“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.” – Leo Burnett.
Content writing can be unrequited for those who do not have the passion to engage the audience. As content writing has been growing leaps and bounds in an era of digital marketing, ain’t it a perfect time to get enlightened about what it takes to be a good content writer.
While a successful content writer’s life may look enviable, it takes a lot of effort and time in addition to your passion for writing to reach these top places. You need to possess the right qualities of a good content writer, to become one. Skill and perseverance alone may not take you places; rather patience, understanding your client requirements, appropriate knowledge about your audience’s interest, and the changing dynamics in the field are the right ingredients of your success in content writing. Here is a whole tool kit of a good content writer to throw light in your path to success:
- Authenticity: “Authenticity is your brand and style.” With the overwhelming amount of content already available online, your audience would not be interested in your unauthentic and duped content. Find pride in your voice of thoughts and don’t hesitate to scribble them down, that is where the pristinity of your thoughts lie. It may be difficult in the beginning stages to give proper shape to your views. However, nothing is impossible with practice. Keep penning down your raw views consistently and you will learn what makes them stand out over a period of time.
- Adaptability: Content writing caters to a multitude of needs ranging from blog writing, article writing, product reviews, and social media content. These are just a few examples, where your assistance is required as a content writer. The opportunities are endless as far as you can explore. So, your ability to adapt can take you to places. And by adapting I mean not just delivering content for different needs in different styles; rather adapting to the interests of the audience, requirements of the clients, and changing the style of your content according to the tone and length the write-up requires.
- Understanding SEO: SEO is a game-changing mechanism that shook the patterns of content writing and content writers as well. Besides simplifying the process of searching for content, it has made the job of content writers a back-breaking one. You have to be diligent in knitting your words intricately that confirm to the SEO algorithm. The assiduous task calls for extensive research on the topic, understanding of the topic, and knowledge about what the audience are looking for, keyword density, and a proper cognizance of competitor’s traffic to deliver the word stream that attracts and engages the audience.
- Editing skills: “There is no great writing, there is only great rewriting” – Justice Louis Brandice. Every piece of literature goes through extreme scrutiny to get its best shape like a sculpture that goes through extreme suffering to turn into the best effigy. You need to have a keen eye for details, extraordinary patience, and the commitment to not settle anything other than extraordinary. Besides contouring the write-up, you should scan it for grammatical and spelling errors in addition to misplaced punctuation marks. And this requires multiple readings and alterations. It is ok, as long as you are striving to make it sound like a good piece of write-up.
- Strong research: It is impossible to hold an ocean of knowledge. However, informational and insightful content is a prerequisite. You need to have strong research skills to encompass as many facts, statistics, and studies to back your stance, which is possible only through exhaustive research. Incorporating authentic information not only adds value to your content; it also helps you stand as a worthy writer in the market who everyone looks up to. Exhaustive research is required to substantiate your views and drive home your point.
Qualities you must possess as a good content writer:
- Language: Language is the first barrier that you need to cross. Although the language is just a medium of expressing your views, it is necessary to have a good hold on your language skills. Be updated with new vocabulary, make reading a habit to get exposed to unique styles and tones of writing, and practice writing to unleash the power of wordsmith in you. Reading and writing are two main pillars on which a content writer builds his abilities over time. That’s where you find the magic language does.
- Communication: Communication is central to comprehending the requirements of your client and the tastes of your audience. Do not hesitate to ask and suggest changes if you strongly believe that your suggestions add value to the content. Display professionalism in your approach at each stage.
- Ability to meet deadlines: Deadlines are the extreme pressure points for each content writer. Not all projects come with deadly deadlines but when they do come, they demand utmost attention and ability to work without breaks to deliver the write-up within the stipulated deadlines. You must also possess organizational abilities to pull off your projects within the deadlines. Schedule your plans, prioritize the tasks, and put your best foot forward to meet the deadlines.
- Focus: Focused work takes half the time it takes to finish a project that is done without concentration. Focus gives you the energy and motivation to keep working and meeting deadlines. While it is ok to build breaks into your routine, you should be finding the motivation to not let your guards down until the work is done. A passionate writer is always focused. If you are one, prove it to yourself.
- Patience and willingness to learn: The beginning stages of anything demands utmost patience as the beginning phases are the hardest. You might be getting paid less, your literature might not be getting satisfactory approvals, or you may not find great clients. But nothing should demotivate you. Patience is the key and the beginning stages are great for learning as you make most of the mistakes in these stages, you get to learn a lot from them; after all, mistakes are the great teachers, isn’t it? Not every author can become a Neil Patel or a Muktih Masih overnight.
Effective content writing is a journey from raw thoughts to top-selling content. There is no better guide than you. Don’t rest until you find the best version of your write-up and don’t hesitate to edit it even a million times until you feel that it is not the best version. The satisfaction you feel when you read your own piece of content is the acknowledgement of the good writer in you. Keep exploring relentlessly for that satisfaction till you find it.