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Tutorial > Content Writing Guides > Courses, Eligibility & How to Kickstart Content Writing Career AUGUST 23, 2017

Courses, Eligibility & How to Kickstart Content Writing Career

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Content writing is no doubt among the fastest growing careers of 2017. And I agree – The attraction towards this career is totally justi ed! The low entry bar coupled with the unique advantage of being Full-time / Part-time career works for many. And to top it all, Industry’s willingness to let employees Work-from-Home has made this career accessible to a large chunk of Job searchers. But with so many people trying to get into this eld, the most frequent questions come from the ones trying to x this as their career. The rapid growth of Online Content Writing has left many basic questions unanswered! And today, these are the ones we will focus on: 1. What are the courses I should take to make a career in Content Writing? 2. Do degrees matter while applying for this job? 3. Where can I train and practice to become a better writer? 4. This one Institute is o ering a diploma! Should I take it? 5. What are the eligibility and Quali cations one requires? Let’s try and answer these questions Focusing on the Career needs of a Content Writer.

Overview 1. Misconceptions about Content Writing Services 2. What are the Demands & Requirements of Recruiters 3. How to build Required Skills for Free 4. Utilizing the Free Sources of Learning 5. Paid Courses, Degrees 6. Practice & Training

Misconceptions about Content Writing Services When talking about “Content Writing”, people generally don’t understand that Content Writing is a Blanket Term(a.k.a. Umbrella term). It is not a single service but includes over 16 di erent types, based on use cases. So when choosing this as a career, you must be sure about what suits your needs and work for it accordingly!

Here are some facts, budding writers should know:

1. Content Writing Services can be divided into 3 major headings, namely â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Creative Writing, Knowledge-Based & Research Based Writing. All of these combined constitute more than 16 di erent types!All about the di erent All about Di erent Types of Content Writing Services

2. Most of these di erent Content Writing Careers have existed for a very long time. It is not a new phenomenon. 3. Content Marketing services & Writing for blogs and websites grew with the rise of the internet. And this is the most recent form of writing! 4. When people talk about Content Writing, they mostly talk about the Online usage of Content Writing. If you have decided which Content writing career you wish to choose, we shall now look at the exact Requirements of Industry Recruiters!

What are the Demands & Requirements of Recruiters To understand which skills you need to focus on, we need to rst see what recruiters are looking for in a Content Writer. And for this, we went ahead and pulled the projects from top Freelance websites to nd the most common requirements. Here is what we found:

The most frequent and repeated requirements are : 1. Seo, 2. Online Marketing, 3. Strong Language skills 4. Technical Knowledge of Business Speci c Content 5. The ability to write a lot of content.

Inference: 1. The business speci c content changes with di erent projects. But apart from it, all the above requirements remain common in most of the Freelance Projects. And these are the exact things that a budding Content Writer should focus on. Also, Since one cannot be a focusing on a speci c business type for the entire writing career, the role of research is very important in Content Writing. I would go as much much as to say that “Research is as important as your skill to write.” 2. Strong Language Skill is another such highly repeated requirement. As shown in the picture below:

Â Check out All Vocabulary tools for Online writing

This same technique can be used by you to gure out the requirements for your speci c industry. For example, if you wish to grow speci cally as a Technical writer, you may get a result similar to this:

Just re up your favorite Freelance website and Search for the Job pro le you wish to build your career in. It doesn’t matter if it’s a full-time job or a freelance activity. The purpose of this step is to gure out the Industry Requirements to build a suitable pro le with Targeted strong points! So, if you are looking to build your career in Technical Writing, you need to Expand your knowledge in Research, a Speci c Technicality & Language. And this is it! You have now gured out the topics you need to cover for a successful career.

How to Build the Required Skills for Free You can use paid or free services to sharpen your Content Writing skills. I would suggest you rst look at how to utilize the free knowledge available online. And once you have understood the scope of work, you can progress to the Paid Services. Here is how you can sharpen skills for free: 1. Learn from other’s blogs! Just the way you have landed on this post, there are thousands of blogs that can help you learn the basics of Content Writing. The reason why such blogs are helpful is that the information here is limited. Generally, blogs like ours deal with a speci c topic.

2. After clearing the bases, Follow Industry Professionals In uencer blogs are huge! And the topics they cover sometimes go so technical that it gets overwhelming. This is why In uencer blogs should be your second stepping stone for skill sharpening. How to Connect with Bloggers and In uencers

Now let’s go through the common skills one by one and check out the best sources available to expand your knowledge!

Requirement 1 – SEO a. What is SEO? Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of tra c to your website through Organic Search Engine results. And an Organic Search result is nothing but the result you get on Google without the ads. Here is an example:

b. Where can you learn more about SEO? In terms of SEO, the industry changes so fast that you have to be an active learner. Thankfully SEO is a term that’s well talked about and has a strong community. So you will nd a lot of people talking about it. Reputed Blogs and Social Media updates are a good place to learn about SEO.

c. Industry Professional Blogs you should follow Here are the 2 most prominent Industry leaders in SEO: Learn SEO and Search Marketing with Moz, Neil Patel’s blogs on SEO

Google New SEO update! How important is Fred?

Requirement 2 – Internet/Online Marketing a. What is Internet Marketing? Online marketing is a set of powerful tools and methodologies used for promoting products and services through the internet. It includes building customers through Social Media Channels, Websites and Search Engines. This is also known as Digital Marketing & it can be paid (for example – Ads), or free (in case of Content Marketing)!

b. Where can you learn more about it? Like SEO, Online Marketing also has a huge community and hence a lot of free information can be found in the form of blogs, webinars etc…

c. Industry Professional Blogs you should follow Below are a few prominent Industry leaders in Online Marketing: Buzzsumo Webinars & Blogs on MarketingQuicksprout guides to making better content for the web Will Blunt’s awesome articles on Blogging Also, read the Guide to Content Marketing Essentials for Writers 2019

Requirement 3 – Strong Language Skills Since language is the base for any type of writing, I would not suggest to build it through free online content posted by individuals and companies. Moreover, it doesn’t change over time so you should go forward with traditional education for this. Although, don’t worry if you are tight on cash! I would suggest a few free and paid courses under the next heading!

Requirement 4 – Ability to Research

Due to limited resources, I use Google the most for my research. It sure does take a lot of digging, but there are no other better alternatives as of yet! I would suggest you Learn & utilize Google Shortcuts as much as you can. Here is a link to understanding Google shortcodes for better research. Check out how these Google shortcuts can be used to nd a Job Automatically

Utilizing the Free sources of learning If you are a student with nancial problems or wish to learn with minimal expense, here are the top Free online courses. Disclaimer: In this list, I have only used Edx personally and am just putting forward what I could research.

Edx â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Learn anything Edx is an organization established by MIT and Harvard University that acts as an open-source technology platform to deliver online courses. And trust me, it is just as awesome as it sounds. All courses here are free but if you wish to get a certi cate, you need to pay an average 80$ Here are a few of Edxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Free Online Writing Courses. More speci c courses can be found by just visiting the website and searching for your speci c requirement. Below is a snapshot of a sample Edx certi cate:

If you are especially thinking about taking a course in any Language, English, Spanish, Mandarin etc, this is the best free online source!

Skillshare and Udemy Courses I have heard a lot about these courses but personally, cannot vouch for their quality. Hence I am linking an article for you to gure out according to your speci c requirements. Here are 8 free courses for Content Marketing and Writing!

Paid Courses & Degrees for a Content Writing Career Truth is that most of the Bloggers/Content Writers today have never gone for any physical course speci cally related to blogging, Internet Marketing or Content Writing. One of the main reasons for that may be the unavailability of such courses in our school time. But if you ask me today, I still donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think anyone needs a course for a speci c certi cate. Because out of the top few requirements, majorly all are available online for free.

Paid certi cates & degrees I would suggest BA/MA in English Literature I think if any degree plays an important role while applying for online writing jobs, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the Language Degree! This snapshot on my resume is the only degree that has made any di erence while considering a job application:

Rest all is based on marketing through LinkedIn connections. The most important thing in a Content Writing career is probably networking. And if in any case there is a scope for certi cates, Language skills would be your best bet! Also, if you are looking for a short course, visit Edx for languages, and pay for the certi cate. It would help you out!

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Paid certi cates & degrees I would not recommend When I looked at the results on Google’s rst page for “Content Writing Courses”. The results that came up were not something I would recommend. It’s not that I have taken the courses and didn’t like them. But it’s because the certi cates they provided would not be bene cial to anyone. Since Generally people evolve in marketing and the industry itself is fast changing, it’s impossible for you to learn it all in a single course and get to work. In fact, Google rolls out new updates nearly every day! It’s only if you have the knack for searching, researching and learning while you work, you should choose a career in content writing for the web.

Other Paid Classes British Council Of India While researching online, I came across this one course that looked promising with positive reviews. And it was by British Council of IndiaLocation – With 2 bases, It’s located in Delhi and Kolkata Price – 13000 INR If you wish to see other options, Here is a link to other recommended classes for Creative Writing Courses in India

LinkedIn Learning LinkedIn has grown leaps and bounds recently. Their journey into educational courses like LinkedIn Learning started after the acquisition of Lynda.com. Although not related to content writing, I have studied a course or two back when these courses were under Lynda.com. And now that it’s come under LinkedIn’s Umbrella, It’s become even more accessible! There are many Paid classes available for Content Writing, Marketing & Advertising. Be sure to give them a try! I highly doubt LinkedIn would disappoint you.

Pluralsight for Software Learning If it’s not just about writing and you are a bit into graphic design and other software related work, Pluralsight is also an awesome place to learn. It’s just because they go by examples. The projects of which are downloadable and can be studied at your own pace. Here is our portfolio of graphical content matching the current industry standard.

Practice & Training Finally, the Best way to train and become a better writer is to Make your own blog and post regularly. When it comes to self-learning, you would only remember things when you experience them. So no matter what course you take, just remember to run your own blog. And pay us a visit whenever in doubt. The Complete Online Writing Process

We are known for writing highly detailed and informative articles related to Content Writing & Marketing. And your questions would help us create better content each time! Don’t forget to put them in the Comment section.

Related Posts: 1. All about Di erent types of Content Writing Services 2. 4 things before starting GETTING INTO CONTENT WRITING 3. The true meaning of Content Curation & Aggregation 4. Which Content type attracts your Target Audience

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