CONTENT WRITING CAREER
“CONTENT”, the word echoes throughout the World Wide Web, helping us in finding our desired products and services. Whenever we find difficulty in knowing anything we simply’ Google it’. Now the question is from where the information comes in Google? It is written by a group of professionals, who are known as Web Content Writers. As the name suggests, Content Writing involves writing content for websites, business marketing such as brochures, collaterals, newsletters, advertisements, emails, leaflets, blogs, research papers, press releases and more. Content influences readers’ behavior and convinces the purchase decision of the customers. It is rightly said - Content is the King. There was a time when dumping of keywords in the website was enough to increase the SEO ranking. In today’s world, this strategy is not enough to increase the number of visitors and holding them. Most of the leading business firms are learning how to handle their websites to attract people to the products & services they are offering. Writing quality content is the perfect way of boosting web traffic.
Quality implies that the content should be written in good language and should be error free as far as possible, helping visitors to make aware of what is being told and do not leave the site with a vague and ambiguous idea. It should be interesting, informative and must be keyword specific, making visitors feel like coming back in the hope of learning new things from the website. There lies the power of a good content. The content of the website should be updated regularly - once or twice a week to make visitors remain updated with content and making them eager to come back. A good Content can easily compel one time visitor to become a regular web visitor.
The need of Content Writing is increasing day by day. People prefer to take suggestions from website before moving a step forward. Be it for buying of a product or visiting a place, there is a growing tendency of looking for information on the Internet. The question session to Google remains unending. Today’s world is also witnessing a growing demand for translator with increased penetration of the internet.
Founder of Word Play Content Neil Krshna said - Content has a huge role to play in any digital marketing campaign,from e-commerce stores to institutions like hospitals and even political parties are focusing their labor on such campaign.
The answer to the question is YES. Anyone with a good language skill, vocabulary, grammar and research skill can develop a healthy career in the field of content writing. There is no specific degree or educational qualification for becoming a good writer. If however, one is planning to work on a full-time basis, he or she must at least hold a graduate degree in any field basically because employers usually hire graduate candidates. It is possible for anyone to develop an independent career in content writing and earn a proper income, regardless of the educational background. In order to become a good writer one needs to brush one’s written communication skill and expression of thoughts.
According to Vishal Dutta, Co-founder of Godot Media,
Content Writing provides a great career opportunity for the enthusiasts of digital media. Moreover, a creative bent of mind and interest in sale give a boost to content career. In addition, the striking growth of e-commerce industry supports content writing profession all across the globe. Nevertheless, content classifications are made as per diverse content requirement by business enterprises.
SEO CONTENT WRITING
“SEO” - search engine optimization is the process of optimizing a website, allowing people to find anything easily through search engines like Google. A good SEO article depends upon the concentration of the Keyword. Client demands unique, informative and plagiarism free content. In SEO content, grammatical errors or any sort of typo errors are never entertained.
CONTENT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
Every day, billions of content pieces are posted on social media. Most businesses are taking help of social media to upgrade their content in order to bring visitors to website. In order to have a consistent traffic, the content should be of high-quality and updated regularly. Thus, they tend to employ professional writers who are proficient in writing attractive content that can channelize more visitors.
COPY WRITING
Copy writing refers to writing which is used to persuade customers and readers to take a specific action like making them click on a link, buy an item, subscribe to a newsletter and so on. Copy writing usually remains plain, brief, crispy and straightforward. The main focus of the content is to educate readers and persuade them to take action. Consumer behavior and marketing knowledge are important in writing a great copy. Copywriters are the ones who generate catchy tag lines for businesses and political parties. Copy writing is not only about creating tag lines, rather it considers all forms of writings that convince audience.
Business Content
Business content is related to Business communication including website content, articles, blogs, case studies, transactional email, email marketing, coursework, white papers, training modules & more. Moreover, there are news, press releases, legal, resume, personal profiles, welcome messages, project profiles and several others.
Academic Writing
Academic Writing deals with assignments of students, dissertations and theses. Students either don’t have time or are not comfortable in written communication. Therefore, they borrow their writing assignments. This becomes a moneymaking career for many writers.
Editing
Extensive experience in writing and excellent command over English language can create an efficient editor. In order to become an editor a basic knowledge of the industry is required. Editors check the content and decide whether the content is apt for an organization or not.
Content Marketing Channels
FREELANCING - SOMETIMES A GOOD OPTION
Writers always have the flexibility to work at a place and time of their choice. In order to deliver a great work they need not be physically present. Many writers believe a tranquil atmosphere is necessary to produce a perfect content. Therefore, content writers are sometimes given the option to develop their career in the corporate world as freelancer. The advantages and disadvantages of a freelancer probably go hand in hand, some of which are discussed in the following:
- A complete sense of Independence to the individual
- Individuals do not face any work pressure and are flexible
- Easy to start other side business for the individual
- Individuals can perform other responsibilities without hampering their income
- A perfect work-life balance
- Inconsistency in project’s inflow - Occasionally individuals are burdened with lot of work and sometimes enjoy free time
- Getting clients who are willing to pay high ends for exclusive work is a difficult job
- Inconsistent flow of income, depending on the availability of projects
Full time content writers have certain advantages over the freelancers. Regardless of the advantages, disadvantages are seen; some of which are listed in the following:
- Income flow remains consistent
- Increased opportunities of learning new things from colleagues
- Individuals develop the skill of leadership and team management
- Acquiring clients and getting projects become easy
- Income remains fixed
- Individuals should be capable of handling organizational politics
- No work-life balance
- Lack of flexibility
Many people dream of becoming a content writer but all of them do not face the success. Placing several meaningful words side by side is not enough to make a good content. There are certain small things which every content writer must keep in mind while preparing a good content. A content writer should spend time on quality researches in order to be the best.
1.Reading - A primary weapon. A writer must make reading a daily habit. An in-depth knowledge about a particular thing helps him or her to write informative and interesting content. A good research skill in a writer is very crucial for an informative content.
2.Picking random topics won’t help - Choosing contemporary topic is always a good start. The basic question which helps a writer to choose a topic is “Who will be the reader or the target audience?” A writer should select a group of readers, based on their preferred topic of interest.
3.Original Writing. The main aim of every writer is to become reputed by writing genuine and original content. Writing a copied content may ruin the reputation. It may sound difficult that among so many established writers and writing, how a content can stand apart? A talented writer with unique voice and writing skill can easily turn common and ordinary content into something interesting and attractive. He or she can take the ideas of content from anywhere, but the words should be his or her own to make it unique.
4.Social sharing adds to the success. It is important that the name of a writer must be recognized. Social media here plays a very important role. It helps budding writers to publish their content and build audience, meet publishers & talk to experts. Social media in a way provides a platform to young writers to showcase their talents and get socially recognized. Most of the successful content writers are active and friendly in social media.
5. Error free writing. A writer must keep in mind that his or her content should be free of any sort of error. Content with errors can divert audience making them wonder about the originality of the content.
Content Writing is not an easy job. There is no hard and fast rule to become a successful writer. The one thing that matters the most is the uniqueness in one’s writing and the capability to attract audience. Sometimes taking advice from successful writers and from social media help many writers to become successful.
A few institutes in India provide a proper grooming, which helps to make a proper content writer. This is because the educational system in India has recently approved the growing need to content writing.
Wavelength e learning Consulting and Training Pvt. Ltd in Noida is one such institute in India offering online certificate courses in content writing to newly graduates. Several workshops and online programs are also conducted by other educational institutions. There are several colleges offering the course of journalism and mass communication that provide training in content writing, some of which are listed in the following:
u British Council in major metropolitan city
Indian Context
Content writing these days is becoming a moneymaking profession in India. India, being a good source of outsourcing is earning a good profit for Content Writers. Industry estimates show that most of the American and European companies are hiring Indian Content Writers.
The earning of freelancer depends on their writing skills & experience. In India, a skilled and experienced freelancer can earn from 20,000 INR to 25,000 INR per month while a beginner earn from 8000 INR to 10,000 INR per month (figure may differ with places). However, their earning changes depending on their efficiency and ability. Several companies are providing sound remuneration to the experienced Content Writers. For Content Writing jobs in India visit - Freelance Content Writer Jobs
US context
It is reported by the US Bureau Labor Statistics (BLS) that in general, writers earned a mean salary of yearly $69,130 as of May 2015. However, there was a wide discrepancy in wages among writers. 10% of the bottom professionals got $29,230 or less each year, while the top 10% of the workers earned $114,530 or more annually.
US based Content Writing Jobs:
There is very limited information on how much a freelancer may earn. Here are some sources which show their earning scale.
- As per the Study made by Jordan Teicher - “The State of Freelancing in 2015”, data is compiled from 643 freelancers. The report shows income data for freelancers and is seen that 24 percent of them earned $50K or more annually. The report also showed the connection of income and marketing efforts.
- Pay Rates for Freelance Writers is another recent trend report on freelance writing income published by Clear Voice. The report shows how much freelance writers earn by checking with both freelancers and companies hiring freelancers.
- The Writer’s Market surveys writers and publishes charging guide. A variety of writing assignment rates of articles, blogs, press release, case studies and several others are shown.
Content means information and now, content is a rocking industry. However, the content industry in India isn’t quite at par with global counterparts. The writers face several challenges. In 21st century, Indian subcontinent is one of the largest newspaper industries with Times of India being one of the top newspapers in circulation. However, it is the internet that redefined the face of content writing. With this new growing content network, outsourcing has become a common name. Several outsourcing companies are assigning their works to the Eastern and Indian companies. Still, the Indian Content Writers are lagging behind. Here are some reasons which restrict the growth of Indian Content Writers.
Even today, writing is not a full-fledged career option in India. The industry is not very popular and even pays less. The industry doesn’t provide varied work to hold the interest of the individual, thus bringing monotony.
Due to societal discouragement or the demand-supply gap, content writers in India are not really paid well. Passion is all that works. People opting for content writing as a job, are initially motivated, because they love to write but the dissatisfaction for lack of financial recognition soon grows up and they choose to leave.
Writers do not enjoy growth in their work. A person joining as a writer and growing up to be an editor does not show much vertical growth here and the horizontal expansion has, unfortunately not been charted well in India yet.
It is ironic that in order to make people aware of Content Writing industry, we need the help of good Content. It is true that by writing informative content in the form of articles, blogs, case study, press release we can attract audience and make them realize the true essence of Content Writing.
Digital marketing is drawn by content. In India companies haven't even explored the surface of digital marketing. As we plunder more into digital marketing, content writing will surely become more and more important. The need of good content writers will become a necessity for every digital marketing campaign. Their talents will be explored and the companies will definitely make proper use of their efficient writing skill and will be rewarded with reason.
Nowadays several Business firms are using Content Marketing agencies for providing efficient content which in turn will improve their business and will bring success in the long run. Finding a good Content Marketing agency is not at all challenging these days. Searching online will bring you in touch with India’s top Content Marketing Agencies,working for small, medium as well as large business firms.
Get in touch with Renowned Freelancers:
FAMOUS BLOGGERS AT A GLANCE
There is no doubt that Content writing has huge prospective. If one is looking for a research job that requires creativity and efficiency, content writing is one of the best options for them. Being unique and creative are the key points in becoming a promising Content Writer. In near future, the growth of Content Writing will surely rise. Regardless of the economic growth, the career of one as an expert writer will always shine. So brush your language skills, increase writing efficiency, improve the communication power and get started to become a shinning Content Writer.
REFRENCE LINKS
http://neilpatel.com/blog/seo-copywriting-how-to-write-content-for-people-and-optimize-for-google-2/
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