Content Writing Tips – Everything You Need to Know

Content marketing is crucial if you want your website to bring you leads. However, it’s not enough to create an article. You need to know the different content formats and choose the right content writer to assist.

Customers are all online now, and you’ve got to stay in touch with them using various channels. After reading these content writing tips, you can plan the content production and create popular content types. With that, you can also order them from us, and we make sure that they get done quickly and efficiently.

What Is Content Writing?

The content writing process focuses on creating content primarily for online marketing purposes. With that content, businesses attract more leads and promote positive connections with the audiences, which pushes them down further into the sales funnel.

Most marketers use content to guide the prospects through the stages of the buyer journey. It often starts with brand awareness and then onto purchasing.

It’s crucial to have the basic functionalities of writing, but you must go further than that. You can’t just write something and expect it to do good things for you. Instead, you need content writers who know how to fight for the attention of the audience. This means having high-quality and targeted content that cuts through the clutter and reaches the potential customers.

Types of Content

Content writing uses different forms of content. Each type serves a purpose to promote your brand in various ways. The most common formats are:

• Product descriptions and related content
• Articles
• Email newsletters
• Website content
• Ebooks
• Press releases

Let’s learn more about them:

Content Writer Basics

It is absolutely essential to do all the pre-work before you choose a topic to write about. Content writing means that the content writers have the writing skills necessary to do the research, plan for, and craft the content. However, this requires you to understand your goals, have a buyer persona, handle the research on keywords, and have the right strategy in place. Let’s learn more:

Research

A content writer who didn’t research the topic before they started writing is not a good one. The content must be factual and research-based. There are so many blogs out there, and you’re fighting for a readership.

Content creation cannot offer misleading or false information. This could get you in trouble with search engines and make you feel less trustworthy to consumers.

One study shows that if brands generated fake content surrounding the products or services, about 59 percent of the consumers immediately stop buying from that brand. With that, 64 percent claim that they are more likely to use a brand if they knew that they were truthful about the business.

Misleading content eventually leads to negative reviews about the company and product. However, factual content establishes your company as an authority within the field. Make sure that you craft a first draft that reads well and contains only true information.

To do that, you must understand these points:

Business Goals

Think about your business goals and how to use the content to do what you want. You must understand:

• The content format required
• Style and tone for the piece
• What the goals are for each piece

A great example here is for someone who wants to increase organic visits to their site. The content writer must focus on those high-volume keywords to rank you higher. If you need to convert readers to leads, you may use middle-funnel content that captures the interest of high-intent users and sends them to a suitable lead magnet, such as a webinar or downloadable template.

When content writers set out to write content, they always have a main point and know exactly what they want to convey and say. Writing content should primarily focus on the readers. The second-person style works well. However, if you can’t create content yourself, we can help you!

Buyer Persona

A buyer persona is the picture of your ideal customer. You figure this out by analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from your competitor/market research and can also check into existing customer profiles to find out exactly what your customer wants.

It’s often best to give the buyer persona a name with a fictional photo. Then, you can fill in the details, such as their purchasing process, pain points/challenges, demographics, and all the rest.

Data can help establish a customer persona, but you can also find them by:

• Mining social media for information
• Using website form fields to request information
• Talking to sales staff
• Conducting interviews of customers
• Creating online surveys

When you focus on a specific person, you get the right style and language. That way, the message isn’t watered down. However, be prepared to give content writers the full buyer persona so that they know what to do and how to say it.

Search Intent for the Target Audience

Users have different expectations in mind when using search engines. Google wants you to craft content that understands what the user needs when inputting different queries. When you exhaustively answer the question, it increases your chances of being ranked higher.

Search intent can be informational (they want specific information about the topic), navigational (they are looking for a particular site or page), commercial (they’re considering a purchase and need to investigate choices), or transactional (they want to buy something).

Keyword Research and Search Engines

For a company, it’s crucial to understand that content writing must be closely aligned with SEO. Google plays a huge part in sending organic traffic to a website, and it values quality content above all else.

To encourage Google to rank your site higher in the search results, you must offer content that’s optimized and focused on the right keywords. Keyword research is crucial here. Otherwise, your website is just loaded with generic content and could be severely penalized by Google.

SEO is crucial for ranking, but it also helps you communicate with others. Therefore, your keyword research should focus on topics and keywords that meet both of those needs.

Each article you write should have a primary keyword. Use it naturally and avoid keyword stuffing at all costs.

Just as video producers must create something unique, so must you with your writing skills. Create a list of the most relevant and important words associated with the topic. Then, prioritize them based on search volume and difficulty to get an idea of which ones are less competitive while still offering good results.

Some companies make up a semantic core. If you’re working with the whole website or section, it’s easier to build it and collect every keyword related to that topic. You can even cluster them and ensure that each page is optimized for that group of words.

It’s best to choose keywords that are attainable for the brand based on domain authority and keyword difficulty. Various tools can help you with this aspect.

Content Strategy

To engage with the audience and outperform the competition, you need to focus on marketing content effectively. The right plan ensures that you manage where and when to publish. With that, the strategy should include:

• Content format options
• Social media strategy
• Channels to publish on
• Content construction
• Content performance

Most content writers know that the bulk of the work comes after the writing. You have to craft social-media-worthy articles that people want to share. Then, your content campaign needs the right plan to create and post content on time so that everything runs smoothly.

Topic Research

Now is the time to focus on topic research. This is how you come up with strategic and strong ideas for content writing that resonates with the target audience and drives better results.

When doing such research, consider these tips for idea generation:

• Find the audience’s pain points – Do that by checking out the most asked questions on Google, reading online reviews, and using Quora articles that relate to your industry or topic.
• Run social media surveys – Ask the followers what they wonder about or want to read about.
• Conduct content gap analyses – With this, you look at the potential keywords that competitors rank for, and you aren’t. Then, check for keywords where you’re being outranked by the competition.
• Repurpose the competition’s content – Find out what performs well for other brands similar to yours. Then, look for ways to make your piece actionable and valuable so that you become the winning resource.
• Use content ideation tools – Find the most trending and hottest topics that you feel you can rank well for. These tools help you with brainstorming so that content creation goes more smoothly later.
• Talk to other departments – It should all be about teamwork here, so you want to get input from other relevant teams. These can include product managers and customer support. That way, you ensure that the content arouses interest.

Planning

Once you understand your topics, goals, content format options, funnel stages, and marketing channels, you should plan a content calendar.

This editorial calendar is actually a crucial step for content writing, and most specialists and marketers don’t do anything else first. That way, they have a clear view of the tasks at hand. Plus, it:

• Allows your team to produce high-quality content before publication time
• Enables the staff from other departments to be in the loop
• Promotes consistent posting, ultimately leading to better communication with the customers

We recommend that you create a content calendar or plan with an Excel spreadsheet. Each post should have this information:

• Goals for the post
• Chosen content type
• Marketing promotion channels
• Topic
• Deadlines or publication dates
• Those involved in the process

The tool you use should let you keep up with various teams and their deadlines so that each step runs smoothly. With that, you should focus on these questions when creating your content calendar. That way, you can tailor it to your team’s needs:

• How often do you usually publish content?
• How many types of content do you publish?
• How many team members require access to the calendar?
• How many content stages are there before publishing?
• What platform are you planning to use for the editorial calendar?

Writing

You require content writing from a writer who can seamlessly and quickly integrate with the marketing team to create great content that’s on point with the marketing goals and branding.

Professional writers in the marketing field should know how to craft effective hooks and keep a consistent tone of voice throughout the content. They must also use appropriate language to get you the results you want from the writing.

Here are a few tips to help with writing content that wows the audience and converts them to leads:

• Ensure that all content has a clear goal. The content direction begins with what you hope to accomplish and who you must reach to meet the objectives.
• Think of enticing titles. You should draw the audience to read the content. Therefore, titles should be sweet and short but indicate the benefit of that content.
• Hook the readers with the first line. Start the copy with a question, a short story of a few lines, or exciting data. Make others hungry to get the details.
• Make the copy scannable. Most people just skim read, so you need bulleted lists, descriptive subheadings, and white space in the article.
• Use visuals. Images, videos, charts, presentations, social media stories, and infographics are great ways to communicate with the audience.
• Be consistent. Having a consistent brand voice and values throughout your channels can fuel a connection with the audience and help your brand become more recognizable.
• Choose interesting angles. There are millions of content pieces going live each day, so yours must be different. You require a fresh perspective to hook readers and turn you into the leading authority about the topic.
• Tell a story. Storytelling lets you motivate and inspire the audience to act, so it’s a hugely valuable tool to start interactions between you and the consumers.
• Use data. That way, you add credibility to the blog post.
• Repurpose your old content. You can find many opportunities when you repurpose content. For example, one list-based article could be an infographic, or old blog posts can be videos for media channels.
• Use relevant CTAs. Even if it’s the first draft, you should add action-oriented phrases that are short and to the point. These convince the consumer to do something. The action should be easy for the person to carry out, such as subscribing to a newsletter or downloading an eBook.
• Modify your content type based on your goals. Some content forms are better to reach and engage with the audience. For example, an email newsletter requires a great subject line. Product pages need more visuals and detailed descriptions.
• Focus on the metrics. Your goal for the content is probably to see organic traffic to your site because of the blog. Therefore, you should track metrics to ensure that you’re getting more visitors to the website.
• Avoid grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Grammar and spelling matter for readability and creates trust.

Content Writing Tips for Different Types of Content

Depending on your company’s goals, you may need different content types. Here are some tips for writing different content pieces:

Articles

Blog posts are the primary type of content out there, and there’s a good reason for it. Blogging, when done consistently and diligently, is a fantastic way to drive more traffic to the website and boost your brand authority.

Ultimately, a blog post must reflect your identity accurately in a relaxed and friendly way. This strategy can work for complex topics, too. The content writer can turn them into engaging blog posts that convert to leads.

To maximize the benefit of an article, you want it to rank in Google, bring in potential customers, and build long relationships.

Writing articles isn’t as easy as you think because you need engaging content. Most people feel that long-form content is better than a shorter blog post.

Here are a few tips to help you write an SEO-focused article:

• Check keyword usage – Use keywords in the text, meta title, H1 heading, subheadings, and meta description.
• Optimized title – The title must be enticing to offer the reader what they need to know while focused on SEO.
• Meta description optimization – Within the meta description, you should explain the benefits of the article and ensure that it contains the target keywords.
• Great introduction – Make sure people are hooked in the intro by focusing on their feelings and craft a story.
• Scannable copy – Readable copy has a great H2/H3/H4 structure with skimmable headlines. You should also use short, informative paragraphs and bullet points.
• Check internal links – You should be linking to external content to build up more trust. However, internal links can also benefit you.

Those who choose to do their own writing should always use the right tools to get the job done. When you outsource the writing to us, we handle everything for you!

Products

Well-written descriptions of products are crucial to convincing the readers that your item offers value to them. Here are a few tips to help you write effective product descriptions so that viewers have the confidence to buy from you and to help you rank high on the SERPs:

• Buyer persona – Use market trends and customer profiles to understand the ideal customer so that you use suitable humor and the best writing tone of voice.
• Provide value – Try to embody the goals and values of the target audience in the description. Don’t just list the features; focus on what value it offers.
• Use meaningful writing – Don’t write with words like “really,” very,” or “excellent quality.” Use descriptive words wherever possible.
• Understand SEO basics – You should use keywords naturally in your body text and the title and metadata areas. With that, use links and keep sentences short.

Website Content

Your website is the core of your business and the content because it includes everything you must promote to build an online presence. Website copy focuses on many different pieces of content, including:

• Homepage
• About us page
• Landing pages
• FAQs
• Contact us page

You also need a blog if you plan to get readers to the site and enjoy the content. That way, they check out other areas of the website.

Here are a few writing tips to help you get users to take action:

• Help with navigation – Help readers who aren’t familiar with the brand by adding links to your offerings.
• Talk like a friend – Readers like it when you write directly to them and have a proper sentence structure.
• Use easy-to-understand terms – Yes, you might be in a technical industry, but focus on writing content that makes it easy to understand what you’re saying.
• Demonstrate proof – You should back up statements you’ve made with original research, success stories, and anything else.
• Link to other websites – You want to ensure the content ranks high on Google, and it really likes it when you create links to other sites to ensure that people have plenty of information.
• Security features – If you use third-party cookies, tell the readers. With that, make sure the site is secure on all pages.

Email Newsletters

Email newsletters can help with retargeting and maintaining engagement with the readership. They offer more information, including product information, company/industry news, and sales incentives. You can also link to other posts to give the reader the right message at the best moment in time.

When writing them, you should focus on customization and personalization. When emails are segmented, they have high-performance levels for clickthrough and open rates.

Here are a few tips when writing emails:

• Hook with the title – Write a catchy subject line; add humor if possible, but ensure that the title is clear.
• Write about potential benefits – Use language like “we offer” or “you can get” and focus on how the reader benefits if they take the actions.
• Be clear about your proposal – This applies to visual and text design. Your CTA button must be bright and attractive, while the text states the main idea almost immediately. You haven’t got much time to grab the reader’s attention, so be brief!
• Opt-out buttons – You must give the reader a way to say they don’t want to get your emails anymore. It’s respectful, but it’s also the law!

Press Releases

Writing a press release can help you get more media attention. This way, they’re encouraged to write unique stories about your events and products.

To be effective, this type of article must answer:

• Who/what it’s about
• What’s happening/happened
• Where it took place/might take place
• When it happened/might happen
• Why it matters

Ebooks

Roughly 37 percent of businesses write eBooks regularly. There could be many goals you have when you write an eBook. These can include establishing yourself as the industry expert, educating readers on the brand, or moving customers down the sales funnel.

The goal defines which sections to include when writing the eBook. For example, tables and figures are better for research papers than playbooks.

Here’s what to know about content writing and how it applies to an eBook:

• Choose the topic carefully
• Attract readers with a great title
• Use a table of contents
• Back up the words with appropriate data

Conclusion

You are probably focused more on content marketing so that your brand becomes one of the top thought leaders in the industry. To do that, though, you must focus on content creation and write compelling copy that people want to read.

These content writing tips can help you with your next blog post so that you have unique and original content. If you don’t want to craft your own content, you can always hire a content writer to do it for you.

We have tons of writers available to assist with your article-writing needs. It doesn’t matter how much content you need; we are here to help. Contact us to get started!