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Welcome to Markethive

Posted by Judy Curtis on April 18, 2016 - 6:03am Edited 6/19 at 7:38pm

Content is King

Writing is a dream job, but it is not for everyone.  While there are some writers hired to write product descriptions for catalogs, there are others that turn out to be J.K. Rowling. Unfortunately, most writers have a better chance of writing product descriptions than they do of becoming best-selling authors.

There is more quantity on the internet than anyone could read in a millennium, but there will always be a place for good quality, timeless content.   Writing is one of those things just like meditation or exercise, and it’s easy to stop after you’ve seen the benefits of it.  Just like you begin to take your health for granted; you forget that the reason that you have good health is because of the practices you had!  With writing, it’s the same.  

Plain writing is best.  Short paragraphs, short sentences, and easy words are the most readable. So don't try to win any writing awards. Digital content is not what you learned to write in English class. Shorter and simpler are your mantras for better readability.

Ideally, great content will win over time. The reality is that if you create great content – and it gets no attention, then it won’t gain much in the way of ranking.  "Ideation" is a marketing industry buzzword that describes the creative process of finding a subject, title, and angle to write about; and ideation begins with analytics.

I consider my blog to be MY place and voice. Even if nobody reads this material, it helps you to internalize the message so that it stays relevant for your own life. It’s almost like accountable journaling in a way. You are accountable to anyone who does read it while you are journaling your thoughts and feelings.

Copywriting agencies combine copywriting services with a range of editorial and associated services, that may include brand positioning, message consulting, social media, SEO consulting, developmental and copy editing, proofreading, fact checking, layout, content syndication and design. Outsourcing such services allow businesses to focus on core competencies and to benefit from the specialized knowledge of professional copywriters and editors.

The content writer is a hard job to define simply because we have to be so many different things to so many different people, but we all do share a few things in common. Let’s take a look at some of the essential elements that make up a content writer, and examine how those elements would improve the way you interact with your web audience.

A technical blueprint is a step-by-step, visually enhanced article demonstrating exactly how to complete a task. Often the pictures tell the story more than the words do. Designers and programmers use this style of a blog post to show how they code a website, design an image using Photoshop, code software, or simpler activities like attaching a file to an email.  Consider a technical writing certificate.

Technical writing is a type of content writing that focuses on communicating technical material through manuals, reports, and online documents. This could be a how-to guide, a safety manual for a worksite, or a document on a process or procedure. There is a growing demand for technical writers who can explain complex procedures to the average reader. Most technical writing programs are accelerated and take one to two years to complete. These programs will focus on improving your organizational skills, your project management skills, your ability to create user guides and documents, and your ability to write content for online formats. Check your local college or university for a technical writing certificate program. Look at the faculty of the program to confirm you are being taught by professionals in the field or working content writers who are familiar with the demands of the writing industry. Certificate programs can be beneficial for writers who are new to content writing or technical writing.

Updated SEO knowledge is also critical. Search engine algorithms change constantly, and writers have to keep up. One thing remains constant: High quality is always in demand. If you can write in-depth content from a unique perspective, you'll be in demand.

We are designers. When a content writer puts together a piece for a website, e-zine, blog, or newsletter, he or she doesn’t just have to make sure that the piece is well written, it also has to be nicely formatted and properly displayed on the screen. With the clever and artistic placement of headings and subheadings, the content writer ensures that your copy doesn’t look like an insurmountable wall of text. A good content writer can take your complicated idea and turn it into an easily digestible and accessible piece of copy that pleases your readers, and keeps more eyes on you.

That there is the key!  What you’re targeting, and how you’re targeting. The more you can do, the better you can do it – the better the end result.  Promoting garbage works … but takes a lot of promotion. Promoting quality works … and takes less effort than promoting garbage … but takes a lot of effort to create.  Setup the on-site/technical, create the content, tweak for optimization, promote … and promote again revisit content tweaking … and keep that process going for each new piece. Most people don’t realize that some on-page values increase over time, nor that Google will rank new content based on older contents performance. So over time, you should naturally improve. Add in increasing your reputation and relationships, naturally increasing your exposure/promotion reach/rate … and again, you should naturally rank better over time.

Look for tips on writing and topics that are useful.  Then write and pretend no one will ever read it, and keep on writing.

Judy Curtis,

Contributor