When it comes to content writing online, this doesn’t necessarily mean writing articles. There are many types of content writing that can be used to sell your business and/or services to others, such as:
Web Content
Blogging
Social Media
Ad & Sales Copy
Expert, or Industry Writing
Journalistic/News Writing
Creative Writing
All of these 7 types of content writing still get used today and play a massive part in growing your business. If you stay with us, we’ll go through each one, explaining what they are and how they apply to a business online in today's society.
Web Content:
When it comes to content writing, It's like building a house, and in this analogy, web content is the foundation of that house.
Web content includes a lot of different types of content from your website, such as the home page, about us page, the contact page, and any specific landing pages, as this is where the company needs to build an online presence for themselves. Without having any of this information, readers wouldn’t be able to find what they are looking for, which means the rest of your content strategy has nothing to build upon. That’s why these web content pages are so important to create.
There are some skills that are needed when it comes to writing good web page copy, specifically, knowing about SEO writing. You must use those important keywords from your SEO research in your copy, as well as adding in engaging and friendly writing skills to your web content. A high-standard web page would also be more about the customer than just over-talking about the brand or product.
Blogging:
As we have already covered, web content is the foundation of your house. This means that blogging is the structure and the rooms of that house.
Blogging helps build your SEO presence and is one of the primary categories of content that provides your audience with context. It also gives businesses a way to nurture their leads, with fresh and consistent content. Not only do blogs display your brand's personality, but they also show others who you are, as well as what it is that you care about and how much you can provide for others.
Being an essential type of online content writing, and when correctly done, it can be a massive input into increasing your views, which leads to higher return on investment and your success overall.
For blogging, there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ format, as there are multiple different styles and tones of voice. These could vary between “how to” blogs, “what to avoid” blogs, or even something as simple as a list blog, and much more. If you regularly mix up the type of blogs you create, it can help increase your brand awareness and SEO ranking.
*Did you know… Any companies that post 11 blogs (or more) per month can gain more than 4X as many leads than companies that only post 4 or 5 times a month.*
Social Media:
In our house building analogy, now we have the foundations, the structure and rooms, we move onto the next step. Social media can be equated to the plumbing and wiring of the house. As without social media, if you don’t have any working kitchens or bathrooms, you aren’t going to be able to live in it.
Let’s think of social media as a supporting content player. It isn’t enough for a company to only have a social media presence and no other type of content writing, however, a company without any type of social media isn’t likely to make it very far in today's keyboard tapping society. If you come across a new brand for the first time online, you are likely going to click on their Twitter, Facebook or Instagram icon to see what the company is really like. This can play a huge part in a customer purchasing a product or service.
Even though social media can be time consuming for some business owners, it is definitely something you should be thinking about doing (if you don’t already) as it does work. A good social media writer, whether professional or not, will blend in fun and engaging writing with short but specific sentences and emojis to help promote their brand's message.
In some cases, social media managers can be paid to write captions for you and there is also software that helps you to discover trending and relevant hashtags depending on what you need. Content writing in social media alone is so much larger than you think and it’s so important for your business. You need to find the right type of platform for you, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, Tik Tok, Snapchat or Pinterest, but you must stay consistent with your posts, whatever platform(s) you are on.
Ad & Sales Copy:
This part is where your products and/or services come into play. This kind of copy is what brings new people on the outside to your brand and showcases who you are. Ad and sales copy is applied to all companies in all industries. This can take many different types of forms, from a paid campaign on LinkedIn, a long-from Facebook ad, a promoted tweet on Twitter or even just a sponsored post on Instagram.
Now we have the foundation, structure and plumbing/wiring of our house complete, it’s time to start furnishing it. The furnishing is what makes the house more appealing to buyers, just as ads sell your business’s products or services.
When it comes to sales copy, you must build audience trust before anything else. Advertising and sales copies today are written in a less pushy tone, and since then it has been said to bring in more real revenue. So instead, you want to be writing your posts in a friendly and approachable manner. A well designed ad will be focused on the correct audience to them, at the correct time, without being misleading and manipulative.
Expert, or Industry Writing:
Now onto expert or industry writing which can be described as the fine art collection in the house.
At some point during a company's life they will need expert writing. This is the highest level of writing that you may come across on the internet. Some more specific industries may need a high level ‘ghost writer’ that knows alot about the niche of their business. Most ghost-writers are able to write for a business in their own voice for their own blogs, like it is actually coming from the business itself. Sometimes, without an expert writer, companies can put themselves at risk with Google, as Google now looks for expert quality in their content writing.
If you are looking to get hired as an expert writer, you can charge much higher rates than the standard generalist. However, you should have a specific industry that you are focused on and can speak with a high amount of knowledge in that specific area.
Journalistic/News Writing:
If any company or business wants to get the word out about an important event coming up, a change in the company, some recent news, or a brand new product, journalism and PR writing is essential and is a good way to share that particular piece of news.
Going back to the new house we’re building, if you never invited anyone over, then nobody would be able to see all the hard work that you have put in to get it where it is now. Whether it's your furnishings, the painting, or the construction work. It would all go unnoticed by everyone. This is where your journalism and PR writing would come into action. Companies of all shapes and sizes can ‘invite people’ to see their ‘new house’ through press releases.
On the other hand, some do say that press releases are dead in this day and age, and yes, they can be if you are using them for SEO. However, if you are using PR writing to spread the news of something important, then they do in fact work.
Creative Writing:
Creative writing is here to help intensify and support every other type of content writing that we have spoken about on this list.
So for example, web content can be creative. Blogs can be creative. Social media, marketing copies and advertisements can also be creative. When it comes to creative writing, there is no limit. It can be squeezed in anywhere.
When it comes to content writing online, there is such a wide variety of what you can do to help promote your brand and business. Whether you are advertising a new product that has just been released, or you are writing a blog on what type of biscuits are most favourable amongst tea lovers. It all helps with growing your business and getting more engagement with a new product and/or service that you offer.
The last thing to add, whatever type of content writing you are creating, just make it as creative as you can. Add your own personal spin to it, make it showcase who you are and what your business is about, whilst also being friendly.
