CONTENT WRITING: PROVIDING THE 'SPEECH' TO A WEBSITE!

The Internet has become one of the key drivers of social evolution. It has changed our lives in more than one way and has introduced several concepts, which were hitherto unknown to us. Content writing is definitely one such concept. Content writing or online content writing is a category of work that first surfaced in the early 1990s, due to an exponential rise in online activities. It is the process of planning, writing, and editing web content, typically for digital marketing purposes. In other words, content writing aims to provide the " speech" to a website, summarising what the website is about and explaining what it can offer to its potential customers. It can include writing blog posts and articles, scripts for videos and podcasts as well as content for specific platforms. In general, the majority of content writing organizations offer the writing of article copy, blog posts, press releases, web page information, product descriptions, and other corporate material. While different pricing scales apply to these categories, most providers charge a fixed " by the word " rate for the job.

HISTORY OF CONTENT WRITING

With the global spread of the World Wide Web ( www) during the early 1990s, came the opportunity for businesses to represent themselves through a website. Later came search engines like Yahoo, Google, and Bing. Their goal was to categorize information found on the Internet and present it to those who were searching for it. This information is known as web content. The demand made by search engines for credible and well-organized information led to the development of commercial content writing services.

BASICS OF CONTENT WRITING :

No matter what is the nature of your business,  you have to keep in touch with your online customers through different channels and using various content formats.  With content, businesses can attract leads and foster positive connections with their audience, ultimately pushing them down the sales funnel. 87% of marketers leverage different content formats for each stage of the journey, from brand awareness to purchase decisions.

There is a certain step-by-step procedure for content writing. The foremost step is research. Even before choosing the topic to write about, it's essential to do the preparation work. Think about the business goal you want to accomplish and how you plan to use the content to do this. It is also essential to know your buyer persona - the kind of customers you want to cater to. For a business in today's digital era, it is important to remember that content writing is closely aligned with SEO or Search engine optimization. Google and other search engines play a vital role in sending organic traffic to websites and they value quality content. Thus acquiring knowledge about these contents is a must.

Once the preparation work is done, concentrate on your content. Take the time to carry out thorough topic research, so that you can come up with strong, strategic ideas for your content that will resonate with your audience and derive results. Your content should reflect factual, research-based information. If a brand generated fake content, it would immediately lose business.

Now, comes the stage of planning. Once you are clear about your goals, topics, content formats, respective funnel stages, and marketing channels, you can work out your content calendar. We recommend drawing your content plan and calendar on an excel sheet.

Last but the most important step is the task of writing. To make your write up interesting and factual, follow certain rules -

• Think of an enticing title.
• Use keywords.
• Make sure the content has a clear goal.
• Hook your readers from the first line.
• Make your copy scannable.
• Use visuals.
• Be consistent.
• Use data.
• Avoid spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.