25 Content Writing Tips For Beginners ( Earn More From Your Writing!)
Have you been looking for content writing tips for beginners?
Search no further because I’ve got them right here. Getting started as a writer can be a bit daunting if you’re just starting out. We fellow writers should help each other out -I’m a firm believer in the term “sharing is caring.”
So, here I am sharing a list of content writing tips for beginners.
Summary
- Get To The Point
- Make It Easy To Scan
- Make It Easy For Them To Find You
- Always Start With Keyword Research
- SEO Tip
- Avoid Keyword Over Stuffing
- An Attention-Grabbing And Informational Title
- Chop, Chop, Keep It Short
- The Longer The Better
- Writing Styles And Language
- Use Common Words
- Always Hyperlink
- Sound Like The Reader’s Best Friend
- Write For Your Readers
- Give Them Value
- Use Spell Check
- When In Doubt, Look It Up
- Update Your Content
- Consistency Is Key
- Plan Out A Content Calendar
- Jazz It Up With Pictures
- Find Your Tone
- Edit, Edit, Edit
- Get Someone To Go Over Your Work OR…
- Upskill With Training
Some of the links on here are affiliate links and I may earn if you click on them, AT NO EXTRA cost to you. Hope you find the information here useful! Thanks.
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What Is Content Writing?
Did you know that content writing services first surfaced in the early 1990s due to an exponential rise in online activities. You have Wikipedia to thank for that little fun fact.
Fun facts aside, content writing is the task a writer undertakes when they produce engaging and actionable content like articles, blog posts, or other forms of written web material for online mediums like blogs, websites, etc.
Writing is needed for two reasons:
- To spread knowledge
- To share your opinions
Content Writing Tips For Beginners?
The internet is oversaturated with content and yet it isn’t enough.
Let’s talk about how you’re going to create effective, relevant, and quality content for your readers with some of these content writing tips for beginners.
*For the purpose of this post, when I say “them” or “their” I am referring to the readers.
Here are 25 content writing tips just for you:
1.Get To The Point
You have to grab their attention and get them invested in the article right from the beginning.
When we were in school, we were taught to ease into the subject when it comes to writing but writing online content is not the same as writing an essay, let’s say.
By the time you’re done painting a picture, your reader is long gone.
Unless you’re writing the next Great American Novel, get straight to the point and answer the question.
They’re in search of a solution or information, not a slow nuanced language class.
2.Make It Easy To Scan
Which brings us to our next tip for content writing for beginners: you need to write for scanners and not readers.
These heat map studies have shown us that most people reading content on the web do so in an F pattern.
F stands for fast.
In seconds, their eyes scan through the precious content you took time to write. The pattern shows that readers focus on the headline, subheadings and the first few lines of each paragraph.
Hey, at least you know where to prioritize those nuggets of information right? So, include plenty of white space, big fonts, subheadings and bullet points.
3.Make It Easy For Them To Find You
How are they ever going to read your wise words if they can’t find your article? How are you going to beat all those articles on the first page and claim a spot on Google’s number one page of the search results?
Optimize your articles using SEO or Search Engine Optimization.
4.Always Start With Keyword Research
Before you start writing, you have to know what you want to write about.
You can either decide to write about a topic and see how the keywords rank or choose topics Google and your readers find relevant.
We talked about being visible on the internet in our earlier tip; optimizing your articles can help you climb the ranks and drive more traffic to your site.
SEO Tip
You’ve done your research and chosen the most relevant keywords with the least competition. And now you intend to sprinkle it all over your article.
Hold on, that won’t be enough.
You need to input those keywords in a few essential places too:
- Article title
- SEO title
- First 100 words
- H2 (1 to 2 times)
- Meta description
- And tag your images with the keyword
If you want to learn more about SEO so you can charge more for your writing, these books are very useful.
5.Avoid Keyword Over Stuffing
Misconception: The more keywords you can cram into an article, the better.
Another freelance writing for beginners tip I can offer you is to practice restraint when inputting keywords.
Keywords are there to make your content search-friendly.
When you start using them in sentences (regardless if it makes sense or not) repeatedly, it can leave your content looking robotic, dubious, and not trustworthy -to your readers and Google.
6.An Attention Grabbing And Informational Title
Your title and headings should give the readers insight into the topic and also grab their attention.
If your title doesn’t do either, chances are they won’t click on your post.
You can use these FREE tools for better headlines.
7.Chop, Chop, Keep It Short
Attention spans on the internet is short.
How short? According to Nielsen Norman Group, you have 10 to 20 seconds to make a good impression before viewers leave a site.
What better way to scare off your readers than with long, endless paragraphs? Keep your paragraphs short to ensure that your readers stay focused.
A tip within this tip: a 5-line paragraph is ideal but a 3-line paragraph is way better.
8.The Longer The Better
I know what I told you to keep it short just a second ago. Your paragraphs may need to be short but your content needs to be long.
1,447 words. That’s the sweet spot for the average #1 result on Google.
So, it may be tempting to dish out a short 800-word article and wait for the traffic to kick in but unfortunately, that won’t cut it.
Make sure your posts or articles have no less than 1,000 to 2,000 words.
9.Writing Styles And Language
Is it “Internet” or “internet”? Do you spell “e-mail” with or without the hyphen?
American English or British? Do you spell ‘color’ like this? Or ‘colour’ like this? Whichever your preference, stick to one and be consistent.
The internet is a thing of wonder, one that often has its own language.
Unless your niche has something to do with the intricacies of old English literature, content writing for the web means keeping up with language trends (for the right audience, of course).
Not sure what kind of language to use? Follow AP guidelines or check with other content writing samples.
As long as you’re consistent and keep your language relevant, you’re golden.
10.Use Common Words
Speaking of language, I’ve got more creative writing tips for beginners to share.
Stick to words that your audience is familiar with. Introduce concepts, not words -unless your article is about new words, then kindly ignore this sentence and move on to the next paragraph.
You don’t want your readers skimming your article only to scratch their heads at your use of synonyms.
And try not to get too fancy with your descriptions. A rose is a rose. A tomato is a tomato. Please don’t call a tomato a crimson spherical fruit.
11.Always Hyperlink
Remember all those citations you had to do for school papers? Think of that but instead with hyperlinks.
Citing your sources and backing them up with facts makes your article look more credible and let’s your readers know that you aren’t just spouting things aimlessly and labelling them as facts.
If you reference other websites or their content, be sure to credit them and use a hyperlink.
For one, it’s polite. That’s internet etiquette and you’d want others to award you the same courtesy no?
12.Sound Like The Reader’s Best Friend
Looking for more valuable article writing tips for beginners?
Here’s an important one: your tone and voice is important.
How you write and the words you choose can make the difference. If you’re using vocabulary that isn’t in line with your readers’, then the content won’t resonate.
Similarly, if your tone is robotic and not personable, it won’t keep your readers engaged.
Let your personality and sense of humor shine! There’s only one of you out there and that’s a hot commodity, my friend.
13.Write For Your Readers
Have you noticed a sort of pattern with these tips? SEO, keywords, and all other-writing technicalities aside, these tips serve your readers.
At the basis of each article, you should ask yourself, “What does my reader get out of this?” “Does this add value to their lives?”
They’re on your page because they’re in search of something.
A new skill, a solution to their problem, whatever it is, be sure that the content you write serves your reader.
14.Give Them Value
Adding resources doesn’t cost you a thing and in some cases can earn you money (affiliate marketing links for instance).
Add value to your articles by linking articles, free webinars, worksheets, templates, etc. to give your readers more value.
After all, a good article is one that ensures the readers don’t need to leave your post for more information.
15.Use Spell Check
“To err is to be human,” and that’s what we are.
Grammar, spelling, prepositions, nouns, oh my! All of that coupled with writing a lengthy article, can lead to a few errors along the way.
Using spell check or tools like Grammarly to review your work so that it can be free of such mistakes.
16.When In Doubt, Look It Up
Google is your friend and every doubt is a learning opportunity.
“A man who asks is a fool for five minutes. A man who never asks is a fool for life.”
– Chinese Proverb –
There’s no shame in looking up the intricacies behind language mechanics. Actually, there’s no shame in looking anything up if you’re planning on sharing information.
For one, you’re learning something and secondly, you’re doing your part to ensure the information you give out is correct.
Don’t stop at the language front, look up anything and everything you’re unsure about.
The more well-read you are and the more time you spend learning, the better off you, your content, and your reader will be.
17.Update Your Content
Content is continuously flooded on the net. If it isn’t up to date, it isn’t relevant.
Keeping your content updated reflects well on you and shows your readers you care about giving them the best and most up to date advice no matter how long ago that post was published.
You’re doing yourself a favor too because by doing this you’re ensuring your article remains relevant and that keeps it visible -which is important.
18.Consistency Is Key
Remember the story about the Rabbit and Tortoise?
Often, the key takeaway from that child’s tale is, “slow and steady wins the race.”
But that isn’t the only valuable lesson in the story.
The tortoise won the race because he was consistent (and the rabbit was way too overconfident for his own good). He never gave up or faltered -he just kept going at his own pace.
According to HubSpot, smaller businesses have found success posting one to four times a week. Larger companies push out daily (and sometimes multiple daily posts).
Posting consistently will:
- Build organic traffic
- Keep consistent readership
- Ensure you stay visible
19.Plan Out A Content Calendar
But how on earth are you meant to churn out content on the regular?
Here’s another tip: plan ahead.
Create a content calendar with each piece of article you want to write.
Include things like word count, keywords, when you’re planning on publishing it, etc. every month, so you’re prepared and can publish content consistently.
20.Jazz It Up With Pictures
Long endless paragraphs and a page full of words without any breaks. One look at that and you’ve lost your reader.
Humans are visual creatures and with attention spans shortening, you’ve got to keep your readers engaged.
Adding images to your articles will add visual appeal to your content. Just make sure that the pictures have something to do with the article.
Here are some FREE places to get copyright-free stock photos.
21.Find Your Tone
The more you do something, the more you figure out what works for you.
Writing is the same. The more time you spend writing and honing your craft, you’ll find that you will develop a writing style and tone of your own.
The way you format your article, how you express your ideas; these things and more will develop naturally.
And guess what? It won’t stay the same.
Your style and tone will change. It will evolve just as you will as you continue to grow as a writer.
23.Edit, Edit, Edit
You’ve created a masterpiece and you’re ready to dust your hands and kick up your feet. Not so fast!
Your job is not done -yet.
This is the time to go through your work and start the editing process. And I’m not talking about a quick once over or using autocorrect to be rid of those pesky red and blue zig zags.
This is the time to correct any mistakes, double check your links, shuffle around the contents (if need be), add -or clarify- more information.
The editing process should not be neglected.
24.Get Someone To Go Over Your Work OR…
Speaking of editing, another piece of advice I can give you, is to let someone else go through your work.
Get feedback on the article to see how well it reads, if there are points that are difficult to follow, grammatical errors you may have missed; that kind of stuff.
It pays to have a fresh set of eyes and some constructive criticism. Behind every good writer is a great editor. You know what they say, “team work makes the dream work.”
If you’re a one person team, don’t fret and listen up. Do not write and edit your content all in on the same day.
When you’ve spent time writing an article and it’s still fresh in your mind, the gaps in your article will be overcooked automatically. This will affect the editing process.
25.Upskill With Training
My grandfather used to tell me two things, “There is no end to education. After all, life is the process of learning,” and “The only thing that stops us from learning are the things we already know.”
These are things I’ve kept with me through any learning curve I may face.
Picking up something new or growing in your field requires time and a little help.
Want to learn SEO best practices? Take a course and learn from those who have done before you.
Every expert started out as a beginner and you can utilize the abundant resources available to you (free or otherwise) to hone your skills.
There’s always room for improvement and something new to learn.
How Do I Start Content Writing?
‘You love to write. You want to write. Heck, people have told you that you should write. And you’ve even heard about freelance writing. But, there’s only one problem: You don’t have a clue how to begin or if it’s possible to make a living as a writer.” –Elna Cain
Does this sound like you?
The last tip I had for you was to learn from others. Which is why I’ve included that little description above by a woman called Elna Cain.
There are plenty of content writing websites for beginners on the web that make promises of six-figure salaries.
Which is great, who wouldn’t want that. But is it realistic if you’re just starting out? No.
Write to $1K
Elna Cain is a stay at home mother of twins that is an established writer and online entrepreneur that has created a course called Write to $1K.
Designed for beginners to learn the ins and outs of writing and help them earn their first $1000.
Doesn’t that sound much more realistic?
Elna runs two very successful blogs: TwinsMommy.com and ElnaCain.com.
She’s been published in the The Huffington Post and started these businesses because she didn’t want to go back to a job that ripped her away from my twins.
So, what did she do?
She made the decision to work from home and replace my full-time income by freelance writing for online businesses.
The course has 7 modules and 54 lessons -all for the price of $165. Talk about a sweet deal.
Here’s a little run through of what you will learn in the course:
- Module 1: Laying The Foundation
- Module 2: Building Your Writer Platform
- Module 3: Building Your Portfolio
- Module 4: Finding Writing Clients
- Module 5: Your Pitch
- Module 6: Your First $1K
- Module 7: Your Freelance Business
And if you’re not 100% satisfied with the course, Elna offers a 30-day full refund.
This is the course that got me started when I decided to become a freelance writer.
I spent ages googling free stuff and being broke, then I took this writing course and in 3 weeks, I had 3 new clients. It’s an incredible course and I recommend it to everyone.
Content Writing Topics For Beginners
I’ve armed you with 25 content writing tips for beginners and thrown in a reputable course to help you get started but I’m not done yet.
Let’s talk about content writing topics for beginners.
According to Canz Marketing, there are content writing topic ideas that will never fail you and they have one thing in common. They are evergreen topics.
Evergreen content is simply topics that are (preferably search-optimized) that continually remains relevant or fresh over a period of time.
These are some of the categories they’ve advised.
- Tips and Tricks
- Trade Secrets and Hacks
- Summaries and Analysis
- Trending Topics
- Lists
- Crackdown on Myths
- Comparison Posts
- Tutorials
- Problems and Solutions
Additional Content Writing Tips For Beginners
When pondering your topic of choice, keep in mind these practices:
- What’s Trending:
To find out what’s trending in your field, use content curation tools to come up with a list of possible topics.
Here are some content writing sites for beginners to help you with content curation tools:
- Compare
After you’ve chosen your topic, search the web and have a look at the content that’s already out there.
See if there are any gaps your article can fill and how your post can stand out for the rest. What other perspectives can you give? Is there more information that can be shared?
- Headline Generators
Need topic ideas fast? Use free headline generators for some inspiration:
Conclusion
There you have it, folks.
25 content writing tips for beginners, how to get started with content writing, and some guidelines to follow when considering content writing topics.
These are all tips I can offer you as a fellow writer myself but I too am on the same journey of learning and growing.
Keep writing and you will learn as you go. It’s a skill that never stops improving if you cultivate it. So, keep at it champ!
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