7 Content Writing Rules To Help You Become An Effective Content Writer

As a content writer with 5+ years of experience… 

Whenever I'm addressing people looking to hone their writing skills, I  often tell them to go and write first, without focusing on any rule of thumb.

It actually helps because some have thought that writing skill is something they can jump on. If you ever thought like that, then you've been told sweet lies or you’ve heard the wrong things.

The deeper you get into the writing world and depending on the sphere of writing that you do, you’ll begin to observe that writing is actually systematic.  It goes way beyond how you had thought it was. 

There are some rules of writing already been observed and practised by writing gurus over the years. In this newsletter edition, we shall examine 7 of these content-writing rules. 

With them, you will become much more effective as a writer. It reveals certain things to note, the triggers that cause your readers to keep reading and to get to the last full stop of your article. 

7 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐬 𝐀 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 

1. 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐀 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞

Your headline is the first part of your article your readers read. It has to spark interest for whoever comes across it to want to learn more, read on, or discover what is in the rest of your content. 

Therefore, if your headline fails to stir emotion, spark interest, and build curiosity, on a particular topic, then you won’t achieve your goal with the content. 

Example:

7 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘛𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘈 𝘗𝘳𝘰 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘐𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴

2. 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐧 𝐈𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤 

Just after your headline is an opening statement we call “hook.” Just as the name implies, it’s that statement you attempt to use to grab your reader's attention so that they want to read on. 

If your headline successfully leads your audience to your first line or statement, then your hook continues the work by keeping their attention. Else, they’ll go elsewhere.

Example:

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯. 

3. 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞

You cannot rule out this content-writing rule. The thing is, your headline and hook are written in such a way that makes your audience want to read more and discover something different, or unique and valuable to them. 

Now, you must deliver. Don’t fail them. Else, they’ll stamp you a liar and would hiss at your headline the next time they find it. 

Example:

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘈1 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 

Are you feeling that? That’s valuable, right? You sure wanna keep reading, right? Oh Yes. 

4. 𝐁𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫

You’ve got to be clear. Make your content actionable and practicable. If you’re giving a guide in your article, or explaining how to do something in a step-by-step fashion, you might think of making a numbering or listing using bullet points. Use clear expressions and language.

Example:

𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 7 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘛𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘈 𝘗𝘳𝘰 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘐𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴.

1. 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴
2. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘥𝘦
3. 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘖𝘯 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸
4. 𝘜𝘴𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴

𝘌.𝘵.𝘤

Trust you’re getting this. 

5. 𝐁𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞

Uniqueness is about writing in your own voice and style. There’s a writing voice unique to you as a writer. You naturally discover it as you learn and become much more professional in the writing field.

Your uniqueness will come quickly when you do not try to plagiarize other content writing professionals, but draw ideas and inspiration from how they write. The eventuality of your uniqueness as a writer is a function of the combination of ideas and inspiration you’ve drawn over time while studying writers as you create content. 

6. 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

Optimizing your content is an important content-writing rule. It means to make it more readable. The eyes of your audience are open to optimized content. There’s such a style and arrangement that content optimization requires. 

It is broader than just the writing itself. It involves paying attention to sentence structure, paragraphing, and using SEO strategies to boost readability.

7. 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭! 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭! 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭!

Are you done writing? You haven’t finished. Edit as many times as possible. There is no limit to how many times you should edit your content. You can go over your work as many times as you wish. 

One thing is sure: you will always find something you could correct, rewrite or write better. 

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

Following all of these rules, your writing would become much better than it had been in the past. If you want to become an effective writer whose writing speaks of brilliance and extraordinary value, start to use the tips in this newsletter. 

Are you looking for a content writer to help you create clear, compelling, and engaging content that connects to your audience? You’ve just found one. 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐃𝐌 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 [email protected]. 

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Till I come your way again next week, thank you for having me.