Writing good quality content takes time

If anyone tells you they can whip something together in ten minutes, of a good quality piece of

content then their lying. Because good quality content takes time and effort to write. Yes you can

get content written for a cheap price, but what you will get won’t be of any good quality because

whoever wrote it probably didn’t take the time to check it, so it’s probably riddled with mistakes and

in most cases it’s probably a rehashed version of an article they found online.

To write a good piece of unique quality content requires the writer to be meticulous in their

execution without being a perfectionist. This is to ensure that the recipient of the content gets the

best quality of work that a writer can produce. Buyers of writing content need to be aware that

quality content takes time and there is a certain art to putting together a really good quality piece of

writing. To write a unique piece of quality content requires the writer to take into account many

considerations prior, during and after the actual writing activity. The speed at which the writer can

do these is firstly dependent on his or her knowledge of the subject of the content that is to be

written. The more familiar the writer is with the subject matter the quicker he or she will be able to

create quality content.

So what are the steps needed to produce a good unique quality piece of content.

These are the steps I take to produce my content, they may differ from writer to writer. However I

use these steps to ensure that the end product is of good quality and has value to the reader.

Understanding the content writing requirements

Before the writer can even start any of the stages in the writing process, he will need to understand

exactly what the requirements of the piece of content that he will be writing. This stage will make

sure that content generated will be exactly what the client is looking for. Typical questions that

should be asked of the client before starting the writing project are as follows:

The title of the content

Length in words of the project

The main keyword (If content is to be SEO optimised)

The agreed deadline

What main points should be covered in the content

What is in the scope of the writing content

What is out of scope of the writing content

Type of content e.g. article, eBook

Any call to actions needed in the content

Agreed payment rate

The above points seems like a lot of work to take into account, but in practice the above

requirements can be established very quickly before the project is initiated.

Research

Prior to any writing started, the writer will need to research the subject matter. If the writer is

unfamiliar with the subject matter to be written about then he will have to do some prior research

to make sure that he understands what he is writing about. There is nothing worse than writing a

piece of content that is factually inaccurate, because this can be misleading to reader and misinform

them. So it’s very important that the research is carried out prior to any writing. The length of time

for the research depends on the following factors:

The familiarity of the writer of the subject matter

The length of the piece of content that needs to be written

The extent of how complicated the subject matter is

It could range from anything to 1 hour to a week, depending on the above factors. The writer can’t

possibly read, absorb, understand the subject and then write about it in meaningful manner in such

a short period of time, otherwise they run the risk of writing the wrong information or the worst

case scenario is that what they write doesn’t make any sense.

A writer will need to take notes of his research, to ensure he captures certain information that he

needs to include in his content.

Structure

Once the research has been done the writer must then think about the structure, as in the main

chunks of writing that he wants to include in his content. This structure can be taken from the

research material notes to determine the main points that need to come across in the writing. These

can be structured as headlines and subheading so a writer will have some kind of framework to

guide his writing. Each subheading will cover a certain aspect of the subject matter that the writer

wants to cover.

The Actual writing itself

Once the research and the structure have been done, only then can the actual writing activity

commence. The initial draft of the content should be written without any regards to editing or

changes while writing the content, this minimises any disruption in the flow of the writing. At this

stage of the writing process any mistakes needs to be overlooked because the focus of this stage is

to just write with reference to the research material notes and predefined structure of the content.

Editing

Once the writing has been completed then the editing process can start, this initially starts off with

the following:

Spell checking

Checking for grammatical and syntactical errors

Proof reading

When the spelling errors and grammatical mistakes have all been rectified the writer can re-read the

content again in a second parse of the content to ensure that it makes sense and that the correct

points have been relayed at the correct parts of the structure of the content. This may incur some

re-writing of the content.

Incorporating keywords if required

Once the proof reading has been completed the main keyword can be interwoven into the content.

It is far easier to write the content first without worrying about where to fit in the keyword and then

retrospectively fitting the keyword into the already written content. Because trying to insert the

keyword while writing the content can interfere with the flow of the writing because instead of

focusing on what you are writing you will be thinking about where to fit in the prime keyword.

Checking the flow of the writing

Checking the flow of the writing ensures that each sentence and paragraph flows seamlessly into

next sentence or paragraph. Sentences and paragraphs should be linked to each other, in the sense

that they should be related to the previous sentence or paragraph in a meaningful way, and not

completely go off course. This makes the content much easier to read because of the flow concepts

and information supported by the connectivity of the sentences and paragraphs.

Checking logical sequential sense

Once the flow has been checked, the logical sequencing of the writing must be checked, to make

sure that you are introducing concepts and information in a logical sequence. For example you need

to make sure that for a particular paragraph you are not writing about things that you have not

introduced to the reader, otherwise the paragraph will have no context and you will not be linked to

the logical sequential of the thread of the document.

Concepts and information not only have to follow a logical sequence, but they also have to be

introduced to the reader in a logical way that makes sense. Additional introduction of concepts and

information should build on previous concepts and information. This allows the reader to process

the information in a logical way be more easer to absorb and comprehend.

Submit content to client for review

Once all the writing and checking has been done the content can be submitted to the client for

review. The client will then proof read your content and check if it matches their requirements.

Incorporate changes identified by the client

After checking the content, the client may require some changes. Once you have made these

changes you can resubmit the content. There may be a number iterations before the client is

satisfied.

Some of the above steps may need to be repeated until the content is completed to the satisfaction

of the client. Adhering to the processes above will minimise the number of cycles needed to produce

the quality content required.

If a client owner wants good quality content then he will have pay a reasonable amount for the

services of a writer that produce quality content, because not only are you paying for the writing

activity itself but you are paying for supporting activities that act as the framework for the end

product, of a quality piece of content.

As the writer becomes more accustomed to the above approach, then the more the writer becomes

proficient at generating quality content at more faster rate.

I hope this article gives the client an insight into the processes that goes into writing good quality

content and an appreciation of the meticulous work that needs to be done by the writer to ensure

that the end product is of good quality and matches the client’s requirements.

Nash Rahman – Freelance Writer|Blogger|SEO Copywriter “Helping Your Business To Grow and Profit”

Contact: Nash.Rahman@gmail.com