5 Common Types of Content Writers and When to Use Them

5 COMMON TYPES OF CONTENT WRITERS AND WHEN TO USE THEM

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It can be overwhelming to understand the different types of content writers and when to use them, especially for a startup that’s aiming at leveraging the benefits of content marketing.

Every business owner needs content, and for many, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of populating their website with content is, “Why don’t I find a freelance SEO content writer and go on immediately.”

If this sounds like you, stop whatever you’re doing and read this blog post. You might be saving yourself massive time and resources.

What type of freelance content writer do I need?

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Have you taken a moment to think about the question above?

The answer depends on your business and the objectives of the content you wish to create. Before you proceed with hiring a freelance content writer, define the purpose of the content. This goal definition will help you seek out and get the best content writer for the project.

What is Content Writing?

Why are their different types of content writers?

Because content writing is a broad field with many specialties.

Different writers have different specialties and the accompanying skills required of those content writing specialties.

You can draw an analogy from a football team.

To the untrained eye, every player does the same work. However, the fact is that each player has a specific role he’s playing; from goalkeeper to defenders, midfielders, and attackers.

Let’s say you wish to buy a player (a content writer) to play for your club (business); you’re most likely to hire the most qualified player for the role.

This blog post will help you understand the different common types of content writers, what they excel at, and the types of projects where you’ll need them. This way, you’ll know how to get the best content from the most suitable SEO freelance content writer.

Common Types of Content Writers

1) SEO Copywriters

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SEO copywriters are your everyday content writers and are the most needed among the types of content writers. They’re the ones you need for low to high volume informative content that require research and optimization.

Because they’re Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts, these content writers are the ones that integrate target keywords and phrases into website content, articles, and blog posts.

They aim at using the best SEO practices to increase search engine rankings and maximize organic search lead generation while avoiding search engine penalties. To achieve these, experienced freelance SEO copywriters also include keyword research and competitors’ analysis as part of what comes with their content writing services.

Comprehensively, SEO copywriters are the ones you need if you wish to create content that’ll help your website rank better organically on search engines, and get you more traffic.

For bloggers and website owners that wish to run a blog or website without being a content writer, there are various content writers that can help.

Some examples of SEO copywriters include;

• Website Content Writers: These writers write SEO content for website pages like homepage, about us page, service pages, product pages, contact us pages, etc.
• Articles and Blog Post Writers: These writers write search engine optimized articles and blog posts aimed at helping the website’s blog rank better on search engines. A better-ranked blog means increased website traffic, and increased website traffic means higher chances of making sales. You might want to check out the importance of blogging.

19 Content Writing Hacks and Tips for Freelance Content Writers

2) Social Media Content Writers

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Social media content writers are writers that write content for social media platforms. These writers understand social media platforms and write content in ways that trigger conversations and interactions. Their understanding of the different platforms helps them create content that suits a selected platform’s requirements. They know how often you can post and the best posting times for various social media platforms. This understanding also positions them to create social media posts that’ll turn to viral posts, widening the reach of the brand.

These writers know when and how to use hashtags, links, polls, etc. and manage the generated leads through the buyer journey down to the brand’s website or landing page.

3) Ghostwriters

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Ghostwriters are content writers who take money in exchange for writing a creative work for a client (author). The ghostwriter takes no credit for the work produced as the author (client) takes all the credit for the “original work” produced. The concept of ghostwriting cuts across all the types of content writing, depending on the terms of the freelance content writing gig.

However, the writing concept is used usually for novels, short stories, e-books, movie script, poems, and other types of creative works.

4) Advertising Copywriters

Advertising copywriters (also called Ad writers) are writers skilled in condensing ideas and information into short, provocative messages. These types of content writers are competent in understanding the market and creating concise content that meets the markets’ demand.

If you’re in a market saturated with competition and can’t wait for the long term, extended benefits of SEO copywriting, you may choose to work with an Ad writer. Ad writers usually write for traditional marketing channels like print Advertisements, TV, radio, and billboards. However, the field has broadened to include online Ads (social media Ads, PPC, website Ads), landing pages, etc.

Some experts consider email copywriting as an aspect of advertising copywriting.

5) Technical Content Writers

Technical content writers are writers that create highly technical content. These unique types of content writers possess the special skills of making complex technical concepts easier to be understood.

Good technical writers are typically good in sequential thinking and are thorough, systematic, and efficient.

They pay attention to details to understand the concept and make it understandable to the non-technical audiences.

Some of the content technical writers create include;

• “How-To” Content
• Guides
• Manuals
• Instructions
• FAQs
• DIY Content
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Conclusion

It’s usual for the expertise of different types of content writers to overlap. One content writer can have more than one specialty and excel in them. In fact, the types of content writing are intertwined with some types of content projects not falling entirely under one group of content writer types.

There are content writing types like white paper writing, grant writing, business plan writing, press release writing, etc.

Some experts categorize these types of writing into a different aspect of copywriting called business copywriting.

Whatever the case may be, one thing is essential; understand your content writing needs and discuss it with your prospective freelance SEO content writer. This will help you select the best types of content writer for your project.