A Proper Guide for Students to Start A Career As A Content Writer

A Proper Guide for Students to Start A Career As A Content Writer

9 August 2022

By rewriteradmin

Content Writing

So, you have decided that you want to be a content writer. You have decent writing skills, you’re aware of the language’s grammatical rules, and most importantly, you are motivated.

But content writing is more than getting the language and grammar rules right.

When I decided to become a content writer. I knew this was no joke, there’s something about content writing that sets it apart from the rest of the writing fields.

So I followed these steps below and when I was finished, I became a professional writer.

Table of Contents

Read a lot

If there is one thing that you will never regret doing, it’s reading. The more you read, the more you get to know about the writing world.

When I started to read regularly, I found out that only by reading I can improve my writing to a huge degree. I was also able to get inside the writers’ heads and see from their perspectives which later helped me write more fluently. Reading can also help you learn a lot about grammar, writing styles, and ideas in general.

Research first

Some content writers make a huge mistake by skipping their research before they create content. You can never write anything substantial if you don’t have a good amount of knowledge about your topic. Readers love meaty content, so you must deliver. If your content lacks depth, readers will abandon it when they’ll realize that your content doesn’t offer much information.

Today, researching any topic is relatively easy compared to those internet-less days. Now you can get into about any topic with a few clicks on your computer or smartphone. When it came to researching, I always told myself that it won’t only make my content better, but give me some useful insights as well. And well, it is true.

Discover fellow writers and join groups

Social media platforms are great for many things, including writing. Platforms like Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, etc. allow you can discover numerous writer’s groups in which you can follow their works, and connect with them as well. Not only that, you can even get a writing mentor if you’d like.

If you are not a social media person, you can still find fellow authors and get writing suggestions. Check out the real-life writer’s groups in your school/college, or simply reach out and find fellow content writers.

Understand your audience

Most of the time content fails not because of the writing quality but because they are unable to attract the audience. To make sure your content easily finds its audience you have to use the right keywords, write content so your target audience understands the writing, and most importantly write a call of action.

Write, read, edit, repeat

The first draft might look nice and sweet, but the truth is first drafts are almost never flawless. So, you have to read the whole content after you finish writing and edit it as needed. And read again, and repeat editing until you’re finally happy with your content.

Check grammar

I see lots of people post great stories on Facebook. But some of these posts get more appreciation than others. Why? Well, there are many reasons, but one of the major reasons is grammatical errors.

Just a few errors can tag you as an immature, careless writer, no matter how good your writing is. So, always check and double-check your grammar, punctuations, etc. before publishing your content.

You can use online grammar checker tools as well to save your time and accurately fix the mistakes.

Check word counts

It’s good practice to maintain word/character limits while writing. Most academic writings and even SEO writings require certain word/character limits. Your content’s word count also determines your target audience; there are readers of certain age or type who wouldn’t read long texts, then there are those who don’t read short content. Having said that, don’t be so obsessed with counting words that you hamper your creativity. You can easily use one of the online word counter tools to count the words of your content.

Some online word counter tools can also count the characters of your content. I simply use this free word counter tool that accurately displays the number of words and characters in my content.

Use text optimizer

Ask any content writer about a text optimizer tool, and they will always sing praise for it. Text optimizer does wonders for content, especially when you are writing for SEO. It helps you reach the target audience by assisting you to write concise, and high-quality content.

Use high-quality image

Words are great. But as they rightfully say, just a single image can attract your audience faster than any content. I’m not saying that content is any less important, but a good quality image can complete your content on a different level. If you read online blogs and other articles, you will see that most of the contents include images. Naturally, we feel more interested to read those contents that have captivating images than those content without any good images.

What Next?

What do you do after you have created the content to perfection?

Read ahead to know how to use your content to reach out to readers and companies in need of a content writer.

Add content to your portfolio

Writing your content and just putting it away is pointless. There are many portfolio websites for freelance writers that can promote your content in the best way possible. Below are some popular portfolio websites that can land you promising writing gigs easily –

Medium

Medium is the ultimate thriving place for content writers. You can read, write, and promote your content here to get the best clients. Medium is known for its simplicity when it comes to design and formatting. It doesn’t distract you with anything so you can just write and add images as needed. Writers get individual profiles so people can find their entire profile easily, making it convenient for the writers to display their entire work at a time.

Squarespace

Squarespace provides a clean and user-friendly experience that lets you create an attractive portfolio easily. This site is especially perfect for you if you are not much familiar with technologies.

Writerfolio

This website lets you create a unique portfolio for a tiny amount of monthly subscription fee. Writerfolio is simple and easy with no techy complexities to distract you from your goal to promote your content.

You can also explore other portfolio websites such as Muck Rack, Journo Portfolio, and Pressfolios.

Promote your content on social media platforms

Social media platforms are a great way to show off your writing skills. There are at least two major reasons why you should take your content on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, etc. –

Hiring companies will find you easily by reviewing your work on these popular social platforms.
Social media is the best way to get your writing skills reviewed; enthusiastic readers will leave you valuable insights and suggestions which will help you improve your writing.

Finally, become a professional content writer.

Now that you have followed the beginner’s guide to becoming a content writer, you are ready to become a professional one. If you want to embark on a journey as a professional content writer, there are a few things you must learn and apply.

Bottom line

It takes time to become good at anything unless you naturally have some specific skills. Content writing is one of those jobs where you have to spend lots of time practicing to become perfect. That being said, you can easily grasp the basic and essential elements of content writing if you can follow through with the rules above. Once you get a good grip on being a content writer, you can improve your content writing skills further, because, the best can become better.

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