Content Optimization 101: Helpful Tips
Whether you write for a blog, describe a particular case, or highlight your product on social media, there is a possibility to optimize the process. Every author has their unique working schedule and specifics. With the help authoring tool, you can significantly speed up your work. However, you still have to take care of the quality of the product you provide. Several simple learning steps can considerably improve your writing process.
1. Create the Contour
It does not matter whether you need to write only a few sentences or a whole-case scenario. Don’t start writing if you have no formulated idea. First, you should complete the thought in your head. Once the vision of the text comes, you don’t want to delete everything written before. Many authors think that an outline is just a total waste of time. Yet, those who create it usually finish their work earlier than others.
If you have similar cases or articles for blogs, you can create a “skeleton,” a plan of your future writing to use every time you need a related text. For example, if you write a news post about the product your company releases, put the essential idea of the article in the beginning, describe the details in the main part, and come up with a thorough conclusion. Common software documents provide lists with graphics and tables for your convenience.
Creating an outline will significantly improve your working process. You will know how to start writing and what has to be included in the document. After some practice, you will learn how to create the contour for any document.
Follow the next steps to use this method:
- Write down the ideas on the topic you have;
- Sort these ideas into the list, where the first ones are the most important;
- Think about headings and subheadings;
- Create the structure for your writing;
- Decide on the most appropriate type of writing for the topic you have.
2. Do the Research
After you have an outline of the future text, dig deeper into the research. To do this, you can address the team that works with you on the project for help. If you are a freelance writer, your options are either following the requirements of your employer or exploring the topic on your own. Don’t forget to save the links to the sources you use.
Do the following researching steps:
- Find as much material on the subject as possible. Use your colleagues’ experience; search for scientific articles, and save them in a separate folder;
- Make the keyword search and optimize the keys in the blog post;
- Check out the articles of your competitors, find the key lines, and expand them in your article;
- Provide more information than your competitors to gain the readers’ trust;
- Share the links on authorized sources with the audience.
3. Use Technique of Words Flow
The next step in your author’s journey is to write. You have already created an outline and examined the topic, so all you should do now is to start writing. Many authors consider this step as the most challenging since to begin with an empty page might be hard. To simplify your task, think about it as your first draft. It does not have to be ideal, and you let yourself make mistakes.
Adhere to these steps for writing a draft:
- Open the document. Pick the text file you like the most, with all the tools you need;
- Close all your social media pages and put aside your phone;
- Write down your ideas by following the outline;
- Check your grammar and vocabulary after the first draft is ready;
- Take a few minutes to rest. Distract yourself by drinking some coffee or tea.
4. First Draft Edition
After the first draft is completed, take a deep breath and don’t rush with editing it. If you don’t have much time, use professional tools to check the uniqueness and revise your grammar automatically. Take a pause while your computer is working. Afterward, with a fresh perspective, read your writing again. Try to comprehend it as a reader, not as a writer.
Perform the first draft editing steps:
- Use well-known editing tools to make your article better. Check the grammar and find repetitive words;
- Read the draft aloud if you can to understand how it sounds;
- Check the concept of your company once more to make sure that your future article is compatible with it.
5. Last Edition
The final step is the most challenging. You might be tired by now and don’t want to reread the work. It is beneficial to postpone the last edition to the next day if you have several days to complete the work. Let your brain slightly forget about the details. Since you remember everything you wrote clearly after completing the first draft, your mind might skip words and phrases, restoring them. This is how you make mistakes, simply by not noticing them.
To remove such “blind zones,” rest for some time or switch to other errands before you come back to writing. However, do not distract yourself by reading. It should be something clueless if possible. When working on the same topic for some time, you can miss troublesome areas in it. Take a break, for example, walk in the park for an hour before you come back and reread everything from the very beginning.
Write with Inspiration
If you find it challenging to enlighten the topic, use the tools to ease the technical process. You need to focus on the details you want to provide your readers with. Find your own style and tell the story you would like to read yourself. Use this system of small steps which will significantly improve your skills as an author.
