About The Author
Vani is the owner and manager of a dynamic content writing and organic marketing firm-vanionlinemedia.
She started out as a journalist in 2003 and worked for India’s top news channels including, Aaj Tak, IBN7 and Star News in her 6-year electronic media stint. She then moved to freelancing for online media and after working independently for two years, launched her own company.
Today Vani has clients all across the globe and has written EBooks, articles, Ecourses and Press Releases for various niche areas. She specializes in NLP and Marketing related content and her client base includes several International life as well as business coaches.
She is also trained in hypnotherapy and tarot (skills she picked up while producing shows on the same theme during her TV news days) and likes spending time with her cards in her free time.
Cover Illustration By: Sanjeev Malhotra
Online Content Writing
Copyright © 2012 By Vani Chugh Kabra, India
Smashwords edition
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author.
Disclaimer
This book is published for general reference and is not intended to be a substitute for independent verification by readers. Although the author has made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors, omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause.
The purpose of the recommendation lists, website reviews and any other opinions expressed in the Ebook are to help the readers make an informed decision. The opinions are the authors own and based on her personal experience. Although the author has made every reasonable attempt to achieve complete accuracy of the content in the Ebook, it assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.
The readers are free to exercise their discretion while using the information/opinions/suggestions shared in this Ebook. Also, the reader should use this information as it sees fit, and at its own risk. Reader's particular situation may not be exactly suited to the examples illustrated here.
The author will not compensate the reader in any way whatsoever if the reader ever happen to suffer a loss/inconvenience/damage because of/while making use of information from this Ebook.
Dedication
This Book is dedicated to my loving husband Nishant who has always supported me in everything I have done.
Index
Chapter 1- How to write Saleable Content?
Evaluate your current writing skills and learn the key content writing techniques that can help you sell your content in the market.
Chapter 2- Essential SEO Skills For Content Writers
Simplifying SEO concepts for content writing and a detailed how to section on SEO writing for aspiring content writers.
Chapter 3- How to engage the reader?
Advanced writing skills to help a content writer create interesting and engaging content.
Chapter 4- How to bag writing jobs?
The most recommended job-hunting platforms, tips and techniques to stand out amongst the competition and get noticed by buyers, cover letter writing techniques and the dos and don’ts of job hunting.
Chapter 5- How to impress your clients and keep them coming back for more?
E-mail writing and communication techniques that can help content writers cultivate long running working relationships with clients.
Chapter 6- Best Kept Content Writing Secrets-The Master List of The Most Valuable Online Resources
The best job hunting platform list with the pros and cons of each, the best article directory list that can help newbie writers build an impressive portfolio and the list of the top tools to ensure the originality of your articles.
Introduction
Working from home sounds like a great idea, right? It truly is! Though when I started out, I did wonder if it was actually possible to earn a living with only a laptop and Internet connection as your investments?
Over time I have realized that it really is! The only things that you need are: some guidance and training about the latest skills that are in demand. That’s exactly what I hope this book will provide you.
Online Content Writing contains the gist of everything I have learnt since I began my career as a content developer and marketer. From, how to write great SEO content to the tips and tricks that will not only help you get noticed by prospective employers but also aid you in building long running relationships with them.
So, Happy reading and hopefully soon you’ll be writing happily too!
How To Write Saleable Content
So you think you can write? Then before anything else let’s see whether or not what you are writing at present is saleable. Here’s what you need to do. Open any 500-word piece you have written lately and answer the following questions:
Do most of your sentences fit into the 30-35-word range?
Do you make frequent use of ellipses “…” instead of commas and periods?
Read what you have written aloud, does every sentence make complete sense?
Have you made frequent use of passive voice in the text?
Have you made frequent use of present continuous?
Does the average length of your paragraphs exceed 5 lines?
If the answer to most of these questions is yes, you have quite a bit of ground to cover before you can launch your content writing career. If you have answered most questions with a ‘No’, congrats, your fundamentals are correct! Now, all you need to do is to learn your SEO basics, refine your style and learn content writing etiquette.
Two Common Mistakes Made By Rookie Content Writers
I have hired and fired many content writers in the last two years and have taught tricks of the trade to several interns and trainees. The following are two of the most common mistakes I have come across:
1. Writing as you think
Our thoughts do not follow the rules of punctuation, so what makes perfect sense in our minds, looks like a bad case of verbal diarrhea in print. For example, here’s an excerpt from a copy I edited sometime back:
“I’m going to Try this one or I’m trying this new program, for so many years this is what came out of my mouth “I’m trying this new Pill, Shake, Supplement, Program” etc etc.”
Now, in the writer’s mind the sentence probably sounded okay, but when you read it aloud, it sounds rather odd, doesn’t it?
2. Using Big Words
Another problem that I come across often, especially when it comes to pieces written by non-native English speakers, is that of random usage of big words.
What they forget is that one of most important elements of great content is ‘flow’. A reader can make out easily if certain words and phrases are inserted only to make the piece sound impressive. Instead of adding value, these words create a jarring effect and break the flow.
To give you another example, here’s an excerpt from a piece one of my trainees wrote:
Although the quality and endeavor in content writing has been making rapid strides of late, there are some inherent myths that have plagued its onset.
There are several problems with this excerpt, but I’ll start with the most obvious one: the desire to impress is obvious and rather off-putting.
If I were to read something like this on the web, I would first yawn and then hit the back button even before I managed to close my mouth. The passive voice in the end makes the sentences even more boring.
You have to remember that big words don’t impress the readers much! What will create a great impression is your ability to connect with your reader.
How to make your words work?
Unless the readers are able to connect with your content, it won’t do you much good. Based on my personal experience, here are the top content writing techniques that I would recommend:
Write in a conversational tone, so that the readers can connect with you. For example, instead of writing, “Content writing endeavors can bring result in triumph for writers…” write-“To be successful in content writing…”
Big words that you don’t use as a part of your everyday language are best left for legal documents. In your articles, it’s best to keep your language simple.
Using humor in your articles is a great way to connect with your readers. However, be careful while using this tool, don’t ever joke on the reader’s expense and more importantly keep their sensibilities in mind.
Keep your sentences short and to the point, long rambling sentences can be quite annoying from a reader’s point of view.
Get to the point fast; beating around the bush for too long will make your reader lose patience. For example, if your article topic is “How to boil eggs”, don’t waste time talking about the nutritious benefits of eggs.
Avoid the use of passive voice. You will be able to connect better with your readers, if your sentences are direct and energetic.
Add new information in every sentence. I have often come across writers who repeat the same thing in several different ways in a single article. While the writer may think that he/she is being very smart and making the article longer without doing additional research, the readers can actually see through the ploy. So, if you want your articles to sell, make sure that each and every sentence adds something new to your piece.
When in doubt leave out. Clichéd as it may sound this is an excellent rule to follow in content writing. Whether it’s words or facts, you should only incorporate those that you are 100% sure about. For example, a writer once sent me a copy that started with- “To abridge the gap between technology and need…” now the usage of the word abridge here is completely inappropriate. The word she should have used is ‘bridge’, ‘abridge’ means to shorten or edit.
Content Writing Jargon
Before we move on and get into advanced content writing skills and job-hunting tips and tricks, there are certain key terms that you must be aware of.
Backlinks: When you click on an underlined word and a new page opens up, it means you have just clicked on that page’s backlink. Once you start professional content writing you will realize that after you send your articles to the client, he/she publishes them with backlinks embedded in the text. For example, if you saw the following text in an online article, ‘content writing’ would be the word containing the backlink to my business site.
If you are in need of content writing services, you must get in touch with the expert.