How to become a Content Writer? 

Whether it is the newspaper, blog posts, website articles, or books, content is indeed the king ruling in all these literary forms. Undoubtedly, the demand for high-quality content is ever-growing, and it does make sense to dig deeper into this field and become a Content Writer for a bright future. Blogger, Ghostwriter, Technical Writer, Proofreader, Copywriter, Editor, Email Writer, Social Media Writer, Ad Writer, and Scriptwriter are lucrative job profiles open for anyone with basic or advanced knowledge of content writing and who love to express in words. 

Becoming a Content Writer is not just being a wordsmith but being someone who creates sensible, informative, and interesting write-ups for the target audience. Becoming a Content Writer requires a deeper understanding of writing styles and grammar. Pursuing an online BA in English course from Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) can be your first step towards an exciting career as a Content Writer.

Join us in this article to learn the steps to become a Content Writer and which course you should pursue to acquire essential skills for content writing. 

Who is a Content Writer?

A Content Writer is a professional capable of creating and managing content for individuals and organizations. These are people who master the art of writing engaging and informative content for various platforms like websites, blogs, social media posts, and digital marketing. From being a storyteller to an advertiser, from being a scriptwriter to an email writer, a Content Writer can fit into various job profiles for different types of target audiences. Whether big or small, all kinds of companies need some sort of content to promote their overall business. They need Content Writers for the same, and perhaps this is the reason for the broad scope of content writing in India.

How to start a content writing career? 

In an era that is dominated by information, content rules. Who makes the content – Content Writers, who can turn out to be the best rulers ruling with their flawless written communication skills. You too can become a successful Content Writer. Head on to learn how to start a content writing career by reading further:

• Pursue the right degree: It all starts with a formal degree in hand when it comes to paving the path for a bright career in the field of content writing. In this regard, an online BA or MA in English can be your stepping stone for a content writing profession. You may also consider pursuing an online MA in English from a reputable university like Manipal University Jaipur to learn skills to emerge as a Content Writer.

• Create a portfolio:  Whether you agree or not, building a portfolio for content writing is crucial to starting a career in this field. With a portfolio, a writer can showcase their versatility to adapt to different styles of writing and content requirements. A well-curated portfolio also helps establish a person’s credibility as a Content Writer.

• Build your skills: Whether you are an aspiring Content Writer or already working as an established Content Writer, it is essential to keep upskilling and learning skills for effective writing and marketing. To beat the competition in the field of content writing, it is important to not only build but also improve skills like editing, time management, SEO, and branding.

• Apply for job roles:  We recommend you apply with an agency to kickstart your career as a Freelance Content Writer. Once you gain some experience, start hunting for jobs by posting your resume on various online job portals. Networking and finding opportunities as a Content Writer is relatively easy, provided you know how to do it. For this, leverage your professional network and connections on social media platforms.

Role of Content Writer

After learning about who is a Content Writer and how to start a content writing career, it is now time to proceed further. Let us now help you understand the role of a Content Writer: 

• Pitching content ideas: The main purpose of content writing is to convey some ideas to a particular audience, be it existing customers, potential customers, employees, or the general public. So, pitching content ideas to convince the reader to take a desired action is the crucial role of a Content Writer.

• Writing compelling blogs or articles: One of the key responsibilities of a Content Writer is to write compelling blogs or articles. These professionals do so by leveraging storytelling techniques to make the content more engaging and relatable. Not only this, they sometimes give statistical data and examples to illustrate what they are trying to convey through their story.

• Ideating content marketing strategies: Content Writers play a big role in the marketing of a product or service. They work closely with marketing teams to understand the business goals. Based on this understanding, they achieve the company’s marketing goals by generating content for the target audience.

• Generating engaging landing page copies: Not to forget that one of the main roles of a Content Writer is to create a landing page for a website. It is through a portal’s landing page that visitors viewing a website can turn into potential customers for the business. No doubt, these landing pages can take your business to new heights and Content Writers contribute significantly in creating these landing pages.

• Optimize the use of social media: Tailoring content for various platforms, such as social media, is one of the main roles of a Content Writer. Such a professional understands the nuances of social media platforms and crafts content aligning with user expectations.

Skills required for a Content Writer 

Not everyone can become a successful Content Writer unless one is equipped with some skills to write effectively for the target audience. So, without wasting time, let us acquaint you with the essential skills required to become a Content Writer:

• Vocabulary: The first primary skill to master when it comes to writing is a strong vocabulary. Choosing the right words to express clearly to the reader is something you ought to learn if you want to become a successful Content Writer. When we say vocabulary, we mean using language as per the level of readership. For instance, using sophisticated vocabulary for technical writing, and an easy language for readers who can be anyone from school-goers to undergraduates and even homemakers. 

• Editing: Content writing is not only about writing but editing too. As a Content Writer, you must be able to identify grammatical errors, readability issues, and other styling flaws in a written piece to deliver flawless content to the reader. Proofreading and editing ensure eliminating surface errors and carrying out deeper changes in the content piece to create an apt piece of content. You can hone your proofreading and editing skills by pursuing an online MA in English course from Sikkim Manipal University.

• Research: Content Writers can not stay bound to write on specific topics or niches. They are expected to write on a variety of topics. Hence, they must possess great research abilities to gather accurate information to add more depth to their writing. This is not all; a budding writer must learn how to do content gap analysis and research on competitor’s content to identify these gaps for better visibility of their content. 

• Time management skills: To become a proficient writer, knowing how to manage time is equally important. You, as a writer, must be skilled enough to provide quality content within the set deadline by your peers and managers. Most importantly, at times, the Content Writer has to juggle multiple projects, so one should know how to prioritize tasks based on deadlines, the client’s importance, and the required efforts.

• SEO: Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is one of the main skills a Content Writer must possess. Without basic SEO skills, the writing can be futile and might not end up in high-ranking pages on search engines like Google. For that matter, a Content Writer must be well-versed in how to use keywords, and meta tags to write search-engine-friendly content that is visible on popular search engines. 

• Familiarity with social media: Last but not least, going by the latest trends of social media providing all types of content online, we can say a Content Writer should be familiar with social media platforms. This familiarity will help generate content to suit the different social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so on. In short, social media knowledge is essential for a Content Writer because this platform plays a significant role in making the content visible online.

Conclusion 

In this post, you gained insights about how to become a Content Writer. Remember, as you write more and more content, you keep sharpening your skills as a Content Writer. Try to be more open to new writing styles instead of settling down for one particular style. Moreover, an online MA in English degree course from a prestigious university like Sikkim Manipal University through the Online Manipal platform can equip you with the skills required to sail smoothly through the vast ocean of content writing.