If you’ve ever thought about a career as a writer, you’ll likely have been met with the hard truth that it’s very tricky to make a living in this line of work. Whilst this is true if you have your sights set on becoming a bestselling author, there are plenty of other career paths for enthusiastic writers which still allow you to utilise these skills every day.
Being a digital content writer is one of the best ways to spend a lot of your time writing whilst also having a career that will provide reliable and consistent financial support, which a role as an author generally does not. So if you’re a keen writer looking for how you can integrate your skills and passion into your job, this guide to starting a career in digital content writing is the perfect place to start.
What is Digital Content Writing?
Digital content writing is the process of creating written content for a range of digital platforms. This content could take the form of blog posts, landing pages, social media posts, emails or eBooks.
A digital content writer differs from a traditional writer because they’ll typically be creating content for a commercial or information purpose, instead of just writing creatively with the intention of publishing their work as a piece of literature. A lot of digital content writers work in the marketing industry or are part of the marketing department of a business, where they’ll write a range of content to be published across different channels.
What is Involved in Digital Content Writing?
Now you have a better idea of what digital content writing is. But what does it actually involve, and what will you spend your time doing in a job as a content writer?
Researching
The first stage of any piece of content is research. Depending on the length of the content you’re writing, this might take anywhere from fifteen minutes to several hours. Research involves finding all of the information that you need to produce the content, either through searching the internet, speaking to relevant experts, or gathering data yourself. In the case of SEO copywriting, the research process will also involve finding relevant keyword phrases to target to ensure that the content you’re writing is going to rank well on search engines.
Writing
Actually writing content will be the bulk of any career in digital content writing. You’ll likely spend a lot of your time working through a variety of content tasks, typically typing them up on a laptop or tablet, so you will need to enjoy spending a lot of your time working independently on the same kinds of tasks.
Editing
Editing your work is a crucial part of any role in writing, ensuring that you’ve spotted and fixed any mistakes and also making sure that you’ve used the right tone of voice and kept the standard high for the work you’re producing. This process might also involve input and feedback from other people, and if you’re producing content for a client then you may also go through several rounds of editing and feedback before a piece is ready to be published.
Publishing
The process of publishing a piece of digital content will vary depending on what the content is. If you’re uploading blog posts then you’ll need to spend time navigating different CMSs and potentially sourcing images, whilst uploading social media posts is quite simple and quick. Publishing your work might not always be a requirement for a digital content writer, but it can be really useful to know how to navigate different software so you can manage the process end to end.
Strategy
It might not be your responsibility at the start of your career, but many digital content writers are also responsible for coming up with ideas for the content they write, whether this is blog post titles or regular social media posts. This aspect of the role requires a good knowledge of general marketing strategy as well as relevant trends that your content might be inspired by, along with the ability to really understand the target audience and know what kind of content they’re going to respond to.
Top Skills for Content Writers
If you’re thinking about a career in digital content writing, there are several skills that employers will be particularly interested in and which will help you to perform well in the role. We’ve highlighted some of the most important of these skills below.
Organisation
Most digital content writers manage their own workloads and will be given multiple pieces of writing to do with different requirements and deadlines. You’ll need to be really organised in order to keep up with the different tasks on your plate and ensure that you understand what is required for each piece of writing.
Time Management
Leading on from that skill, time management in particular is a vital skill for a successful content writer. With plenty of tasks on your plate, you’ll need to be an efficient writer who can set and stick to deadlines to ensure that you’re producing enough work every day and also know how long different tasks will take you, so you don’t overload yourself with too much work.
Attention to Detail
Writers need to pay meticulous attention to detail, as every single word plays a part in crafting a piece of writing that is going to lead to a particular outcome. This skill is especially important when it comes to editing your work, as failing to notice little details is a problem that could have significant fallout.
Creativity
Of course, alongside all the necessary organisation, digital content writers also need to be creative. Whatever the brief you’re responding to is, creativity is essential to writing copy that is engaging, informative and distinct enough to make an impression on the reader and get them to take action, which is usually the goal with digital content.
Accountability
Being a writer is typically quite an independent career, even if you’re working as part of a team of other content creators. A lot of your time is likely to be spent writing by yourself, and you therefore need to be good at holding yourself accountable for staying focused and getting your work done. You also need to make sure that you’re consistently delivering high-quality work and remember to run all of the necessary checks in your editing process, which is important to remember if you’re the only one checking your work.
Resilience
Finally, a valuable skill to have in any creative role is resilience, particularly when it comes to feedback, When you’re writing a lot of content you’re bound to get challenging feedback sometimes which can feel very personal. The most successful digital content writers are the ones who can take this feedback in their stride and bounce back from it, remembering what’s been pointed out and using this to get better at their jobs.
Finding a Digital Content Writing Role
The good news is that digital content creation is a role that is in demand across a wide range of industries, so there are likely to be lots of different job opportunities when it comes to finding a role. If you’re able to get some experience as a copywriter before applying for jobs then that is great, but you can also just put together a portfolio of writing you’ve done independently as part of your application.
At the start of your career, you might find that applying for a role as part of any agency will be more valuable than an in-house digital writing job. In an agency, you’ll get the chance to work with a range of clients on all kinds of briefs, which will allow you to gain a great range of experience that will really help when it comes to finding your next role. This doesn’t mean that you can’t specialise in a particular industry however; there are all kinds of specialist agencies out there, from technical content writing agencies for STEM companies, to travel writing agencies for brands in this sector.
However, if you have a particular sector or type of company in mind already, plenty of brands hire in-house content writers who are responsible for producing all of the content that their company shares. You’ll need to be able to master a specific tone of voice and might be tasked with coming up with ideas for content, but you’ll be able to spend your time writing for a brand that you (hopefully) care about and connect with and might enjoy having one focus more than writing for a range of clients.
Summary
Being a digital content writer can lead to a career where you have plenty of control over your work and the chance to be creative every day, as well as allowing you the chance to work from almost anywhere if the writing you do is online. Content creation is a skill that is in very high demand at the moment, so if you are a skilled writer with an organised approach to work, this could be the ideal opportunity for you.
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