Resources to Improve Content Writing
Content writing is a trade that is never fully mastered. Whether you wrote a blog that went viral or an editor raved about your perfect grammar, there is always room to improve content writing.
From picking a topic and creating a headline to writing interesting copy and driving it home with a conclusion, there’s a lot to content writing. Instead of getting overwhelmed by trying to improve everything all at once, it’s better to smart small and work on one section at a time.
3 Ways to Improve Content Writing
As you hone your skills, here are some resources to help you become a better content writer.
1. Test Your Title
Amber Morris recently wrote a GrammarSpot post titled The Art of Creating Attention-Grabbing Titles, full of sage advice. The last tip she offers is “Engage Your Audience.” This is fairly easy when writing about a topic you are passionate about; it can be more difficult when writing about something unfamiliar. Will your title about the benefits of MRI service contracts pique the interest of a savvy medical professional? Find out by using Advanced Marketing Institute’s Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer.
In addition to testing your title, this resource can also help you craft more compelling subheadings—especially those containing a call to action. Replace “Contact Us” (Boring!) with something different like “Start Your Search With XYZ Realty” (Better!) and find a more effective way to engage your audience in your content writing.
2. Stop Repeating Yourself
The first time I heard Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive,” I thought it was a catchy little tune. Soon, however, it saturated the soundscape everywhere I went. It was on the radio as I was driving to the movie theater, where it was playing on the pre-feature. When I got home and turned on the TV, the same song was blasting on a Beats by Dre commercial. Ironically enough, that much repetition was “enough to make my systems blow.”
The same holds true for content—it shouldn’t read like a broken record. Is everything you write about “a must-have?” Does every product benefit “protect” or “prevent” in your bulleted list? Keep readers from becoming so annoyed with overused words that they want to throw a thesaurus at their monitor by:
– Proofing your writing for redundancies by reading it aloud
– Copying and pasting the body of your content on Wordcounter.com to generate a list of the words used most frequently in your article
Another great site that some of our BKA writers like to reference to improve their content writing is Words-to-use.com. This content writing tool helps you find just the right words to describe products and services in different industries and avoid repetition.
3. Choose Interesting Topics
One of the main differences between content writing that meets expectations and content writing that goes above and beyond is how interesting the topic is made to be. Readers appreciate well-researched information that they can relate to.
If you are writing about aftermarket automotive accessories, for instance, you may want to start your research on Edmunds. Here you will find professional reviews on a wide variety of vehicles, making it simple to identify how a particular product can fill a void. Similarly, Consumer Reports is another valuable resource for research. While you must be a paid subscriber to access detailed ratings, the site offers quite a bit of free, unbiased buying advice that could help you go beyond the basics and write a better blog.
Readers are also more interested in topics that have a connection to recent events or headlines. Browse your favorite national news site for ideas.
Improve Your Content Writing Today!
Take your content writing to the next level by testing your titles, avoiding repetitive copy and thoroughly researching topics of interest. Add these resources to your list of bookmarks and reference them frequently to become a better content writer.
What resources do you love to lean on when trying to improve your content writing skills? Comment below!
