Content Writing vs Copy Writing: What’s the Difference?
Content writing vs copywriting. It’s a debate that often confuses marketers. However, don’t underestimate knowing…
When trying to create quality content for your blog posts on a regular basis, it can be hard to always come up with new and inventive material and stick to your deadlines. Being a writer is a demanding job, requiring both creative and organisational skill sets to be working in harmony at the same time. This, however, can mean that you often run out of steam which is the last thing you need when trying to create truly inspiring content.
The great thing is, however, that there are a vast variety of blog writing tools that can help you through these difficult periods of low motivation or writer’s block. Below you will learn of twenty great tools you can start using to make your work easier and your writing better. No matter if you are a freelance writer or run your own blog, there will be something on this list for you!
The key to great blog writing is to start simple. The best tool you can use to write the content of your blog posts is, by far, Microsoft Word. Using this program gives you an easy way to format your writing in an accessible way while the language preference option makes it easy to switch between the USA and UK versions of English, ensuring your work is meeting the basic requirements of spelling and grammar.
The second tool every blogger needs to know is Sumo. Sumo allows you to add social media sharing buttons to your blog and use a series of analytical tools, even on the free version. The real advantage of Sumo is, however, its ability to capture emails. Through things such as welcome mats and exit intent pop-ups, you can easily integrate email capture forms into your blog so that you can be sending content straight into the inbox of your target audience and building a bigger client base.
When you upload a document to Grammarly, the first great thing is that you can choose which spelling and grammar rules you need it to apply, so if you are writing for an American, Australian, Canadian, or English website, this add-on is able to go through your document to give you tailored feedback on what needs changing. Furthermore, Grammarly will implement the changes automatically. First, it will flag up an error and in a separate box explain why this is wrong. Second, it will then give you the option to correct this mistake with just one click.
Of course, creating good content doesn’t just refer to the quality of your writing but also to the visual aspect of your blog. If you have a great layout and interesting, eye-catching images on your blog, then you will be able to hook people in easily. A tool that can help with this is Canva, which allows you to create custom images and add text to them.
A huge part of SEO is keyword researchKeyword research helps websites unearth the best keywords to drive traffic and visibility. This research is supported by a number of powerful web-based tools, the best of which we’ve listed here., as this is what will help lead your target audience onto your blog. A tool to aid you in doing this properly is Ahrefs, which helps you conduct keywordKeywords are the words and phrases that potential customers might search for to find your business. research to target the best keywords with the highest traffic and lowest ranking difficulty. The information Ahrefs can provide will mean you can make strategic use of keywords to maximise the size of your audience as part of a broader SEO strategy.
A simple but effective tool you need to utilise as a blogger is the advanced search function on Google. One advantage of using this function is that you are able to find relevant research quickly from a specific, geographical domain. Alongside this, you can also refine your search to see when a piece was last updated, the file type or even the usage rights. This tool is useful especially for SEO content writers as it can help save a lot of time finding sacrificial linksHyperlinks, also known as links, are the connection points on a webpage that take you to other webpages..
When you’re trying to get through a big commission, a great tool to help you focus is Egg Timer. With this tool, you can set the timer for any length of time and, when it goes off, know you can take a short break. Egg Timer is also great if you want to start using the Pomodoro Technique, which is a popular way of optimising your time.
Hemingway is a tool that is extremely useful in the editing stage of blog writing. When you upload your work to Hemingway, it is able to analyse text for readability and accessibility, highlighting the changes you need to make for a better piece. This is particularly useful when you need to create high-quality content or know you have a tendency to ramble in your writing!
The publishing site is an important factor when curating content for a blog post as any sacrificial links used to need to be from the same country of origin. When you need to make sure you are using correct links, by copying and pasting the publishing sites URL into Site 24×7, you will be able to quickly find the domain of a publishing site so that you can source the appropriate sacrificial links with the aid of Google advanced search.
When you have to generate a lot of content, especially if it is all for the same client or on the same subject matter, it can be a struggle to keep things fresh and come up with interesting titles for your work. By using Portent Title Maker, you can simply type in a subject and it will generate ideas for you. This tool is great because, even if you don’t use one of the titles provided, the results can act as stimuli to get you thinking up new ideas quickly.
Keeping to a schedule can be difficult as a writer as you may have several blogs posts you are working on at once all for tight deadlines. Using a tool such as Todoist, you can break down the process of blog post writing into manageable steps and time increments.
Often, as a writer, you will find yourself confronted with new topics to cover that you potentially do not know much about and, more importantly, use specialist language you may not be familiar with. By using the tool Dictionary.com, you can quickly look up these terms, coupled with research of course, and get to writing informed material quicker.
Linked to the above, Thesaurus.com can help you out of a tight spot by quickly providing you with synonyms that will make your blog post more interesting the read as you employ a wider variety of language choices.
Another organisational tool you may find useful is Trello. Trello allows you to break your work down into lists, where you can move each project or piece of writing along in stages to keep on top of all your deadlines. For example, you could use Trello by starting with an ideas list, moving into to do, editing, and finally, published.
Some people, for example, those with dyslexia, find that speaking is an easier way to generate good content that writing. With Dragon Naturally Speaking, you can talk directly and transcribe your spoken words into text automatically.
Many writers have to deal with a constant battle with distraction and, if you are one of these people, then using Paraphrasing Tool might be a good way forward. This minimalist writing platform gives you a place to write that is uncluttered with unnecessary menus and add-ons, so you can simply get on with your writing.
CoSchedule Headline Analyzer is a free tool you can use to test out the impact of your blog post title. The tool will score your headline based on unusual, emotional, and powerful words, which are all key to a great title.
StyleWriter is another editing tool that can help to improve the clarity of your work. Developed by professional proofreaders, Style Writer not only checks spelling and grammar but is able to pick up on awkward phrasing and jargon to make your workflow better.
Evernote is a great tool for compiling ideas and note quickly in one place and organise them through a simple tagging system. It means you can build ideas and research for a blog post on the go.
If you are not a natural writer, then the above tools can help you craft a worthy blog post. However, hiring outside help when it comes to content marketing can prove fruitful to your digital marketing campaigns. Be sure to contact us for any further help regarding content writing and content marketing.
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