I have put together eight qualities you should look for in a good content writer. I have ranked these qualities based on their importance. I also explain each of them to help you understand better. If you are a business owner or entrepreneur, most of the things you are about to learn in this article will help you know what to look for when hiring a content writer to work for you. But if you are a content writer seeking improvement, this article will help you know what qualities or skills to focus on to become the kind of content writer you want to be.
Quality #1: A Good Content Writer Does Research before Writing
Every good content writer needs to know where to search and what source of information to trust. Not everything you read on the web is true. Therefore, the ability to analyze the information found on the internet is crucial. When a content creator researches a subject before they write, it helps them focus on the most critical aspects of the issue, avoid the most common mistakes other content writers make, and discover the weaknesses in other articles written on the subject so that they can do a better job.
Quality #2: Good Content Writers Know Their Target Audience
Would you speak to your boss the same way you speak to your little brother? Probably not. For this reason, a good content writer must know who they are going to write for. They have to understand what their audience is looking for and what they know and may not know about the subject. Furthermore, the culture of the target audience influences word choice and the way we communicate information. With that said, every good content writer learns about their target audience before writing for them. Otherwise, the information the writer communicates will be irrelevant. (Quality #1 can help with that).
Quality #3: Every Outstanding Content Creator Communicates Clearly
Communication is an art. Writing content that is both relevant and easy to understand is essential. Therefore, you need to use easy-to-understand words to communicate. If you say something that your audience– business partners, readers, or team members– can’t understand, you are not communicating. So, whether you are a business owner wanting to know what qualities the content writer you want to hire should have or a content writer who is willing to learn more about the profession, do your best to write or communicate clearly. Avoid slang and jargon. You may utilize a few technical terms if you are speaking to an audience who uses these words in their everyday conversations. But the rule of thumb is to make it easy for your readers to understand what you are talking about.
Quality #4: Great Content Writers Have Proofreading and Editing Skills
The final draft may be different from the first because of proofreading and editing. If you are a good content writer, you will make sure that the final piece of content you are publishing is revised and polished. But if you are a business owner who wants to hire a professional to write content for your company, ensure that you hire someone who can do the job correctly, and show you what they have written.
Proofreading and editing skills allow a good content writer to minimize the margins of error. It doesn’t mean that everything will be perfect, but the piece of content will be close enough to perfection.
Quality #5: An Exceptional Content Writer Knows SEO
Content that is not optimized for search engines is not as useful as a piece of content that is optimized. It may be useful for the reader, but not for the company because the primary goal of content marketing is to attract as many prospects/potential customers as possible. Therefore, search engine optimization is essential. With that said, an exceptional content writer writes for both the reader and the search engine.
As a small business owner, you should hire an SEO Content Writer. That will save you money and increases your company’s return on investment(ROI).
Quality #6: Excellent Content Writers Have Great Organizational Skills
How would you feel if I put this article into one big paragraph? Would you understand better? The ability to organize your thoughts to make them easy to digest is as important as following the syntax of a language. The content creator you will hire must be able to organize their thoughts and speak about complex topics without being all over the place.
Organizational skills allow an excellent content writer to break down a complex subject into chewable pieces so that their readers easily understand it.
Quality #7: An Excellent Content Creator Learns about Several Different Subjects
Like a translator, an excellent content creator learns as much about different subjects as they can. I know the similarity because I am a professional translator and a content creator. Based on my experience as a translator and a professional writer, I have several reasons to believe that the more you learn the more efficient you will get.
A good content writer should learn about culture, history, communication, linguistics, and psychology. Not only will the extra knowledge help you understand the target audience, but also, it will set you/the content writer apart from the crowd. This is the kind of content writer a business owner wants to hire!
Quality #8: Exceptional Content Writers Always Seek Improvement
No one is perfect. Not even the grammarian who is telling you and I what to write and what not to. An exceptional content writer should be humble enough to know that they are NOT perfect and that they should seek improvement. There is always something new to learn. This is not only true for exceptional content writers, it’s also true for every human being. Seeking improvement means continually learning and getting better.
If you are a business owner, now you have what you need to hire the right content writer. But if you are someone who wants to become a good or great content writer, now you know what an employer is looking for in an outstanding content writing specialist.
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Written by:
JEFF ST LOUIS
Freelance Digital Marketer, Jeff is a passionate communicator. He has a Bachelor's degree in Business Marketing, he is Google Ads certified, and the holder of a Hubspot Email Marketing certificate. He is also a published author. He wrote and published five books including a memoir.
