Content Writing for Beginners- A Complete 7 Step Guide
Content writing for beginners can feel overwhelming at first, but once you fully understand how to do content writing, you will find it easier than anything else. Content writing is one of the most invaluable skills in today’s digital world. Whether it’s a website, YouTube, or any other social media platform, content is used as a driving force to attract and engage audiences. So it would not be wrong to say that content is the heart of social media platforms.
I know that as a beginner in content writing, you will find it a challenging task, but believe me, once you get started, you will love it above all else. If you have an interest in writing, then content writing can be a rewarding skill for you. You can turn your interest into a profitable career that you will cherish forever.
Most people find content writing difficult because they don’t know how to get started as a writer. Content writing is not just about writing the content, it’s more than that, you have to learn other things with it as well.
This article covers a complete guide on content writing for beginners that will help you understand content writing and how to get started with it.
What is Content Writing?
Content writing is the process of writing the content for different purposes e.g, information, education, entertainment or marketing. The main purpose of content writing is to inform,educate, or persuade readers through written content. You research and write content to convey some useful information to the readers. So content writing is all about expressing your ideas and thoughts or any meaningful information through words.
Types of Content Writing
When it comes to content writing for beginners, it’s important that you know the different types of content writing. You can then choose what best suits your skills or interests you the most.
Here are some of the different types of content writing:
- SEO Content Writing
- Article Writing
- Blog Posts
- Technical Content Writing
- Copywriting
- Ghostwriting
- Medical Content Writing
- Marketing Content Writing
- Product Descriptions Writing
- E-Book Writing
- UX Writing
- Social Media Writing
- Script Writing
- White Paper Writing
- Case Studies Writing
- Business Writing
- Press Releases
- Academic Writing
Content Writing for Beginners-How to Get Started
Now that you have got an idea about content writing and its different types, now let’s see how to start content writing and explore the steps involved in content writing for beginners.
Step 1: Choose a Niche
The first thing you have to do is to choose a niche. Niche means the topic that you will be writing on. It is important to choose a niche to build authority and to attract an audience. It helps you to write efficiently and stay focused and organized.
Choose such a niche that you have an interest in or have any expertise e.g if you are a science graduate that you choose any niche related to science. As you have knowledge on such topics, you will be able to write good content.
Step 2: Learn SEO
SEO is one of the most important things in content writing, especially when you are writing web content, articles, or blog posts. Learning SEO is a mandatory step in content writing for beginners. It helps to rank your content on search engines and reach the targeted audience.
When you learn SEO, you will get a clear understanding of terms commonly used in content writing i.e. keywords, meta title, meta description, alt text, backlinks, etc. You can easily learn SEO through YouTube tutorials, also there are many free online courses available that guide you completely about SEO.
Step 3: Start Doing Research
After you have decided your niche and learned SEO basics, the next step is to do keyword and topic research. You can use different tools available for keyword research e.g, Keyword Planner, Moz etc. Whether it’s keyword or topic research, research plays a major role in content writing. So prioritize this step and research thoroughly.
Keyword research is important to find what people are searching for, and topic research is important to write quality content. It ensures that your content is accurate and valuable. Research about how other writers have written content in the same niche, read it, and note important points, and prepare a rough draft
Step 4: Start Writing
Research completed, now it’s time to write. Convert your rough draft into clear, catchy, and attention-grabbing content. When writing your first content, you might find it difficult, and you will have doubts in your mind. You will not be confident about the writing style, tone, and grammar. But it’s completely fine. Write with these doubts and then revise and learn from your mistakes.
You might be writing the same sentence again and again in different ways to make it perfect, no issues with that. Just keep writing, the more you write, the more you will get perfect. As it is wisely said :“Patcsie makes a man perfect”. Start by writing a few words daily and then gradually increase word count to build your speed. Remember not to rush…quality matters more than quantity.
Step 5: Build a Portfolio
Once you have set your hand to writing, now build your portfolio. Create your portfolio, even if it’s just a few articles, but make sure they are the best ones. Building a portfolio is an important step in content writing for beginners that can open doors to new opportunities. It is an important step to showcase your writing skills , so it needs special attention and time. You can write on platforms like Medium.com or other platforms that give you a chance to write for free. It’s a great way to generate social proof of your work that can increase the chance of getting writing projects.
Step 6: Pitch Your Work to Get Writing Projects
Now start pitching your work. This step is all about reaching out to clients and platforms that are hiring content writers. It is necessary to secure good writing projects and establish authority in your domain. Some of the best platforms where you can pitch your content writing services and erach out to potential clients are: Upwork, Fiverr, ProBlogger, Contena etc, where you can work as a freelance content writer.
Along with these platforms, professional networks like LinkedIn and Alignable are also effective to pitch your work. However, ensure that you have a strong and effective content writer profile on these platforms. You can also reach the website owners directly through email and share your writing samples with them.
Step 7: Start Your Own Blog
When you have worked on some writing projects, the next thing you can do is to start your own blog. While working with different clients or as freelance content writer, you have gained hands-on experience in writing . So now you can start your own blog; it’s an easy way to attract more clients and generate social proof of your work. It will demonstrate your writing expertise in your niche and open the doors for new opportunities.
This a complete guide on “content writing for beginners”. If you follow all these steps as explained, you will definitely get success in writing. Content writing is a skill that gets stronger with consistent practice so, be consistent and develop a habit of daily writing to become a good content writer. Remember, your words have power to inspire others and leave a lasting impact!
FAQ
How much do content writers charge?
Content writers charge anywhere from $0.05- $0.50 per word for beginners. Expert content writers may charge up to $1 or more per word. Some writers charge hourly, typically $25–$70, or $50–$500+ per article, depending on experience, niche, word count and the type of content writing (articles,e-books, white papers etc) .
How to get started as a freelance writer?
Build a strong portfolio and pitch your work to potential clients . Platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, Contena are best to get started as a freelance writer. Networking planforms like LinkedIn can also help to gather clients .
How to start freelance writing with no experience?
To start freelance writing with no experience, choose a niche, start writing articles to build your portfolio. Reach out the potential clients on different writing platforms and showcase your writing samples.