It is believed that content writing and copywriting are just “writing”. If you can write in English and have a decent hold on grammar, you can be a writer. While that is true, that is not all you need to become a content writer or copywriter.
When it comes to writing content or copy that sells, writing skills are just the base requirement. You need to know digital marketing, content marketing, and the power of words to write content that is attractive, simple, and effective.
It may sound a little scary if put this way but it is not. However, it is not as simple as it is often perceived either.
Here are a few ways in which you can learn content writing and copywriting without losing your mind. These methods are very effective and easy to follow.
Understand What Content Writing and Copywriting Is
Start with understanding what content writing and copywriting exactly are. Your perception of “if you can write in English, you can be a content writer” needs to reach the next level. I am not saying you don’t need to know English or you can’t be a writer just because all you have is writing skills. The statement is partially true and you need to get introduced to the other fact as well in order to be a good and effective content writer.
Even copywriting and content writing are extremely different from each other. Both include persuasive writing but how you persuade and the type of writing you choose differs significantly. And to become a writer you need to get familiar with these differences.
You can easily learn the difference between content writing and copywriting through this blog.
Learn About Search Engine Optimisation
After getting familiar with different types of writing styles, you will be required to learn search engine optimisation. When you write content that is supposed to get published online, it has to be SEO friendly. That’s how and when it will help the business to grow, and generate and convert leads for them.
The purpose of writing content or copy is to attract potential customers and sell a product or service. And in order to rank on the Google search engine and attract the target audience, you will need to know how the search engine works and what search engine optimisation is.
There are several courses that teach search engine optimisation but we believe this blog by Neil Patel is more than enough for you to understand SEO.
Take a Course Online
Take an easy peasy lemon squeezy course on content writing online so that you can easily understand everything about content writing and copywriting in one place. Hustlepost Academy’s how to become a highly paid content writer is perfect for aspiring writers who wish to start a side hustle as a freelance content writer.
The course covers everything, right from the basics and different types of content writing to how to write effective content, start your side hustle, land high-paying clients, and charge for your services. The course is easy to follow and can guarantee success if you are able to follow and implement everything that has been taught.
Start Writing
After taking the course, even the course will suggest you start writing. Write samples but in order to write good samples that you can show your potential clients, you will need to keep writing. 2 out of 15 content pieces will serve as samples for you. So, sit down, create a blog and start writing.
Don’t stop there, write captions for yourself, ask your friends if they need help with their captions, and start writing content on medium and even on LinkedIn. The idea is to keep writing, practising, proofreading and improving.
Ask your friends to read and review your content for you. Take feedback and implement the suggestions
The best way of learning something is by practising it.
Continue Reading, Learning, and Improving
Read, read, and read. The more you read, the better your writing style will get. Don’t just read books but also read blogs, articles, and research papers in different niches. Read, see what writing style seems attractive to you, and then try to use that writing style in your writing as well. Keep learning about writing, search engine optimisation, audience, and what’s trending in the writing. As you learn and read, keep improving your own content as well.
Check out these tools that can help you improve your writing and write effective content.
Parting Words
This is a continuous process. You are bound to find your first article weird and childish when you will be writing your 10th article. That’s how it works. With time and practise you will improve. So, don’t stop the process or expect to be an expert within a month.
Take help from someone who has been in your shoes and learn through their experience. Content writing and copywriting are not difficult but will certainly take time to reach a point where you will be able to write effectively.
