Content Writing is a fairly new job profile that involves a person physically creating or writing creative content on a wide variety of topics. Although when a person describes themselves as a “content writer”, it is not a descriptive job title that encompasses what the writer does. Content writing requires the writer to “wear many hats” that go with the job of writing content. But content writing is more about preparation.
Defining content writing is not easy and the definition itself may not do justice to the details that the term itself implies. However, we can try to give some perspective to the job description of a content writer.
Since most content writers use the Internet and provide online content in various circumstances, invariably content writing refers to online writing or content that is used online on the web for various purposes: web pages, portals, blog columns, ezines, news sites, references etc. So basically content writers are ‘online journalists’.
As stated above, a website writer is many things to many people, but there are common underlying elements that are shared. They can be full-time employees, part-time contractors, or freelance writers. The profile of a content writer includes many skills necessary to fulfill the skills and requirements of the job: being a subject matter expert, a reporter, a comedian, a salesperson, an advertising professional, and many more. Also, some writers are experts in SEO (search engine optimization) and HTML; they are the filters and amplifiers that project the company’s voice around the world and know the effectiveness of the keywords that are the “key” contributors to web content success. These are the elements that improve the interaction of the web audience.
In addition to these basic functions, the job profile of a content writer implies specific skills that may be innate but require coordinated efforts.
Investigate: it is the basis of good content writing.
All content writers need this basic qualification and skill to achieve success and stand out above the ‘rest of the crowd’. There are people who use the label ‘content writers’ but largely rehash content or use “gimmicks” to post content that they claim to be original. A good content writer is a researcher first, a writer second because no matter what the “topic of the matter” is, proper background research is needed to present information accurately, current, and creatively.
Editing: The ability to edit content that is poorly formatted, a rough copy with poor spelling.
Design: Putting together a blog post, web page, or e-zine requires considerable design intellect or visualization to envision how particular content will look or appear to a reader; could include the artistic placement of headings, topics, subheadings, and organizing the flow of content into a readable context.