Resources for Learning Content Writing Online

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Content writing has become one of the most sought-after skills, and with the new development of work, content writers can work from home or work remotely as freelance content writers to make some money off their craft. But how do you begin?

Content writing goes beyond scribbling a heartfelt text or note to oneself. There is more to it; however, it is a good start if you have excellent grammar skills. Your next step will be to find some of the best resources for learning content writing online, acquire the basic writing skills and knowledge and begin to write!

Suppose you are a beginner or even at an intermediate level in your content writing journey. In both cases, this article provides you with all the information you need to begin or to hone your existing writing skills, as well as some of the best content writing tools and resources for learning content writing online.

Content Writing

With conventional means of advertising fading away, content writing has become more and more popular over time. Companies from all sectors have realized that traditional, outbound marketing techniques are insufficient for success in the digital era.

Content writing is simply the practice of planning, creating, editing, and publishing web content online for digital marketing purposes. Along with writing the information, content writers may also be expected to edit and promote their content.

The main objective of content writing is to provide information to readers about a product or service, educate or guide an audience on a subject, or start a discussion. Content writing entails writing for the internet, such as a blog post, an article, a social media post, or an email.

Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies are frequently used in content creation to improve websites’ positions in search engine results pages (SERPs) and draw in more visitors.

It must be engaging, instructive, and valuable to the reader.

What is the Best Way to Learn Content Writing?

Want to know the best ways to learn content writing? Follow the steps below:

Learn about the foundations of content writing

Research is the first step in learning content writing for free.

Get familiar with the fundamentals of content writing, including its structure, formatting, and SEO best practices.

This will aid in your knowledge of content writing and how it may be used to produce exciting material.

Use free and paid online resources for content writing

There are many free tools online to enable you to grasp the foundations of content writing. Find blogs, articles, and tutorials written by seasoned content writers.

You may interact with other content authors on social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to gain knowledge from their experiences.

This also includes taking advantage of free online courses on content writing. There are numerous topics to cover in these courses, such as keyword research, SEO, and content writing.

Use a template

You may not need to start from scratch to learn. This is mainly because there are different content formats, such as how-to guides, listicles, reviews, and others. Depending on your writing, you could find a template to use as a guide for a beginner.

Join communities online

Joining online writing forums is a fantastic technique for learning content writing for free.

These online groups are frequently populated by skilled content creators who may offer insightful criticism of your work.

You may also learn about the content writing profession and learn from other writers’ experiences.

What Skills Do Content Writers Need?

Content writing isn’t any different from the rest of the online space in terms of competition. You need to be a jack-of-all-trades if you want to write content. You’ll discover that as you hone your talents, they are incredibly transferrable and will benefit you in various facets of your life.

The following are the skills you need as a content writer:

• Excellent research skills
• Excellent grammar skills
• Creativity
• Familiarity with different content writing tools.
• A thirst for knowledge
• Attention to details
• Editing and formatting skills
• Proofreading skills
• The ability to deliver complex information in simple terms and ways
• Good knowledge of SEO
• Social media expertise
• The ability to keep up with the latest trends.
• The ability to write for a specific audience
• The ability to reliably meet deadlines

How Much Do Content Writers Earn?

The typical yearly salary for a content writer varies, as it does for many other freelance occupations. It depends on the business they operate in, the volume of high-quality work they can create, their level of expertise, and the price they set for their services.

At the height of their careers, content writers may make six-figure salaries, but pay may be fairly low at the beginning. In the UK, a content writer can expect to earn an average salary of $22.10 per hour and $63,302 per year, according to Indeed.com.

Where Can I Learn Content Writing Online?

Below are the top platforms where you can learn content writing:

• Unpluggd Academy — an e-learning provider that provides remote job seekers with the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to do remote work. This ranges from coding to content writing and digital marketing.
• Henry Harvin Writing Academy: Another of the best resources to learn content writing online, this resource offers comprehensive training on content writing, exploring more than 30 content types. This includes content writing, technical writing, research writing, creative writing, and other types.
• Contented.com: Provides digital writing courses for beginner to professional-level writers.
• Udemy: Also one of the top resources to learn content writing online, this website equips learners with the right skills to discover and explore their writing skills.
• Content Knockout: It is one of the best websites for content writing, and it provides online content writing courses which take you through the processes of mapping out your topic and structures, writing, editing, proofreading, and publishing.
• Skillshare: It provides a collection of writing courses ranging from content writing to creative writing, marketing, web development, and many other skills.

Best Resources for Learning Content Writing Online

Here are some of the best online courses to learn content writing. Some are free online content courses with printable certificates the learners receive upon course completion.

Also, these courses will help set you right in the content writing space.

Learning to Write for the Web

This is one of the best resources for learning content writing online. It is offered on the LinkedIn Learning platform and provides a detailed lesson on content writing designed to help writers keep their content up to date using practical techniques.

This course best suits content writer beginners who want to develop and master content writing techniques.

In this course, the learners will:

• Learn the principles of content creation
• Create engaging material for readers with practical imagery and thorough information.
• Develop valuable and practical writing strategies
• Learn valuable tips for aiming for a better user experience.

Take Course

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization

Offered on one of the most prominent e-learning platforms, Coursera, this course aims at teaching learners how to optimize website content for priority ranking on search engines.

Also, it equips them with some of the practical skills they need to thrive in careers in writing, such as on-page and off-page optimization, integrating SEO with overarching business strategies, conducting website audits with a search engine in mind, and targeting local and global audiences, making it one of the best resources to learn content writing online.

Take Course

Content is King: Writing Killer Content for Web & Marketing

This course is designed for writers at all levels. It provides the learners with a comprehensive tutorial on creating web-optimized content, and by the end of the course, the learners will be able to:

• Discover the basics of content writing
• Learn how to use efficient research techniques to attract more audiences.
• Learn the essential writing techniques that can help attract a target audience.
• Create content that is outstanding to draw in more visitors.

Take Course

Content Writing Secrets: Complete Guide to Content Marketing

Also one of the best online resources for content writing, this Udemy course offers a complete guide on the subject and explores everything a beginner content writer needs to know to master the art of content writing.

By the end of this course, the learners would:

• Understand the fundamentals of content writing.
• Improve their content and copywriting, audience research, and posting techniques.
• Learn the fundamentals of on-page SEO.
• Learn about technical blogging tools

Take Course

Best Tools for Content Writing Online

Writing Tools

• Google Docs: A Google web and app-based word processor that allows writers to write, edit and save files online to the Cloud. Google Docs allows writers to easily share articles with others without bulky file shares.
• Microsoft Word: An app-based Microsoft Office Suite product and a word processor that allows writers to write, edit and save files offline.

SEO Tools

• Ahrefs: creates reports for off-page SEO activities, reveals insights, depicts the essential components of content such as the headers, meta description, and word count, and tracks all backlinks, no-follow links, and other links.
• Google Analytics: Researches keywords, tracks, analyzes, and reveals website traffic. Also, it optimizes the page and reveals insights on metrics such as conversion goals, traffic source on the web, in-depth analysis, and user metrics.

Keyword Research Tools

• SEMrush: Helps you find related and profitable keywords for your content to drive more traffic to your website
• Wordstream: This is similar to SEMrush. In addition, this tool helps you find relevant keywords for your content and assigns a competition score to each keyword so you understand the competitiveness.
• Google Trends: This helps you to find trends at each particular time.

Grammar Checker Tools

• Grammarly: Corrects grammatical errors and alerts you when your content needs to be more engaging, precise, and readable. It also checks for plagiarism.
• ProWritingAid: Checks and corrects grammatical errors.

Graphic Design Tools

• Canva: Visualization makes even great content better.
• Poster My Wall: Similar to Canva, this online program allows you to create your own images and download in different formats.

Other content writing tools include:

• Hemingway Editor: For writing and content evaluation. Also, it highlights content passages that require improvements.
• Yoast SEO: An SEO plugin that allows writers to explore tips for optimizing their content for search.
• AnswerThePublic: A research tool that helps you quickly find what people are searching for.
• Ubersuggest: Keyword suggestions; displays data on term competitiveness, CPC, and monthly search traffic.

Conclusion

Now that you are familiar with the best resources for learning content writing as well as the best content writing practices and tools to help make writing easy, you could apply for either of the courses or more, and you could be landing your big content writing job next or writing your blog next.

Originally posted on our home base at unpluggddigital.co. Check it out to see more of what we do and how we can work with you.

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