Being an Effective Content Writer: 10 Tips to Stand Out

Content is the backbone of any business or website. If marketed well it can create tremendous results for your business. Your Content is responsible for driving search engine results and increasing traffic on your page. Content writing isn't limited to just "writing articles". There is a plethora of other Marketing material that need content writing, like:

Youtube Video Descriptions

A crisp description on a Youtube video, that uses all the right keywords, can drive up the impressions on your youtube video.

Email Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to maintain rapport with an existing customer.

Social Media Posts

It is all about the likes and comments on your Social media posts. A post with a good reach on a particular interface is a potential goldmine.

Having a flair for writing can take you a long way in the corporate jungle. But do not fret if you don't possess the innate talent for content writing. Like any other skill it can be learned, and it can be learned well. The Internet has in store some of the best Technical Writing courses,  for measly amounts. These courses can help you polish your skills, and become a successful content writer.

Let's go over some basic guidelines, that should be kept in mind while designing your first pieces of content.

First Draft

It is always a good idea to create a rough draft beforehand. These outlines make sure that your content comes out better, as you will have to focus and organize all your thoughts towards a single project. This considerably speeds up the writing process. Rough drafts give a proper structure to your content. After finishing up the project, you can compare it to your draft and see if you've included all the major ideas.

Learn from those who came before

Take a quick look at previous pieces of content that did well with the audience. Take into account the style of writing, pacing, and keywords used. Some professional content writers may use proven templates. This makes creating the first draft easier.

Be shareable

Your content is of no use if it isn't easy to consume and share. Using big words just for the sake of it is a bad move in this game. The shareable your content is, the more traffic it'll generate.

There is something better just a few clicks away.

People are fickle. Hence, as a rule of thumb, keep your content entertaining. Nobody likes to be bored. Your writing needs to grab your audience's attention, and it needs to keep holding on to it. Keep your paragraphs short. Incorporate high-quality graphics and screenshots to give it a little extra oomph.

 Try to be quotable

We all know that very few blogs get shared or linked to. To avoid this, sprinkle some shareable quotes in your content. This will help in ranking your website on search engines.

Perspective

About 2.3 million blog posts are published every day. For this reason, being generic won't help you. Try incorporating different perspectives, to generate a wave of visitors. Personal anecdotes work well. It gives you an edge over your competition.

Call To Action

Include hyperlinks that guide your audience towards your services. It can be as simple as signing up for an Email Newsletter.

Authority

People will only share your content if they trust it first. So do not present facts out of thin air. Show your research and references.

Proper grammar

There is nothing more unappealing than grammar errors. These trivial errors can ruin a good blogpost. Use tools like Grammarly to polish up your writing after you're done with it.

The Initial Pull

An attractive headline and introduction are quintessential, as you have about 15 seconds before the visitor moves onto something else. Headlines between 10-17 words work incredibly well in gauging attention.

 Since we have already discussed all the Do's, let's go over some Don'ts:

1. Do not go out of your way to offend a person or a group of people. Keep it lighthearted.
2. Make sure you do not violate any copyright laws.
3. Do not state facts or statements that aren't true, misleading, or deceptive in any way.
4. Do not make any defamatory statements.

There you have it. You can use the points mentioned above to create eye-catching content and advance in your career as a Professional Content Writer.