- July 16, 2024
- by Bhavik Sarkhedi
- Content Writing
People often get confused when it comes to content writing. But, let me tell you it is one of the amazing and lucrative job options. In this era of rapid digitalization, content is now everywhere. Internet being the centre for every industry and every job – content has truly become the king’. With strong and engaging content, you can expand your business rapidly. So, if you love writing and want to make it a career of out it, you must take the leap. However, if you don’t know how to do it, not to worry. We are here to help you. The blog below will give you an insight to how can you become a pro content writer in India with detailed tips for successful career in content writing. Let’s begin.
What is the Purpose of Content Writing?
To become a professional, you need to have a deep understanding of content writing. Firstly, you need to know what is content. Therefore, content is basically information to help people educate, inspire, and motivate. To simplify it, the main purpose of content is to solve problems with relevant information. In this way, you will be able to establish strong trust with them.
However, it is crucial to know how to write content. You either write to increase your search engine ranking or be more creative. Due to this, content writers forget that content needs to be simple. Furthermore, content with fancy words can be equally confusing for the readers. That’s where you can lack behind in content writing.
However, you don’t need to worry about that. All you just need is a regular practice to understand content writing. This will help you sharpen up your skills and create engaging and useful content for your readers.
Different Types of Content Writing
Yes, there are different forms of content writing that you must know. These types of content writing will help your shape your write-up in a precise manner. Thus, when you know what you are writing, you can change the tone and approach of the content accordingly. These are the different types of content writing.
Copywriting– For copywriting, you write content for advertisements, websites, product descriptions, sales collateral, etc.
Blog Writing– This type of writing is popular and engaging. You write different articles, interviews, blogs, research, etc.
E-mail Writing– It includes newsletters, e-mails, ad campaigns, etc.
Script Writing– Script writing is also a popular type of content writing. You write about video scripts, descriptions, captions, etc.
Research Paper Writing– In this writing, you write for journals, research papers, magazines, etc.
Academic Writing– For this writing, you will write information for school and university students, etc.
Technical Writing– In this type of writing, you stick to technology-related content such as product descriptions, blogs, etc.
Travel Writing– This comprises magazine articles, travelogues, etc.
Ghost Writing– For this, you write e-books, website content, research papers, etc.
Content for Social Media– This type of content writing includes posts for social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. You also write PR articles as well as infographics captions.
Hence, you can specialize in any above-mentioned fields as a content writer. Read further to know how to do it the right way.
What is the average salary of a Content Writer?
However, after considering the different types of writing, you need to understand the salary. The salary of a content writer totally depends on the quality and experience. Also, the type of work is a major factor that influences your salary.
For fresher level, you can expect a salary of a salary upto 15k in a month. Furthermore, many companies can offer you more than that as well.
After gaining some years of experience, you can expect a salary of 45k to 60k as well. But, it is still not clear how much you can get as a content writer. Hence, you must continue to create better content and improve your portfolio with a better salary.
How to Become a Content Writer in India?
Becoming a content writer is not so tough. But, you must value your work and continue to improve your skills. As it is said above, there is huge competition in the market for every field. Thus, you have to remain prepared for that. To do that, you have to understand the skills that you will need to become a content writer. Have a thorough look at them below.
Brilliant Writing Skills
Firstly, it is obvious to become a content writer you need to have excellent skills in writing. But, when you are a fresher it can be really confusing. You may ask how to know whether the writing style is good or not?
Thus, the best way to understand is the writing should be simple and balanced. Yes, it might seem common, but that’s true. You should assume that you are a reader and read your own content. So, if you are not able to understand your own content, then how can a reader do that? This is the best trick that can help you become an excellent content writer in the future.
Doing the Research
Secondly, research and excellent content go hand-in-hand. Yes, you can only write good content when you do extensive research on it. Content writers are not robots or scholars who know everything about every topic. Thus, you will need the internet and search for the right information to complete the task.
Furthermore, you also need to know which information available on the internet is relevant. All these things do matter in the field of content writing. You have to combine your analytical and research skills to produce engaging content.
Language Skills
Thirdly, if you are a content writer, you must have language skills. You can only attract the target audience through your content. Thus, the skill becomes extremely crucial for all budding content writers.
You need to have excellent withhold of grammar, and knowledge of sentence structure. It also includes punctuation, avoiding spelling mistakes, and using appropriate words according to the requirement. Hence, the faster you learn this, the better you become at every step.
Following the Principles for Readability
When you become a content writer, readability becomes an everyday tool. Do you know what it is? Well, when you write content, you need to check it on the readability checker. If you get a good score, then your write-up is engaging and understandable.
However, to achieve a good readability score, write in such a way that you are taking to the readers. Also, make sure that you have an active voice throughout with short sentences. Hence, slowly and gradually learn how to do it accurately. After some time you will discover that you don’t need any readability checker anymore to produce attractive and engaging content.
The motto of the Content
Before starting to write content, you need to ask what is its purpose. You need to understand the message that you want to convey to the readers. Thus, you need to ask is it promotion, informative, etc.
So, keep this message in mind and make sure to highlight it regularly throughout. Also, shift your tone accordingly and make it impactful for your audience. So, you must ask your client about the motto of the content before starting it off.
Generating Ideas
Additionally, one of the tough phases of content writers is generating ideas. It is natural that sometimes we don’ know how to start writing. To reduce this chance, you must also read books and remain updated with the news. You should have curiosity about what is trending now or what’s the latest news. Also, you can improve the value of the content and enhance it as per your choice.
Hence, you can also use social media to get more exposure for new ideas for content writing. In this way, you will have a constant flow of information to boost the content. Also, you must make notes of your ideas and research regularly.
Be Creative but Precise
Content writing also shows how creative you can become. But, creativity doesn’t mean you should get away from the topic. Hence, you have to remain precise about the information you are writing. Also, you should not let other ideas indulge in a single content.
However, don’t constrict your content with just the information. Thus, it is upon you how you can use quirky words and an appropriate tone for your content. For that, you need to decide the total words that you need to write upon a topic.
Editing Techniques
Furthermore, to become a pro content writer, you should avoid any kind of mistake. Be it grammatical, spelling, etc. there should be no mistakes. So, how can you avoid it? It is simple, just proofread the document after completing your writing.
You will notice unwanted words that you can remove, grammatical errors, punctuation. Finally, you will observe that the flow will automatically improve. Therefore, make sure to edit your content to develop your skills.
Format of the Content
The next important thing about content writing is its structure. Good content comprises of introduction, sub-heads, and conclusion. Along with that, the content should contain bulleted lists to make it appear streamlined.
Also, you can add pictures, charts, to make it look attractive to the readers. Hence, a good structure of the content will automatically improve your readability score. Make sure that the headline is crisp and attractive. It should create curiosity among the readers to get their answers. Now, you can write good content effortlessly.
Originality
You are not a content writer if you copy work from others. Yes, to make a good content you need some research and take inspiration from others. But, you have to write it in your own way. No one will read your plagiarised content.
Hence, you have to make sure that you are not copying any content from the internet. Also, you can use online tools that can help you check for any plagiarism in your content. Overall, you have to be original and make your every content unique to your readers.
Management of Time
As you know, the digital world is moving at a fast pace. Also, it becomes tough to say what will be trending the next moment. Thus, you have to maintain strict timings for your content to publish. In this way, you will also reduce the fuss that can affect your work.
You will also be given tight deadlines by clients to complete the work on time. So, you need to make sure that tight scheduling doesn’t affect the quality of your content in any way. Hence, you need to improve your skills in time management.
Kickstart Your Journey As a Content Writer
If you think that there is a strict pathway to becoming a content writer, then it’s not. Anybody can become a content writer. All you have to keep in mind is that you need to be good at writing. Hence, you can learn all other things later. So, if you want to kick-start your journey as a content writer, you can follow the below steps.
Education
You can opt for content writing at any point in your education milestone. Whether it is high school completion or graduation or after post-graduation, you can start from anywhere. Let’s look below at how to start content writing at different stages.
Completing Class 12th– There are many students who love writing and start their preparation early. However, you can do that too. There are several internships that you can apply for. In this way, you can make a strong foundation for your career in this field.
Competing Graduation– You can also do internships as a content writer and study along. At the end of graduation, you will find that you have more skills and experience. So, if you can do that, then you can start now.
Post-Graduation– However, if you have completed your post-graduation, then you can apply to those companies that match your specialization. A master’s degree will help you get in-depth knowledge and you can also become an expert writer.
Therefore, you don’t have to worry if you are unsure about content writing. There are several options that can help you out to become a pro content writer in India.
Creating a Portfolio
Firstly to become a content writer, you have to make an impressive and strong portfolio. As a new writer, you can find it difficult to win the trust of people. For that, a strong portfolio does half of the work. Hence, make sure you design a portfolio that highlights your qualities and strength.
Therefore, the company will understand the quality of the work by looking at your portfolio. If you want, you can attach some certificates to your portfolio to increase its weightage.
Learn Digital Marketing and SEO
Secondly, content writing is a wide platform. So, if you want to grow as a professional, then you must learn all the skills required for the digital platform. Hence, you should not shy away to upskill yourself to become the first choice in the industry.
SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimisation is not extremely crucial for content writing. Therefore, you will surely need it when you will be assigned a task. So, you must learn about digital marketing and SEO as soon as possible.
Internships
Every company wants to hire a skilled and experienced writer. But without work, how you can gain experience. Well, the solution is to get into an internship. There are several online platforms that can help interns get valuable internships with a stipend.
No one can teach you creativity. But you need the above skills to have a successful career as a content writer. During an internship, you get the chance to work on live projects as a content writer. Remember that the internship you choose must provide a certificate of completion. This will help you get a job as a content writer in the future.
Therefore, some of them are Upwork, Internshala, HelloIntern. Here, you can choose select internships and apply to them. Then, you can start your gaining the required experience you need in this field.
Freelancing
Additionally, after gaining some experience from your internship, you can become a freelancer. You can also gain experience while doing freelancing. The freelancing field of India for content writing is wide. Hence, it is a great opportunity to explore and learn professional technicalities.
As a freelancer, you only take the decision on how much time you should spend on projects. With time you will see that you have gained a lot of work experience and quality writing. As a result, you can expect a higher salary for a job as a content writer.
There are several apps that can help you freelancing jobs such as Truelancer, Worknhire, Upwork, etc. So, now you can start working and provide the best to your clients. As a result, you will automatically start gaining recognition in the industry.
Have Thorough Knowledge of Social Media Platforms
As it is already said above, you must have thorough knowledge about social media platforms. In the past few years, Facebook has evolved as a great platform to reach new people easily. It helps to promote any kind of content to a wide audience effortlessly. However, if you have some extra knowledge on how to use it, then you can flourish.
Other platforms such as LinkedIn also help you to connect with established writers. You can expand your knowledge and get perfect guidance during the initial phase of your career.
Start Your Blog
Yes, starting your blog will help you build a strong portfolio. Along with that, you can improve your writing by regularly writing your blog. There are blogging sites such as WordPress where writers come forward and regularly write a blog.
Additionally, you can also earn money through blogging. Having a blog site will also help you choose the right niche for the future. Hence, it is a great step to begin your journey as a blogger and improve the weightage of your CV.
Qualification You Need to Become a Content Writer
Do you know there is no specific qualification to become a content writer? Yes, you can belong to any educational stream and become a content writer. You need to know that science as well as art in content writing. As a content writer, you can write blogs, to research papers. So, you have to tweak your writing style accordingly. Hence, content writing should more focus on utility than on creativity.
The uniqueness of Your Content
However, your content must be unique. Otherwise, your content will have no value for the client. You must practice and develop a new style of writing to add uniqueness. To achieve that, you have to build a habit of reading.
Rather than limiting yourself within your write-ups, you need to know how others are writing. Yes, you have to write every type of content to understand to achieve a precise style. However, it may not be possible to read several things at once, but you have to remain consistent.
Therefore, you will also get to know which field of content writing is interesting for you. After that, you can select a specialization and establish a career in that.
What is the average salary of a Content Writer?
After considering the different types of writing and ways to write, you need to understand the salary into this career. The salary of a content writer totally depends on the quality and experience. Also, the type of work is a major factor that influences your salary.
For fresher level, you can expect a salary of a salary of upto an average of 15k in a month. Many companies can offer you more than that as well depending on your talent and creativity.
After gaining some years of experience, you can expect a higher salary of 45k to 60k. But it is never a clear set way as to how much you can get as a content writer. Hence, you must continue to create better content and improve your portfolio growing up with a better salary.
Apply For a Job in Content Writing
So, after you have successfully gained knowledge about content writing, it’s time to get a job. However, you can also choose to remain a freelancer and work according to your preference. Otherwise, you can move ahead and become a full-time writer in a company.
Getting a job can help you get timely payments and also a certificate for achievements. In the initial days, you might have to face some problems to understand and get a low salary. With gradual experience, you will receive increment as well. Also, you will be able to deliver content before the deadline and impress your client.
Conclusion
There is no hard and fast rule on how to become a content writer. But it is equally important to know the right steps that you can take. It’s is not just about writing, but also about maintaining its quality. The better the quality, the higher rank you will receive for your content and reach a wide audience. Hopefully, the above information helped you understand how to become a pro-writer in India and make a successful career in it.