Content writing is the process of writing, editing, and publishing content in a digital format. That content can include blog posts, video or podcast scripts, ebooks or whitepapers, press releases, product category descriptions, landing page or social media copy and more.
Whenever I start a new blog post, like this one, I start with plenty of online research — but that's not where it ends.
After Googling relevant topics, including "content writing tips", I begin creating an outline using some of the information I find online.
However, your piece will never rank if you just copy-and-paste the same information that already exists online — and, even if it does, when your readers catch on (and they will), they'll lose trust in your brand as an authority within the industry.
Once I finish my rough outline (which will include about 60% of the information I found through online research), I fill in the remaining 40% with unique, original insights. If I know about a topic personally (as is the case with "content writing", since I'm a content writer myself), I'll fill in the outline with original anecdotes, tips, or personal examples.
Your writing can be absolutely stunning, but if it's not SEO-optimized, no one will ever read it.
As a content writer, it's critical you become familiar with SEO when it comes to writing.
Being an SEO-savvy writer can help you ensure your content ranks on whichever platforms you're publishing, including YouTube, Google, or even social sites like Instagram.
Plus, you can use SEO to ensure you're writing about the most popular topics related to your products or services, and covering the right sub-topics when you're writing about a given topic.
For instance, "content writing tips" is a keyword phrase I found when conducting keyword research on the topic of "content writing" as a whole — it's not necessarily a sub-topic I would've considered covering in this blog post had I not done the research to recognize HubSpot readers are seeking out that information.
Ultimately, learning key SEO tactics will help you become a writer whose more attuned with your readers' challenges, and ensure you create content that more accurately answers those challenges.
