Nothing is better than giving your brand exposure by means of marketing through content writing. That’s why a lot of brands look for writers who would write descriptive reviews about them. The result is the creation of content writing as a niche for many people out there. At the same time, it’s not the same thing even if you have some experience as a writer. Thus, if you wish to know more, read through our article on how to start content writing for beginners. Also check out our guide to becoming a good content writer.
The main difference between content writing and other forms is the variation in its guidelines. Most of the time, these guidelines have to be in such a way that it caters to specific audiences. At the same time, the content must be relevant and search engine optimization (SEO) friendly. It’s evident that you can’t just get up one day and hit it off in terms of content writing. Thus, with that in mind, let’s see what exactly does it take for a beginner to write content.
Attractive Yet Relevant Headlines/Titles
The first thing that your audience notices are the headline/title of your content. You may not be aware of it, but the headline is vital for three things. Firstly, since it’s the very first thing that stands out, a headline draws attention towards itself. Secondly, a headline or a title lets the audience know what they’re about to dive into. And thirdly, a headline makes it easier for Google to show your content and helps ranking it.
Among the key points that you must remember is the vitality of including keywords in your headlines. Also, by keywords, we specifically mean “focus keywords.” These focus keywords must be around 6-7 in terms of word count. Also, it should measure up to 55-70 characters with spaces.
Pay heed to the fact that it must not be too long. That’s because more doesn’t always mean good when it comes to content writing.
Also, the nature of the headline also matters. That is, Google will rank your content higher if your headline is a question or starts with something like “How to..”
Readability Is Vital
If you’re not familiar with the term, readability simply refers to how easy to read your content is. You must focus on writing content in such a way that it’s very easy for your audience to read it. That’s because when you do that, you keep your readers engaged till the very end of your article. Plus, it makes it much easier for Google to comprehend your content and give a rank it deserves. Content that is very hard to read lose audiences who make use of platforms such as phones to read.
Readers online aren’t interested in reading through your content word by word. Thus, it’s vital that you keep the paragraphs and sentences short. With regards to paragraphs, ensure that you don’t include more than five sentences in a single paragraph. Also, wherever possible, use bullets to showcase your points. And your sentences must not have more than twenty words.
Plus, use headings and sub-headings to carefully separate the content throughout the article. In that way, readers will find it easy to find the content that’s relevant to them.
Avoid Keyword Obsession
Content writing isn’t about bombarding keywords into the article. The aim of good content is how relevant it is to what people are searching for. Contents, for the sake of keywords, simply lack quality. It’s extremely vital that you pay heed to what the title/headline of your content is. Being SEO-friendly is necessary but producing high-quality and well-written content is even more essential.
Besides, as mentioned earlier, more isn’t always a good thing when it comes to content writing. Rather, stick to the topic, produce relevant and quality content while including a few focus keywords.
Pay Attention To The Word Count
A general rule of thumb is that contents that usually rank higher are the ones with longer word counts. Thus, we’d advise you to write content that’s around 1500-2000 words long. At the same time, the minimum word count should be around 1000. So if you want your content to rank higher, pay heed to these numbers. Besides, the average word count of around 1890 seems to be doing the trick for content that is on top.
That’s why for beginner writers, these are the numbers that you must keep in mind. But for now, don’t try to write contents that are this long. Start with content with a word count of around 500. These are good enough for your content to get positive rankings from Google.
Proofreading Is Key
Proofreading refers to the process of checking for any grammatical errors in your content. It may seem unnecessary at first, but trust us, content with wrong grammar isn’t worth anyone’s time. Not only does it make your content difficult to read, but it signifies unprofessionalism.
Also, your content is the reflection of your brand or the one you’re writing for. It’s what possible clients will ever see or read about the brand. And wrong grammar usage is not the way to go about it. It can be the undoing of the brand and may ruin its image in the market.
For such purposes, there are many platforms, both online and offline, that you can make use of. One such efficient platform is Grammarly. It helps you proofread your content free of charge. But the free version consists of limited services. At the same time, we would stress that you proofread manually too.
Closing Thoughts
Content writing, like any other skill, comes with practice. As you write more content on varying topics, you’ll get better over time. There are platforms that also help you write better in terms of content writing. The application called Hemmingway is one such example.
At the same time, we would advise that you maintain patience. Do not expect to master the skill after writing a certain number of words. Content writing is an art, and like all other forms of art, there’s no end to the learning process.