Have you been struggling to learn how to write content for a website?
This seems to be 1 of the most common things that most people find to be quite challenging when their first getting started in the online world.
Personally, for me, this was 1 of my biggest challenges due to the fact that I was 1 of the worst writers ever and my grammar stunk lol
Did I let that stop me?
Heck NO!!
This did set me back a bit, but I continued to push forward and eventually, my writing improved drastically as you can tell as you’re reading this post.
In the following post, I’ll be breaking all of this information down for you guys and giving you a step by step guide on how you can write helpful, engaging content that reaches out and grabs your readers attention.
If you have ever attempted to build a website on your own in the past, and you struggled with writing content, then I think you owe it to yourself to stick around and absorb the information that I’m about to share with you guys today.
Let’s Get Started, Shall We?
How Do You Find Content To Write About?
There are literally content ideas everywhere you look and all content that you read online stems from an actual idea that someone has had at 1 time or another.
Depending on your niche (Topic of interest) that you have decided to go with will determine the type of content you’ll be writing about.
For example, if you were in the weight loss niche you could write about 5 ways for you to lose weight and keep it off without going on a diet or starving yourself.
Another great way to find content ideas to write about is by utilizing tools like ubersuggest.
Simply enter a few keywords into their search bar and this nifty tool will spit out lots of relevant keyword ideas that you could use to come up with ideas for writing your next content piece.
You could also use the alphabet soup technique which happens to be 1 of my personal favorites when it comes to finding content ideas to write about.
These are just a few of the many ways you can use to find content to write about in your respective niche.
How To Determine What Keywords To Write About
Before you do any type of writing you need to do some keyword research so that you know what keywords to target in your content. You can use any keyword tool that you would like, but I personally like to use Jaaxy to do all of my research.
Why?
I can research multiple keywords at once and find out how much traffic and searches a particular keyword receives on a monthly basis along with how many other competing websites are currently ranked for any keyword in under 1 minute.
Can your keyword tool do that?
As an online marketer, time is your most valuable asset and like they say, time is money.
When it comes to keyword research I like to follow the +100/-100 rule so that I can get ranked fairly easy in the search engines.
What is the +100/-100 rule?
I’m glad you asked. This means that you should target keywords within your content that get 100+ monthly searches and have less than 100 QSR (Competition)
Take a look at the screenshot below to get a better idea of what I’m talking about
From the keywords listed above, which ones would you say fit into the 100+/ -100 rule?
I can find at least 4 of them that would fit into this rule.
Click here to learn more about Jaaxy and see why it’s my go-to keyword tool of choice.
Let’s continue on, shall we?
Research, Research, Research!!
Now that we have found our topic, done some keyword research, and even learned a thing or two about keyword research, it’s time to do some research before sitting down and writing all of this out.
Research is 1 of the most important things when it comes to writing content for your website!!
A well researched thought out informative article that’s engaging and has a compelling headline could possibly earn you thousands of dollars if you go about this the right way.
This will also help build your authority within your niche and make you look like a pro even if you’re still new to the online space.
Always do your research!!
In the next section, I’ll be showing you guys how to write all of this out and where to place the keywords that you picked.
I’ll also be showing you how I break all of this down and providing you with the template that I use to structure my articles.
Breaking These Ideas Down & Learning Where To Place Keywords In Your Content
Once you have decided upon an idea and you have researched a few keywords then you’re ready to turn this into a content masterpiece.
However, there are quite a few other things that you’ll need to do before any of this can happen.
Do you guys have any idea what this is?
Your first order of business would be to make sure your keywords are in the title and the first paragraph of your content. You can use thiese keywords a few more time in your introduction paragraph but don’t overuse them.
Instead, you can use LSI keywords (Relevant keywords) throughout your content to get your point across.
Now just write naturally and introduce your topic and let your readers know what you’re about to talk about.
From there you would need to expand on this topic and answer any questions pertaining to this like I’m doing right now in this article.
Also, I like to cover the 5 W when I write out my content and I’ll list these for you guys below
- Who
- What
- Where
- When
- Why
This format seems to work out really well for me and answers just about any question that my readers may have and provides them with the information they were looking for when they searched for this info in Google.
You also need to have some type of template for the many different types of content that you’ll be writing on your site.
Here is the template I use to structure all my pieces of content I write
- Introduction
- Introduce your topic
- Expand on this topic
- Headline 1
- Headline 2
- Headline 3
- Conclusion
I’ve been using this template for a couple years now and it’s working out very well for me.
Make Sure You’re Writing In A Conversational Tone
When writing out your content it’s highly imperative that you write in a conversational tone and pretend like your website visitors are sitting right next to you.
Kinda like the way I’m speaking to you guys at this very moment while I sit here and type this out.
This is how you need to speak to your audience when writing out your content.
This also makes for a much more interesting read and you will keep people on your website a whole lot longer by doing this as well.
There is nothing worse than reading a boring article where the writer has lost contact with their audience and is blabbing on about useless nonsense.
This is a really easy way for your visitors to click out of your website within seconds after they arrive. You should also be asking questions throughout your content and encourage your readers to engage in your content by either leaving a comment, or liking and sharing your post in social media.
This will also give you a boost in your rankings as well!!
If Google sees that people are commenting and sharing your posts then they figure that your content is valuable and informative and they will rank you higher in the search engines.
Need A Hand Getting Started Writing Your First Piece Of Content?
Everyone needs a hand now and then and I wish I would have had more help than I did when I first started out here a little over 5 years ago.
Over the years I have helped hundreds of people learn the proper way to build a business online. I have done everything from researched keywords for them and provided them with a template to use to structure their first piece of content on their website.
You can usually find me over at a place called Wealthy Affiliate where I hang out, and offer my help and support to anyone who needs it or has any questions as they first getting started.
If you are looking to join an online business training center that has over 1.4 million active members that have plenty of experience writing content and are earning at least a six figure income or more, then I would highly recommend that you check out WA for yourself.
This is where I got my start in the online world and this is the place that enabled me with the tools and training that I needed to earn a full time living in under 1 year.
Thanks to their awesome training and one on one help and support I was able to quit my full time job and work 100% online from the comfort of my home.
They make it super easy and affordable for you to get started by offering their Free Starter Membership that includes everything you need to get up and running without having to enter your credit card details.
They do have a premium membership that I highly recommend, but first I want you to check out the free membership and see if this is something that you would be interested doing before investing any of your hard earned money.
Do we have a deal?
I really am looking forward to working with as many of you as I possibly can.
I really hope this post has helped you guys out and has given you a basic outline of how to write content for a website and get ranked in Google and other search engines.
If you have learned something from reading this post then I would love it if you would share the love by sharing this article to your social media networks.
Still, have some burning questions that I failed to answer within this article? Please leave them for me in the comments below and I’ll get back to you with a reply A.S.A.P.
RichPersonality
Writing is just like any other skills… The more you do it, the better you become at it.
Like you, I also started out really badly many years ago and some people even said my content is written by a potato, haha!
Those reddit users are quite mean!!
Anyways, to make a long story short, , after many years of practicing and taking action I’ve been able to drastically improve my grammar and my spelling as well as my word count.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that I’ve become much better at it and I can easily write content that’s over 2000 words and I’m much more efficient and able to write a complete article in under 3 hours.
Thanks so much for such an inspirational and motivating article Scott. This makes me want to write even more content and I appreciate you taking the time to break all of this down for us today.
Rich
Scott Newkirk
Hey Rich,
Yes writing is definitely a skill that improves once you do it more and I totally agree with you on this assessment.
Like I said in the above article I used to really suck at writing and when I first started out here it would take me days on end the write an article.
As a matter of fact the thought of writing 400 words seemed really daunting and downright scary when I first started out.
Now I can write a 2k word post in just a few hours like it was nothing. Writing is a second nature for me now and the more I do the more I want to do.
You are very welcome Rich and thank you for dropping by and sharing your experience with writing with everyone here today.
I really appreciate it more than you know.
Cheers
~Your Friend, Scott~
Jacqueline
When I first started out as an Affiliate Marketer, I struggled with writing content.
Now with a little more practice, I find it much easier.
You have mentioned the 5 W when writing content.
Can this be used for all types of content or for only certain styles?
I do a lot of product reviews and then I also do informational posts.
Can this concept work for both of them?
Thanks
Jackie
Scott Newkirk
I think we have all struggled to write content when we first started out in Affiliate Marketing, Jackie.
I know I really struggled with this in the early stages and this was quite a battle for me in my first couple of years being involved in this business.
They always say practice makes perfect and this particularly holds true for this business.
Yes, the 5 W’s could work for different types of content as I have used this technique on several types of articles with lots of success.
I hope this helps answer your question and please let me know if you have any additional questions. I also want to thank you for dropping by and chiming in on this topic Jackie.
~Scott~
Israel
Hey Scott!
I struggled at the beginning, but like you said it’s all a matter of pushing forward.
Now, it’s hard for me to make posts which are less than 1500 words. I don’t know if that’s positive or negative, since I tend to talk about many stuff in one single post, which I guess maybe I could split into several.
Do you have an optimal number of words per post which works best for you in terms of catching reader’s attention and them not losing interest?
Thanks for the tips. It’s important to have those in mind. Especially the keyword research one! 😉
Scott Newkirk
Hey Israel,
Like you, I also struggled with writing back in 2012 when I first started out in the online world. As a matter of fact, just the thought of writing 400 words scared the crap out of me.
However, now I find it really challenging to write an article that’s less than 1500 words like you have said as well.
As long as your posts are engaging and keep your visitors entertained and you provide them with the information that they’re looking for then this would definitely be a positive thing.
You could write a 5k word post and it wouldn’t matter as long as you’re writing in conversational tone and speaking directly to your audience.
You know what I’m saying?
If you’re just rambling on tho and not really getting your point across then this could be a negative thing for you. It’s all about producing a high quality informative piece of content that people will enjoy reading and will likely share with their friends, family, and possibly to the world via social media.
As for a word count I don’t really have one as I feel this isn’t important. As a simple rule of thumb I like to make my posts 1,000 words minimum.
However, the majority of my posts here lately has been pushing closer to 1,500 to 2k words.
Crazy right?
Tell me about it!!
I never thought that 5 years later I would be giving people writing tips and showing them how to create beautiful content but I’m doing it and lovin every minute of it.
Thanks so much for stopping by today man and sharing your experience about writing with everyone here today.
I really appreciate it man!!
Take Care
~Scott~