Content writing is one of the most in-demand skills in today’s digital age. With content being king and dominating online spaces, businesses and other organizations require a constant stream of new content to engage audiences and drive their goals. This has led to a boom in content writing opportunities and freelance content writers. Content writing is not just about putting words on a page. For the content to be effective it needs structure, strategy, research and other elements. Here are some of the key activities involved in content writing:
Research and topic discovery: Before starting to write, content writers need to do thorough research on the topic, brand or product they are writing about. This involves learning the core messaging, USPs, target audience and their interests and pain points. Writers also need to identify sub-topics, themes and angles that can be explored. Competitive analysis to see what others in the space are doing is also important. Research helps the writer discover fresh angles and perspectives to make the content stand out. It gives them ammunition of credible facts, statistics, case studies and expert quotes to support the content.
Content planning and outlining: Once research is complete, content writers move to the planning stage. Here they map out the overall structure and flow of the content. For long-form content, this involves creating a detailed outline breaking the content into sections, sub-sections and paragraphs with clear headings. The outline ensures the content stays focused on the core message and objective while touching upon all relevant aspects in a logical flow. It provides a blueprint for the writing process. For other types of content, the planning may involve creating mockups, sitemaps or storyboards.
Drafting and writing: With research and planning in place, writers can start drafting the actual content. This involves turning the outline into flowing and engaging text. Writers need strong writing skills to craft sentences and paragraphs in an interesting yet persuasive manner. They have to write for the target reader and customize the content and tone as per the platform it will appear on. Graphics, multimedia and other elements also need to be planned and embedded at appropriate places. Content writers may go through multiple drafting iterations refining the content based on feedback.
Editing and proofreading: No content is complete without thorough editing and proofreading. Even professional writers make mistakes so multiple rounds of self-editing and cross-checking are important. Editing enhances the readability, structure, flow and messaging of the content. Proofreading catches errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and formatting. Editing tools help streamline this process. For Regulated industries like Healthcare, legal or financial services, medical or legal editing may be required to ensure regulatory compliance.
SEO optimization: For content to be discovered online, search engine optimization (SEO) plays a key role. Writers optimize content for search by researching relevant keywords and phrases, strategically including them in the content, headings, links etc. They also focus on readability, length, formatting and other on-page SEO best practices. Off-page activities like building backlinks can also be part of the process depending on needs. SEO helps the content receive appropriate search visibility and traffic.
Content curation: Not all content needs to be created from scratch. Repurposing and curating existing high-quality content also helps create a constant feed. Writers find, evaluate and curate relevant third-party content sources like studies, reports, news articles, social media posts etc. They may need permissions to republish. The curated content is enhanced with attribution, contextual explanation and value addition to suit business goals better.
Content marketing: To maximize impact and engage audiences, content also needs to be strategically marketed. Writers help with content promotion activities like developing promotional copy for social sharing, drafting emails for list segmentation, writing blog comments, guest posting, working with PR agencies and influencers for amplification. Analytics are reviewed to refine strategy. Some writers also provide social media management and community building services.
Content measurements and analysis: To judge the effectiveness of content and refine strategies, post-publishing measurement and analysis is necessary. Writers track key performance metrics like views, shares, leads/sales generated, comments etc. on an ongoing basis. In-depth analytical reports are prepared identifying top/bottom performing content, reader behavior trends and gaps. Surveys, focus groups and user interviews also provide qualitative performance insights. This data assists with content refining, optimizing campaigns and proving the ROI to clients.
Documentation and process compliance: Documentation of content guidelines, approvals process, workflow, editorial calendar etc. is important especially for businesses with compliance needs. Writers ensure content creation follows organizational processes and is backed by proper documentation for auditing. They may need to comply with workflows involving stakeholder reviews and sign-offs at different milestone, legal/medical checks, localization processes and more depending on the client or sector.
Client partnership and service: Beyond content creation, writers need to effectively partner with clients throughout the project. This involves understanding client vision, brand voice and politics. Handling client queries, feedback and revisions professionally and on-schedule is critical. Maintaining transparency through status reports and meeting deadlines is key for a successful client partnership. Writers may also be expected to provide ongoing content strategy support, training and knowledge transfer to clients.
Freelance content writers need to have a diverse range of skills and perform many different activities beyond just writing. They must be able to research comprehensively, plan strategically, write creatively, optimize technically and work collaboratively with clients and teams. An in-depth understanding of digital content strategies, emerging trends, analytics and business objectives is also important for success. Mastering these multi-dimensional content crafting skills is a must for writers to deliver high-quality, high-impact content solutions to their clients.
Andrew Stroud