Mistaken Ideas About Content Writing

content writing

Assumption or leaps to conclusions. Many people make assumptions or they leap to wild conclusions when they meet a freelance writer. One of the biggest assumptions is that content writers make big money. Some do but not everyone can make a living at doing this kind of work.

But it isn’t just the friends that make assumptions about content writing. There are freelancers who make their leaps to conclusions that make it hard for them to understand why they or their work is not liked.

Mistaken Ideas Freelance Writers Make

#1. Repetition Is a Good Thing

A lot of writers feel that saying the same thing over and over is a good way to write. In some cases, it will work, if the repeated content is placed in the right spots in the article.

However, repetitious writing is boring, redundant and turns most readers off, and keeps them from continuing reading the content. It is best to be fresh and use new words to say what you want to say.

Avoid plagiarism at all costs. Copying someone else’s words is never right even when preachers and celebrities do it.

#2. Length Matters

Many writers do not want to write long articles. Doing that task takes up a lot of time, which can be wasted if your client rejects the content. It is frustrating to do all that work for nothing. So they write short articles or take shortcuts which also ends up wasting their time.

Unfortunately, right now, longer articles indicate to search engines that you know what you are talking about. So longer is better. You can still write shorter articles, they just may not rank as well as longer ones.

In this business, you never know when the algorithms change, and short will be the desired requirement. The key is to do a good research so the search engines know you know what you are talking about.

#3. It Is Easy to be a Freelance or Blog Writer

No, especially if you get writer’s block. This can be one of the most difficult and demanding employment opportunities you can do. There are a lot of requirements that have to be met when you are a content writer.

A writer has to know the topic they are writing about, they need to know grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and so on. Then they have to be original in their content as well as fresh, conversational, friendly as well as interesting.

There is a lot of work involved and only the good ones make it seem easy.

#4. Good Content Is a Best Seller

Right now, content is king and it is unlikely that it will be dethroned any time soon. However, you are not the only writer out there producing good content. The competition is fierce and even though your content is great, it may need top-notch marketing skills to help it sell.

There are a lot of good content writers out there who know how to create great content. You are just one more in a long line of freelancers who can meet that objective. But do not let this fact stop you from creating good content.

#5. Big Words Are Impressive

To some people that is right but you are not always writing for scientists, academics, or graduate students. That means big words turn readers off. Those words may sound good and they are okay to use from time to time but not all the time.

There is what is called the K.I.S.S principle, which means Keep It Simple, Stupid. That is what you are aiming for. You want people to understand what you have written and keep reading. Big words do not accomplish that goal.

#6. SEO Strategies Save The Day

Not necessarily and the same reason applies here as it does with good content. Everyone else is using the same SEO strategies as you are. Someone will lose out and many times that someone will be you.

To keep a step ahead of the competition, you need to keep your eye on trends and what is relevant. Predicting the right trend can put you at the top of the heap if you pick it ahead of everyone else.

You need to learn when to employ the right SEO strategy and that is not always easy to do.

#7. Readers & Clients Care About You

That is what many freelance writers think and it is possible to forge friendships between clients and you. But do not think that you are high on their caring list. Unless you know your readers personally, don’t expect them to care about you either.

Both clients and readers care about receiving good content that will help them out. That is the reality of content writing. It is a business and it is treated like a business. Your feelings, personal tragedies, and so on do not mean a thing to them.

Your main goal is to make sure your client is happy with your content and that it makes them look good. Your next goal is to make sure the reader is getting the right content and it is written well while being easy to understand.

#8. I Can Write What I Want

Technically this is true, however, the reader and the client have the same freedom and can easily reject your work. If you lie or misrepresent a product or topic, you will not be a content writer for long.

You need to be honest, get all the facts, and then present it in the best way possible that brings value to the reader. This goes for your website content as well as a client’s website content.

Some Final Words

To be a good content writer you need to get past the mistaken ideas and into the real world of freelance writing. It is not an easy profession to be in and it takes a lot of work to be good. Make sure you are up to the task in order to have a chance at succeeding.