Tips on How to Be a Successful Content Writer in 2024

We are living in a digital world and freelance writing is becoming a great part of it. It gives you the freedom to be your own boss and it allows you to make a living without going to the office every morning. Clearly, in order to stand out and be a successful writer, you need to have a certain skill set that will land you amazing job opportunities. Here’s a list of useful tips on how to be a prosperous content writer in 2019.

Content Writing Tips

Writing may sound easy but copywriting is another story. This market is extremely competitive and producing a text is not enough. If you want to be successful you can’t simply write, there’s a process to it. It should look more or less like this:

1. Think of a catchy title and the first sentence.
2. Plan your introduction – a summary of what the article is going to be about.
3. Structure the main body of the article.
4. Think of ways how you want to develop your ideas throughout the text.
5. Write a conclusion – it’s not the same as the introduction.

Once you’ve created a plan for your article you can start writing keeping certain things in mind, such as…

Language Skills

SEO Factor

The majority of texts today need to be SEO-friendly; therefore a solid understanding of search engine optimization is crucial. You need to learn how to craft perfect headlines, titles, meta descriptions as well as ‘weave’ all the keywords in the text in a natural way.

Don’t worry if you’re a beginner. There’s plenty of free tools available on the Internet that can help you with SEO. Besides, as a content writer, you need to be able to find useful information online, which brings us to the next tip.

As a writer, you need to pay extra attention to the language you use. Proper grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation are essential. You need to know how to express your ideas for the right choice of words. Your writing skills will improve over time and with a lot of training.

Research

Sourcing information has never been easier. You don’t even need to have any knowledge on a particular topic; everything can be found online. That’s why you should be good at researching relevant data on the Internet.

There’s one big trap here though – too much information. Narrowing it down to an accurate one is a tough task, you’d feel the temptation of including everything in your text. Don’t! Nobody likes beating around the bush, straight to the point writer.

100% Unique

Don’t ever copy anything you found. It’s not only about plagiarism and fines. If your client is looking for an SEO-friendly text for their website, providing them with a copied article may hurt their rank in search engines. That’s the opposite of what they’ve been trying to achieve. It will impact you too, Mr. or Mrs. Xerox.

Adjust the Tone and Style of Your Writing

Every client is different and being able to adjust texts for various purposes is your asset. You need to know the target audience and create an article accordingly. Don’t make a mistake of shooting without aiming at anything.

Every text has its principles. An encyclopedia entry cannot sound casual, a product description mustn’t be extremely long, and a fiction book editing has to address the story. Always align the tone and style to the target reader.

Use Visuals

A text will look much more attractive if you add a visual element such as a gif, a picture, or an infographic. People react better when there’s something to look at, not just something to read about. Remember to name the visuals you want to use in your text – alt information.

Summarize

Introduction and conclusion are inseparable elements of most texts. You need to be able to differentiate them and write them correctly. It’s not easy to sum up the essence of an article, but it’s a must if you’re a content writer.

The aim of an introduction is to grab readers’ attention and persuade them to stay with you and keep reading. Conclusion, on the other hand, is a summary of what you’ve talked about. It should also include a call-to-action part such as a question.

Proofread and Edit

You can’t skip this step. After you’ve written something, you should read it at least twice in search of errors, things that can be improved, typos. There’s always something that needs to be changed in the end. A good practice is to read it out loud. This way you’ll be able to spot more mistakes quicker.

Marketing and Business Tips

If you want to be a successful full-time writer, you need to start seeing it as a business. And just like every business, there are certain things that need to be followed in order to help you thrive professionally.

Equipment

Lucky for you, writers don’t need much. A good laptop and the Internet connection are essential though. You may want to choose one that doesn’t need to be charged every 2 hours. Most freelance copywriters travel a lot or work from cafes, so it’s more convenient to have long-lasting equipment.

Good Organization

Freelancing is not a 9 to 5 job, therefore you need to develop strong organizational skills in order to manage your content writing business. Equip yourself with several time-tracking apps to be able to keep deadlines or, if you’re more traditional, a classic calendar.

You also need to know how to prioritize projects and finish them on time. Don’t take too many if you know you can struggle. Submitting something late sends a bad message to your clients, and can hurt your professional reputation.

Professional Portfolio

Start a website where you can upload projects to showcase your best skills. An online portfolio is the best way to land more clients. There’s plenty of websites where you can do that for free such as Contently, Journoportfolio, and Pressfolios.

Another way of presenting your skills to the world is by starting a blog and writing.

Social Media

Using social media to promote yourself is a good practice. Start an account on LinkedIn and network with other professionals. Use Facebook to create posts linking to your blog, and Google Ads to start campaigns. Gaining more followers can be your key to success.

Find Projects

Nowadays, it’s really easy to find writing projects online. Start with UpWork and Writers Career. It may turn out you’ll land a great number of clients there, and won’t have time to take any more. If not, there are countless websites offering freelance writing jobs such as Fiver, Freelancer, Problogger, etc.

Every Writer’s Tools

As a professional writer, you might be in need of some tools that will help you in many ways. Grammarly will correct all your spelling and grammatical mistakes, Trello will organize your projects and deadlines, PayPal will be your business account, Wordable will export your Google Docs to WordPress, and Freshbooks will keep your account in order. What more do you need?

Conclusion

Whether you dream of quitting your regular job or simply want to become a writer, freelancing is a good start. It serves as a bridge, the perfect transition to start a new life as your own boss. To be a successful writer, however, you need to put some effort into learning, marketing, and of course, writing a lot. No one can stop from doing whatever you want, so stop thinking and start acting to chase your dreams of becoming a successful content writer in 2019.