28 Content Writing Tips for Beginners – Ultimate 2020 Guide

Content writing is the cornerstone of every business operating online. It’s an essential marketing tool that B2B companies use to build their brands on the internet. According to a report by CMI, 91 percent of B2B marketers rely on content marketing to promote brands.

When venturing into content writing, remember that you are helping a company build its brand online. That’s why it’s essential to write high-quality content that can engage and convert readers. The content should drive tons of traffic to achieve multiple conversions.

If your web content writing is excellent, your article will automatically improve sales. In this guide, I’ll explore the best web content writing tips for beginners. Keep scrolling!

Creative Website Content Writing Tips for Beginners

Excellent content writing is a prerequisite to business success online. That’s why we have rounded up tips that can help you write engaging, consistent, and high-quality web content. Incorporating the tips in your content will earn you more shares and backlinks.

1. Offer Web Visitors What They Need

Web visitors tend to search for specific information when they visit the internet. That’s why they can browse several web pages to look for what fulfills their needs. So, writing content that has the information they need will hold them for a moment.

When it comes to content marketing, putting your audience first pays. According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 90 percent of top-performing B2B content marketers put their audience’s informational needs first. And that’s why they are successful.

As a content marketer, you should put your audience’s needs first by writing content that addresses those needs. It makes your content easy to find and share among your audience. The right people will find the information valuable and subscribe to it.

2. Start with Keyword Research

Keyword research is one of the essential SEO content writing tips in digital marketing. It helps you know what your target audience is looking for on the internet. You’ll also find out the topics that giant search engines, like Google, find relevant at a particular time.

With intensive SEO keyword research, you can dig deeper to find the content strategies that your competitors use. You can incorporate some of their strategies in your content to rank top in search engines. Also, you’ll get to know your strengths and weaknesses.

Thankfully, there are many keyword and content optimization tools to help you optimize your content to drive tons of traffic. Choose the right tools that fulfill your needs.

This is a really good video on how to perform keyword research and it shows bot free and payed methods. It’s little bit long, so watch if you’re really interested.https://www.youtube.com/embed/x5IJ0APR0EQ?feature=oembed

3. Choose a Compelling Topic

Selecting the right topics to write about will have a positive impact on your SEO Return on Investment (ROI). Once you’ve completed keyword research, pick a title that the target audience finds relevant. Remember to add your primary keyword in the topic.

Your content headline should be compelling. You need to make it catchy to grab the readers’ attention. Also, make sure that it’s accurate to summarize all the information in your content. That will make your content rank high in search engines.

A well-crafted headline is brief and concise. It should have around 50 to 70 characters and 7 to 10 words. Use the best headline analysis tools to optimize your content topic.

In the following video, Neil Patel shares some of the easiest ways to find your next blog topic in just 2 min, so please just watch it!https://www.youtube.com/embed/2YazeBbA0g4?feature=oembed

4. Write a Detailed Content Outline

Writing web content can sometimes be overwhelming when you don’t have an outline to guide you. You need a well-structured framework to help you connect ideas correctly and save more time when writing. It also helps you not to forget the essential points.

The starting point of writing an incredible content outline is the brainstorming phase. It’s where you establish the ideas and elements to add to your content. You can write down all the ideas and arrange them later.

Here are some of the elements you should add to your web content outline.

• Your content’s primary keyword
• Brief description of the topic and the problem you’ll address
• Short description of your target audience and how to help them
• Breakdown of the content structure, including the headings and subheadings

5. Come Up with Interesting and Relevant Ideas

As you write content, start with the most vital ideas. The first information you put in your content determines whether web visitors will continue reading the content or not. So, you need to write about things that most readers find relevant.

Millions of content get posted on the internet daily. So, whether you’re writing content for a client or your website, the ideas should stand out to keep you above the competitors. Content curation tools can help you find the trending ideas in your domain.

6. Avoid Stuffing Keywords

Keywords are valuable assets in content creation. They can make your content more readable and easy-to-find in popular search engines, such as Google. However, stuffing keywords in your webpages will render your content untrustworthy.

Don’t stuff an SEO content with many keywords at the expense of quality. Use the primary keywords around 4-5 times and secondary keywords around 2-3 times. Most SEO experts recommend that you maintain a keyword density of 1-2percent.

When writing an SEO web content, put your readers’ needs first before focusing on the keyword use. Create content that’s compelling, engaging, and high-quality.

7. Add External Links to Your Content

Adding external links to web content is also one of the best SEO content writing tips for beginners. When you use another site’s content as a reference, it’s prudent to hyperlink it in your content. It helps to improve the credibility of your content.

Citing other people’s work in your webpages can also earn you backlinks. The websites you link to may return the favor by hyperlinking your content to their webpages. As you get more backlinks, your pages will achieve higher organic search engine rankings

Search engines like Google consider webpages with multiple backlinks as valuable, useful, and credible. The more votes your content gets, the higher it ranks on Google.

8. Write in an Easy-to-Read Format

Writing web content in an easy-to-read format helps to improve the visual impression and readability of your work. Here are strategies for boosting content readability.

• Include sub-headings to web content to guide your readers
• Keep sentences short
• Use bullet points where appropriate
• Write and highlight some texts in bold format

Studies reveal that 70 percent of readers prefer bulleted lists because they are easy to scan. Lists also provide visual breaks to readers as they vary from other texts. So, if you are writing long pieces of content, consider adding a few bulleted lists.

9. Use Powerful Calls to Action (CTA’s)

The primary objective of writing great web content is to pass information and convince the target audience to subscribe to your services. The best way to achieve that is by convincing readers to act by either downloading something or sharing your content.

Other CTA’s that you can include in your content are:

• Encourage readers to subscribe for exclusive resources in their inbox
• Provide discounts for purchases made through a webpage
• Schedule free demos for prospective customers

You ought to know the CTA’s you’ll use even before you start writing. The calls to action should be compelling to engage and convince readers to take action. The general rule of thumb is to put yourself in the shoes of your website’s visitors.

10. Write Web Content in Active Voice

When writing an SEO web content, make it punchy and direct to emphasize action. To achieve that, you need to write in an active voice to engage readers directly. Avoid using passive voice as it can make your sentences wordy and fail to engage readers.

Some other benefits of using an active voice include:

• Transforms calls of action into commands
• Makes it easy to read sentences and understand
• Generates stronger connections to actions

Besides using an active voice, you can engage readers by using unique and exciting verbs. For instance, you can consider writing “the sales skyrocketed” instead of “the sales increased.” You can find more interesting forms of many verbs.

11. Keep Your Paragraphs Short and Brief

The attention span for reading web content is much shorter than that of a novel. That’s why you need to keep your paragraphs short and concise when writing SEO content. It helps to improve your content’s readability as well as visual appeal.

Other advantages of using a few lines in your paragraphs include:

• Allows readers to scan through them quickly
• Encourages site visitors to keep reading their content
• Creates more white spaces

Your paragraphs should not have more than five lines. It would be even better to use three lines in each paragraph. Some expert content creators use single sentences as paragraphs. That makes it easier for readers to grasp ideas in your content.

12. Invest in Internal Linking

Among all article writing tips for beginners, internal linking provides the best way to build your site’s authority. It involves linking one webpage to another within the same domain. That helps to boost your SEO performance by increasing the number of page views.

Consider updating all your older posts with new internal links to improve your search results. Besides, it helps to keep your content fresh and relevant to readers will. They will find more useful information through one webpage without leaving the website.

As a content writer, make sure that you spread internal links throughout your website. It will encourage readers to spend more time on your site, reducing the bounce rates.

13. Use the Right Word Count

Word count matters a lot when it comes to SEO content writing. It can influence content rankings in search engines such as Google. According to searchengineland.com, longer content with at least 1,000 words tend to rank higher in search results.

Keep your article’s length between 1,000 and 2,500 words to increase its chances to rank top on Google. A recent study shows that the average number of words in the top 10 search results on Google Search engine is 1,447 words.

Forbes has a slightly different view on minimum word counts. It shows that an average count of 600-700 words per webpage is optimal for search engine optimization.

14. Avoid Plagiarism at All Cost

Giant search engines like Google will penalize you for plagiarizing someone’s content. And that’s the apparent reason to avoid stealing other people’s work. Sites with copied work rank lower in search results and record-high bounce rates.

As a content writing beginner, you should update your pages with fresh and original content to rank top on search results. Otherwise, your site’s visibility on search engines will drastically fall. Thankfully, there are free plagiarism checker tools to help you.

Before publishing any work, check if there is any content with the same information. It will help you escape the severe consequences of content duplication.

15. Invest in Useful SEO Tools

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the cornerstone of every content’s success on the internet. That’s why it’s one of the most critical content writing tips for beginners. While it’s possible to perform a keyword analysis using spreadsheets, it can be quite tedious.

The simplest way to perform a keyword analysis is by investing in the most reliable SEO suites. However, not all SEO tools can help to fulfill your content optimization objectives. That’s why you should evaluate the efficiency of each tool before investing in any.

You should generally select an SEO tool that can analyze large volumes of data and give insightful results. All the feedback should be easy to understand and interpret.

16. Write Catchy Intros to Hook Readers

I would advise you to work on your intros if you’re planning to become an expert content writer. Site visitors are always in a hurry to find useful and interesting information. So, you must use the few seconds to hook readers by nailing your introductions.

Here are some of the ways to write intros that can hook readers.

• Start by writing an exciting fact (something real but unbelievable)
• Ask a relevant question and readers will keep reading to find the answer
• Start with the content’s ending to create suspense

Introductions carry much weight after the headlines. Since you always want readers to stick around, practice writing introductions that can hook and hold them longer.

17. Use Words Correctly and Avoid Being Wordy

When you read several articles, you’ll be surprised to see how people misuse words. As a content writer, ensure that you understand every word you use in your content. Use online dictionaries to find the meaning of words you don’t understand.

Also, avoid writing wordy sentences that can kill the interests of readers. Otherwise, your content quality will reduce drastically. Your article should be concise to improve the readers’ engagement. Don’t call a giraffe a long-necked animal as that is wordy.

18. Perform a Competitor Analysis

Competitive research is one of the essential content writing tips for beginners. To write outstanding content, you need to find out what your competitors have written about a given topic. Incorporate in your article the content strategies that work best for them.

Also, determine the types of content that competitors create. Are they blog posts, email newsletters, or print collaterals? Such information can help you outdo them quickly.

19. Avoid Using Jargons (Hard-to-Understand Words)

Using jargon that most readers don’t understand can harm your content. Consider using a language that your target readers will understand. Generally, you need to keep your content’s reading levels low for every reader to grasp.

Thankfully, many free tools can help you evaluate an article’s readability score. If your readability score is low, use simple word choices that favour readers with varying levels of education. It should also favour visitors who speak English as a second language.

20. Write Compelling Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

If you’ve searched for information on Google, you have seen meta descriptions and title tags. Title tags are the clickable headlines (blue links) displayed on a search engine’s results pages. Meta descriptions are short paragraphs of texts below the title tags.

Most title tags on Google have around 70 characters, while meta descriptions have 156 characters. Using these SEO elements correctly is one of the most vital SEO content writing tips. It helps to improve your rankings on search engines such as Google.

Here are the fundamentals of writing incredible title tags and meta descriptions.

• Add the primary keywords to your title tags
• Write meta descriptions that entice readers to click
• Use the recommended number of characters to display all text

21. Add Stats and Data Where Possible

As a content writer, you should incorporate stats, data, and facts in your work to support your claims. It proves the credibility of the information you are passing to readers. Other benefits of using stats and data in SEO content writing include:

• Makes your content trustworthy
• Improves your content’s authority
• Helps to grab your target audience’s attention

If you are a B2B marketer, include stats and facts in your content to justify consumers’ desire for your products. It’s a powerful way of persuading readers to make purchases. Use visual stats such as graphs and infographics to get the attention of many visitors.

22. Become an Excellent Researcher

As a content writing beginner, you need to develop excellent research skills to help you write high-quality content. There are a lot of sources on the internet that provides useful data and information. You should use them to build your content’s quality and authority.

Here are the tips for becoming a better researcher in SEO content writing.

• Determine the context of your content before you start writing. Find out why you are writing, whom you are writing for, and the right tone for your target audience.
• Verify the credibility of the sources you find on the internet. Check their domain authority and read the comments and reviews about them.
• Use online research tools to keep your research organized. Break down your research into subsections if the topic is too complicated or broad.

23. Read Top-Performing Content

Most expert content writers are enthusiast readers. To become a professional content writer, you need to read many top-rated articles to get exposed to high-quality writing. Figure out their writing styles and tones and incorporate them into your content.

When you develop excellent reading habits, you’ll find it easy to implement the elements used in top-rated articles. You’ll learn how to approach a topic, frame your content, and maintain the flow of ideas. I advise that you read high-quality content that inspires you.

24. Practice Writing a Lot

Learning how to write great SEO content doesn’t stop at reading top-notch articles. You also need to write a lot to improve your content writing skills. Writing more content makes it easier to master all the content elements used in top-rated content.

You can use free content writing tools to help you improve your writing skills. The tools can help you correct grammatical mistakes, improve your readability score, and pinpoint technical words. They will make your writing clear, concise, and easy to understand.

Practice makes perfect. Keep writing regularly to not only improve your skills but also eliminate the fear of a blank page. You’ll also develop a new and unique writing style.

25. Revamp Top-Performing Content

It’s no doubt that high-quality content will gain value with time. As days pass, it attracts many readers, earns more backlinks, and gets many shares on social media platforms. As a result, the content’s rankings on search engines will increase significantly.

After many months, the information in your content may get outdated, necessitating an update. To maximize the value of your top-performing content, you revamp them to get new site visitors. Add updated information and implement new keyword strategies.

Thankfully, there are many SEO tools to help you analyze the content’s shares, web traffic, and pingbacks. They provide insights that help to boost search engine rankings.

26. Proofread and Edit Your Content

Proofreading and editing are essential practices in content writing. Whether you are a beginner or expert content writer, you need to proofread your work to remove spelling and grammatical mistakes. Poorly edited content may damage your online brand.

Studies reveal that successful content strategists spend 75 percent of their time editing and proofreading their work. To be successful, you should also follow suit. Make sure that you thoroughly edit your content before submitting or publishing it anywhere.

Here are the tips for improving your editing skills.

• Reread your content aloud to spot errors and wrong word choices
• Remove or replace words that sound unconfident.
• Create an editing checklist. You can start by editing all grammatical mistakes then cut down lengthy sentences.

The best way to edit and proofread content is by using online editing tools and services. Such resources can help to identify grammatical mistakes, and tonal inaccuracies, and inappropriate usage of words. Some of these tools are free.

27. Assemble All the Content Writing Tools

I’ve mentioned several tools that can help you write great web content. The tools can only be helpful when you use them every time you research or process your article.

In a nutshell, here are some of the tools you’ll need to write high-quality content.

• Keyword research tools for finding keywords that competitors rank for
• Lead generation tools for B2B content writers and marketers
• Visual tools to create infographics, charts, and graphs
• Plagiarism checker tools to check for content duplication
• Headline analysis tools to evaluate the quality of your headlines
• Content curation tools to search for content relevant to your target audience
• Editing and proofreading tools to check for spelling and grammar mistakes

28. Enroll in an Online SEO and Content Writing Training

If you want to become a successful SEO content writer, enroll in SEO and content writing training programs. It will help you expand your knowledge and develop solid content writing skills. You’ll learn how to write an excellent copy.

Learning never stops. The good news is that there are many free training materials for SEO on the internet. Such programs can help you learn various SEO aspects, such as technical SEO, content marketing, and link building. This way, you’ll become an SEO expert within a few weeks.

Types of Content That You Can Publish Online

There are several categories of web content to publish on the internet. They include visual, written, interactive, and video content. Here are some of the types of content.

1. Blog Posts

Blogs are high-quality, well-written pieces on topics that web visitors find relevant and exciting to read. They help to build trust, authority, and customer relationships. Most importantly, they can drive multiple conversions consistently.

You can write blog posts to increase a company’s brand awareness or to inform the target audience. When writing blogs, apply the best SEO content writing tips to make them more discoverable in search engines, such as Google.

Thankfully, there are many blog hosting services to help you write blogs for your target readers. Choose one that fulfills your needs and interests.

2. E-Books

They are electronic books that allow you to share in-depth information on a given topic. E-books are powerful tools for generating qualified leads and building site authority. You can use them to entice people to subscribe to your mail list.

Create an E-book on a topic that your prospective clients would love to read. Let them provide their names and email addresses to download the E-book. That way, you will reach out to many people who need your products and services, improving your sales.

3. Infographic

Infographics are one of the best ways to boost the visual of your content. They tend to be more engaging and graspable than plain texts. Studies reveal that 40 percent of people respond better to visual information (like infographics) than plain text.

To make an infographic more exciting and engaging, consider adding some facts and statistical data. Also, include plenty of white spaces in the content to make it look neater and well organized. Thankfully, there are many tools to help you build your infographic.

4. Case Studies

Case studies are one of the most potent content forms for building customer trust and driving sales. They are the best way to prove to prospective clients that your products or services work. Case studies can also be useful in search engine optimization (SEO).

Performing case studies is all about collecting your data. That means they are a unique way of establishing trust based on experiences with previous clients. All you have to do is demonstrate how your products or services countered the challenges of past clients.

5. Videos

Videos are one of the top-performing content forms on the internet. It’s another way of building trust, especially when marketing products online. Studies show that 96 percent of online shoppers find videos more helpful when making purchase decisions.

You should make videos that can engage, convince, and convert your viewers. Such videos include “how-to guides,” customer testimonials, and employee interviews. At the end of the videos, add calls to action (CTAs) to encourage viewers to act.

Conclusion

Now that you know some of the best web content writing tips for beginners, you can set out for your first project. The ideas will help you write top-notch content that can engage readers. Remember to use the tools I mentioned to improve your writing style and skills.

The general of thumb is that you should put your audience’s needs first. This way, you’ll quickly engage your readers and get multiple conversions. Most of them will be glad to share your work with other prospective leads, driving tons of traffic to your website.

Finally, you should strive to improve your skills by learning new things each day. I would suggest that you enroll in an SEO content training program to learn all the SEO aspects.