Today, recruiters are using social media to post their job vacancies, which means that you can also use this platform to look for job listings and submit your application.
On the other side of the coin, posting your pitches in these online communities will also increase your chances of being noticed by recruiters. And when they’re impressed with your works, they’ll be the ones to reach out to you and offer a writing stint.
Conclusion
Choosing to pursue a career in content writing can be very fruitful in the long run because more and more businesses need high-quality content to boost their sales and engage better with customers. Working as a content writer also gives you the opportunity to work with various clients in different niches.
But before you can experience the wonders of working as a content writer, it’s essential that you follow the tips mentioned in this article. These tips will go a long way for you to improve your writing skills, and find a client that values the content you produce.
I’m a tech enthusiast, entrepreneur, digital marketer and professional blogger equipped with skills in Digital Marketing, SEO, SEM, SMM, and lead generation. My objective is to simplify technology for you through detailed guides and reviews. I discovered WordPress while setting up my first business site and instantly became enamored. When not crafting websites, making content, or helping clients enhance their online ventures, I usually take care of my health and spend time with family, and explore the world. Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or read my complete biography.