Category Archives: Content Writing

How do I write content on difficult topics?

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Do you follow a process when writing content on difficult topics? What do you do? Do you follow a process?

For many years I have been writing on technology, and a majority of my current clients come from this field, so, it rarely happens that I come across a topic I find difficult. Comprehensive, yes, even exasperating in terms of quantity and scale, but not difficult.

Nonetheless, there are times when I am baffled. The topic is alien or I don’t have enough knowledge. The fact that sometimes it is not possible to find information on the web exacerbates the matter further. Or the template provided by the client is designed in such a manner that finding and writing content based on the layout turns out to be a Herculean task.

So, what do I do? My first source is the client. In most of the cases the client isn’t eager to pay for the time I may have to spend on research, so he or she eagerly sends me the needed information. For example, I request some links that explain the topic. I don’t waste my time researching for it because I know that for the client it will be faster to find the right information.

If the client is ready to pay me for research, I do my own research. Sometimes I don’t even tell the client that I’m charging extra for research; I simply prepare the quotation in such a manner that the time for research is also included.

These days it’s easy to find information on the Internet provided you know what to look for, and where to look. Starting to write can be a problem, especially when there is gap in understanding.

I start with randomly jotting down my thoughts. I don’t even bother with complete sentences. I pick up phrases and expressions from the reference links. My sole focus is on the words and expressions that I’m writing. I try to get comfortable with them. I even write random sentences with these words and expressions that have got nothing to do with the current article or blog post.

Another thing that helps me is that I’m not trying to prove myself as a better writer. I don’t need to impress anyone. I need to inform as clearly and with as few words as possible. I need to educate. So, even a sentence containing 3-5 words would do.

But the reality is that the client demands certain number of words. Suppose I’m asked to write about the benefits of creating digital wallets with blockchain technology and the blog post must be 1000 words.

Without worrying about those 1000 words, I simply focus on the central theme. I may create bulleted points listing all the benefits of such digital wallets. I may write a paragraph.

Then I start creating the context. Context is very important to build a narrative. For that, I may explain what digital wallets are, what is blockchain technology, why more businesses are using digital wallets and why more businesses are using blockchain technology. This gives me a few hundred words.

Then, I find examples of businesses actively using digital wallets in general and digital wallets built on blockchain technology in particular.

After having written 500-600 words, I grow comfortable. Afterwards, if you ask me to write 3000 words on the topic, I can manage even that.

35 types of content that require writing

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Content writing isn’t just about writing for blogs, web pages, email broadcasts, and social media updates.

Similarly, when it comes to content marketing, and writing for that purpose, there are multiple content forms where writing is required.

In one of the Quora updates, someone had asked if content writing is overrated. The sentiment originated from the fact that everybody seems to be providing content writing services these days.

It is like saying everybody walks, so walking is overrated. Everybody uses mobile phones these days, so, mobile phones are overrated. Millions of people drive around, so driving must be overrated. Almost everybody goes to doctors these days, so doctors are overrated.

Since everybody writes, sometimes people end up thinking that writing is overrated.

Writing was invented some 3000 years ago. Initially not everyone was crazy about writing. Socrates was dead against writing because he thought that if people started writing, they would use their brains less. Since knowledge could be preserved with writing, there was no need to memorize it. I wonder what he would think of mobile phones.

Most of the non-verbal writing exists in written format. Of course, you may say that you can use graphics and videos to explain concepts and I completely agree, but if everything turns into graphics and videos, what about those people who want to read?

Reading is a conversation. It provides multiple stimuli that are lacking in graphics and videos. When you are reading, you are imagining. You are not being provided audiovisual cues on a platter. Therefore, most of the people prefer to read, and since they prefer to read, content needs to be written.

As mentioned above, although content writing is mostly related to website content and blogs, there are various types of content needs that can only be met by writers. Listed below are some content types that require extensive writing.

  1. Blogs
  2. White papers
  3. Case studies
  4. Podcasts (writing script)
  5. Articles
  6. Email marketing
  7. Newsletters
  8. Social media campaigns
  9. Website content
  10. Guest blog posting
  11. Influencer interviews
  12. FAQs
  13. Testimonials
  14. News assignments
  15. Storytelling
  16. Product descriptions
  17. Product reviews
  18. E-courses
  19. Landing pages
  20. SEO content
  21. Press releases
  22. Wikipedia-type websites
  23. App notifications
  24. Lists
  25. How to articles
  26. Best practices
  27. Content repurposing
  28. Business forecasting
  29. LinkedIn posts
  30. Chat bots
  31. Paid advertising
  32. Sponsored content
  33. Guides
  34. Reports
  35. Educational content

Although these are different content types and they can all be used for content marketing purposes, they need talented writers to be effective.

13 ways you can build better content than your competitors

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Publish better content than your competitors

Publish better content than your competitors.

Publishing regular content is always about beating your competitors. This may not be your direct aim, but by the end of the day, it matters how much business you can wean away from your competitors, towards your own website or blog.

How can you build better content than your competitors? Here are a few things you can do

1. Understand your audience better

The more you understand your audience, the better your content will be. But what does understanding your audience mean?

It means writing and publishing exactly the content your visitors are looking for.

It means understanding the search intent and then writing content around that search intent.

You may like to read: Why search intent is most important when writing content for your website.

2. Use conversational writing

  • Write in a manner that it is easy to read.
  • Use small sentences.
  • Use smaller paragraphs.
  • Use bulleted lists whenever possible because they are easier to read.
  • Organize your text under headings and subheadings for easier reading.

3. Publish lots of long form content

Although I’m not a big fan of needless long form content, not many publishers can come up with quality long form content.

Long form content means publishing well researched blog posts and articles. These can be anywhere between 2000-3000 words, and sometimes even more.

The thing is, everyone can write 400–800-word blog posts but it is very difficult to come up with lengthy and comprehensive blog posts. This is where you can gain an edge.

4. Offer more value than your competitors

Most of your competitors might be publishing purposeless content just to improve your search engine rankings.

This may be a good thing for you because you understand that the purpose of publishing content regularly isn’t about improving your search engine rankings but providing value to your visitors.

  • Publish meaningful content.
  • Provide information that is valuable to your visitors.
  • Educate your visitors better than your competitors.

5. Maintain a schedule and be persistent

A big problem with most of the business blogs is that they are not regular. They post whenever it is convenient for whenever their budget allows.

Content publishing is a commitment. You can’t just offer content to your visitors whenever you feel like.

  • You need to be persistent.
  • You need to be regular.
  • Have a clearly defined content publishing calendar.

Publishing content with a schedule makes search engine crawlers visit your website regularly and also encourages your human visitors to keep a tab on your website.

6. Work with a professional content writer

I’m not saying this because I provide professional content writing services; it actually helps to work with a professional content writer because well-written content always outperforms content that is written in a lousy manner.

Most of the websites don’t have professionally written content. Luckily for you, you understand the importance of high-quality content (that’s why you are reading this, right?). The advanced AI being used in search engines can differentiate between good content and bad content.

Badly written content also increases your bounce rate. Remember that the writing on your website represents your approach to your customers and clients. If you don’t have properly written content on your website, it means that you don’t respect your customers and clients.

7. Publish case studies on your website

Case studies explain to your visitors how you solve their problems once they decide to hire you or buy your product or service. The format of a typical case study by itself is quite helpful. Here is how:

  • The title of the case study.
  • A small profile of the company or the individual for whom you had offered your product or service.
  • The problem the company or the individual was facing prior to using your product or service.
  • The highlights and features of the product or service you are describing in this case study.
  • How your product or service solved the problem of the company or the individual.
  • How the company or the individual is doing right now after having implemented the solution that you offered.

You can see that there is a natural flow –

  • There is a narrative that the reader can follow.
  • You introduce the characters.
  • You introduce the problem or the conflict.
  • Then you offer the solution.
  • In the end, you offer the “happily ever after” condition created by your solution.

8. Use storytelling through content writing

Just like case studies, stories can also help you weave a narrative around your product or service. People easily relate to a story. They feel emotionally connected with the problem and the solution being offered. They are more receptive towards your messaging.

9. Use concrete numbers when stating facts

Avoid using expressions like “hundreds of”, “many”, “a wide range of”, and so on.

Use numbers as much as possible. Instead of saying that “we have served hundreds of clients” say, “we have so far served 300+ clients”.

Instead of saying “our product offers many ways to solve your problem” say, “our product offers 18 ways to solve your problem”.

10. Master SEO content writing

SEO content writing can boost your search engine rankings. Writers who can get higher search engine rankings for their clients are highly coveted.

You may like to read this for more information on the topic: 10 SEO content writing rules you cannot ignore.

11. Publish content on multiple platforms

Content publishing these days isn’t just about publishing content on your website or on your business blog. You need to cover many platforms such as third-party blogs and social media websites.

  • Share your content on LinkedIn.
  • Post answers on Quora.
  • Write on Medium.
  • Offer guest blog posts on authoritative websites and blogs.

12. Re-purpose your existing content

You can re-purpose your existing content in many forms.

  • You can recycle small portions and post them on social media websites.
  • You can create dedicated blog posts on subtopics that you may have mentioned in other blog posts.
  • You can create infographics.
  • You can create animation and videos explaining the same concepts that you may have explained in a blog post.

13. Build a mailing list

This has got nothing to do with content writing or content publishing, but you can beat your competition by building a mailing list from scratch.

Of course, publishing a mailing list or a newsletter also involves content writing. Whenever you publish a new blog post you can broadcast the link to your newsletter. You can distribute important updates about your product or service using your mailing list. You can increase traffic to your website.

Ultimately it boils down to delivering value.

Fortunately for you, very few of your competitors publish content to serve their visitors well. In most of the cases, they want to generate search engine traffic and then they hope that this traffic would lead to business.

Unless they are publishing advertisements and that is the main source of revenue, random traffic does not help. You need to generate targeted traffic and targeted traffic can only be generated by publishing high-value targeted content.

 

How to achieve on-page optimization with content writing

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On-page optimization with content writing

On-page optimization with content writing.

Search engine optimization has two parts:

  1. On-page optimization
  2. Off-page optimization

Off-page optimization is not directly under your control. It is a long-term process. You publish lots of content. People find your content. If they like it, they engage with your content by linking to it, referring to it on social media websites and mobile apps or finding your content useful enough to spend some good amount of time on your website.

On-page optimization on the other hand is completely in your control. Aside from efficient source code, you can write content that is search engine optimized.

A recent Moz blog post shares a few tips on how you can optimize your content for on-page optimization.

Here is how you can use content writing to achieve on-page optimization:

Format content that is easier to read when writing content

When people visit your website or the page you are subjecting to on-page optimization, they should be able to read it as easily as possible. The same holds true for the search engine crawlers. They should be able to read your content without much fuss.

This means making your content writing scannable. Here are a few things you can do.

Use the H2 tags

I have written on this topic multiple times. You should organize your content under different headings and subheadings. The above Moz author says that you should use your keywords – sometimes even the exact keywords you are trying to target – in the headings and subheadings.

Use headings after every 300 words. In this case, by headings I mean text between <H2> and </H2>.

Between headings, also use the <H3> tags as subheadings. This way, merely by looking at the text between headings and subheadings, your readers should be able to make out what your web page is about.

Use shorter sentences and paragraphs

Everybody finds reading shorter sentences easy. Communicate one idea in one sentence. Of course, when you are feeling like writing a long sentence, do that, but most of the sentences should be short. In grammar lingo, such sentences are called “simple sentences”. Avoid using compound or complex sentences.

Use shorter paragraphs. Ideally, don’t use more than two sentences in a paragraph. I tend to use more than two sentences, but I do that when my sentences are very short.

Use the main keyword within the first 100 words of the write-up

This tip isn’t included in the above link, but this can be useful. What does your keyword represent? It represents the core proposition of your web page.

Sometimes the search engine crawler cannot crawl your entire web page. By the time it reaches the body content, it goes to another link or completely leaves your website.

Hence, enable it to come across your main keyword (that represents the core topic of your web page) as early as possible so that even if it leaves your web page in a hurry, it processes the keyword.

Use bulleted lists

Bulleted lists are easy to read. They don’t even need to be complete sentences. You can just use phrases or even one-word expressions in the bulleted lists. Use your primary and secondary keywords in the bulleted lists. Use your hyperlinks.

Optimize your content for featured snippets

Featured snippets are the highlighted pieces of content that appear on search result pages when you search for something, and the answer is well defined. Here are some benefits of writing your content that is featured snippets-friendly:

  • You occupy “position zero”, even above paid links.
  • Getting featured in the snippets section is the ultimate search engine optimization fete, bringing you lots of traffic.
  • It increases your brand authority.
  • It brings you more back links increasing search engine rankings of other links on your website.

You may like to read: Is there a definitive way of ranking in Google’s featured snippets?

Featured snippets can appear in two forms: paragraph form and bullet form.

How can you optimize for featured snippets? By providing the exact answer being asked in a question, and in a manner that it’s easier to understand by Google’s ranking algorithm.

Although there is no definitive way of appearing in Google’s featured snippets, mention a question and then present an answer. Mention a problem, and then present a solution.

Something like:

Guide to using content writing improve on-page optimization?

  1. Divide your content between headings and subheadings.
  2. Use your keywords in headings and subheadings.
  3. Use bulleted lists to organize main points.
  4. Use your keywords within the first 100 words of your web page copy.
  5. Write short sentences that are easier to read.
  6. Write short paragraphs that are easier to read even on mobile phones.
  7. Optimize your text for featured snippets.
  8. Write text focusing on search intent.

The above is the format preferred by the featured snippets section.

Add an FAQs section

Although, you cannot add an FAQs section on every page, wherever you can, do so. For example, if I’m writing this blog post, it doesn’t make sense to add an FAQs section needlessly. But if I have a web page describing my content writing services, it is a perfect candidate for an FAQs section.

Why is an FAQs section search engine friendly? It delivers exactly what Google wants. It presents content in the form of questions and answers.

In the questions of your FAQs section, write the questions as if they are being asked by search engine users.

Take for instance the following question and its subsequent answer:

Can content writing improve on-page optimization?

Yes, content writing can improve on-page optimization if you format your content in such a manner that it’s easy to read both for your human visitors as well as search engine crawlers. Format your text so that it is easier to scan it. Use important tags such as <H2>, <H3> and <LI>. Hyperlink to your existing web pages.

And so on. You can provide a comprehensive answer. Google loves such question-answer types of web pages.

A good thing about on-page optimization is that it is completely in your hand. My personal experience has been that if you solely focus on on-page optimization, the off-page optimization part begins to manifest automatically.

Focus on quality content. Format it well. Use the right tags. Be persistent. Write and publish content on relevant topics. The rest gets taken care of on its own.

Outranking your competitors – can strategic content writing help?

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I’m not an SEO expert so I won’t claim that I can give you a concrete answer. I was going through my content aggregator, and I came across this blog post from Search Engine Journal: How do you outrank bigger sites for high competition keywords?

Can strategic content writing help you outrank your competitors? It can. It requires effort and persistence.

Aside from other things, what I found revealing and surprising is that the author says that the word count doesn’t really matter as long as you have structured your content well.

This means, a web page with 500 words can outrank a web page having 2500 words if the content on the web page having fewer words is organized better than the web page with more words.

I have observed this pattern even on my own blog. Sometimes I’m able to rank well even when the blog post has just 300-400 words. There might be many other reasons, but what I’m trying to say is, a blog post doesn’t always have to be very long to rank well.

So, what can you do to outrank your competitors according to the above Search Engine Rank blog post? Here are a few things you can do:

  • Your web page should be relevant to the query being searched for.
  • The information should be easy to read and longer text should be organized using headings, subheadings and bulleted points.
  • Schema should be well defined – what is the web page about? Is it an FAQs page? Is it a product description? Is it an information article? Is it a review? Does it explain your pricing?
  • You should use interlinking. The crawlers should be able to access other parts of your website and blog through the current web page or blog post they are crawling.

Aside from these tips the author has also explained a few SEO-related things you can do.

How does strategic content writing help you outrank your competitors?

First of all, at least in the beginning, don’t focus on outranking your competitors if you are just starting. Focus on publishing lots of relevant and quality content.

Your competitor – assuming he or she has used fair means – must have spent months or years to deserve the rankings he or she enjoys right now. You cannot suddenly decide to outrank just because you want to.

The better approach is, start providing information that your visitors will find useful. Write content on interesting topics.

Make a list of all the topics that you can write about. The list should be around 50-60 topics.

Then write or get written the best possible content around these topics.

Of course, simply publishing content is half the job done. You need to spread your content. Follow SEO content writing practices. Make sure that your content is written and formatted in such a manner that it is easy for search engine crawlers and human visitors to read.

Share your content on social media websites. Broadcast the links using your newsletter. You need to promote your content. You can also use paid advertisements on LinkedIn and Facebook to promote your links.

Also, focus on longtail keywords containing your main keywords for which you want to outrank your competition.

Even if it is extremely difficult for me to rank for “content writing services”, I can try “content writing services for email marketing”. Or, “content writing services for web design agencies”.

As I have mentioned above, rather than worrying about outranking your competition, try to provide better content than your competition. Your rankings will automatically improve.