Career
How to Become a Content Writer
Need a simple guide on how to become a content writer? Well, if you’re one of us with the unreserved kind of love for written content and word-games, stay tuned. This is possibly the best moment to learn more about the ultimate content writing tools and skills you should master.
Content writing can be recognized as an enticing career choice for countless reasons. Aspiring Content Writers compound a variety of essential ideas and messages while exploring and extending their creativity. Theories and notions come to life and retake the perfect shape.
Of course, imagination and inspiration must be accompanied by a significant amount of knowledge. Content writers are bound to use several tools to create the ideal structure of their written text.
So, in this article we will cover:
- The Perks of being a Content Writer
- The Tools Content Writers Use
- Content Writers’ Skills
- Free Online Tutorials for Content Writers
- How to charge as a Content Writer
The perks of being a Content Writer
If creativity and the opportunity to make something extraordinarily beautiful, funny, or useful didn’t quite persuade you into considering the Content Writing role – there are other advantages you might be interested in hearing about.
The work-life of a Content Writer is usually paved with flexibility. Content Writer’s daily routine isn’t normally conditioned by being present at the office. In fact, the majority of people who decide to pursue a career in this area work remotely – at least at some point.
Content Writing can be full-time or part-time employment. It is possible to land multiple freelance opportunities once you choose to become a Content Writer. You can be creating fantastic blog posts, newsletters, or some other type of written content from your sofa or from whatever undisclosed location you choose.
All this flexibility undoubtedly leads to adjustable working hours. Of course – there would still be deadlines for you to meet, but that won’t be an issue once you get a hold of those available tools and gadgets.
Which brings us to…
Grammarly Pro has evolved from a simple spell-checker into a comprehensive writing assistant. The 2025 version offers real-time collaboration features, enhanced tone detection, and improved plagiarism checking. At $12 per month when billed annually (or $30 monthly), Grammarly Pro includes advanced grammar corrections, full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustments, and 2,000 monthly generative AI prompts.
Grammar and Writing Enhancement: Beyond Basic Proofreading
What sets current Grammarly apart is its contextual understanding. Unlike tools that sometimes suggest changes that sound robotic, Grammarly understands context—adapting suggestions for casual blog posts versus professional emails. For content professionals managing multiple brand voices, this contextual intelligence is invaluable.
Alternative consideration: Hemingway App remains a focused option for reducing wordiness and improving readability, available free with premium features for power users.
Project Management: Organizing Content at Scale
The project management space has seen significant consolidation, with two distinct approaches emerging for content teams.
Notion has transformed from a note-taking app into a comprehensive workspace platform. Notion’s strength lies in its flexibility—teams can create workspaces combining tasks, documents, and databases together, making it ideal for content teams with unique processes. With plans starting at $8 per user per month, Notion provides unlimited blocks, file uploads, and advanced collaboration features.
For content teams, Notion excels at:
- Creating comprehensive content calendars with custom fields
- Building knowledge bases that integrate with workflow management
- Managing complex editorial processes with approval workflows
Trello continues to dominate simple task management with its kanban-based approach. Recently redesigned in 2025 with a cleaner interface and improved automation tools, Trello’s strength remains its simplicity and minimal learning curve. With a robust free plan and paid options starting at $5 per user per month, Trello works best for straightforward content production workflows.
Strategic choice: Notion suits teams with unique processes requiring customization, while Trello excels for straightforward project tracking without complexity. Content agencies often benefit from Notion’s flexibility, while internal marketing teams may prefer Trello’s speed.
Word Count and Analytics: Measuring Content Performance
Content optimization has moved beyond simple word counting to comprehensive performance measurement.
Frase stands out for content optimization, allowing users to create optimized content briefs based on top-ranking pages, with features like keyword targeting and SERP analysis. This represents the evolution from basic word counting to strategic content development.
For teams focused on meeting specific length requirements while maintaining quality, integrated word counting in platforms like Google Docs or Notion often suffices. The key shift is toward content that performs rather than content that simply meets length targets.
Topic Generation and Research: Strategic Content Discovery
Content ideation has evolved from simple keyword brainstorming to comprehensive market intelligence.
SEMrush leads the professional content research space. With plans starting at $139.95 per month for the Pro tier, SEMrush provides extensive keyword data, competitor analysis, and content gap analysis that goes far beyond basic topic generation. SEMrush’s strength lies in combining SEO and PPC data, making it valuable for teams managing both organic content and advertising campaigns.
Key capabilities include:
- Topic research based on actual search performance
- Competitor content gap analysis
- Content optimization recommendations during the writing process
Ahrefs offers powerful alternative focusing on technical depth. Known for superior backlink analysis and technical insights, Ahrefs excels in providing detailed keyword research and content opportunities, though its credit-based pricing system starting around $29 monthly can be restrictive for high-volume users.
For budget-conscious teams, Google Keyword Planner remains a solid starting point, though tools like KWFinder offer more detailed insights for teams doing occasional keyword research.
SEO and Optimization: Technical Content Enhancement
Modern SEO tools have evolved to support the entire content lifecycle, not just keyword optimization.
Yoast SEO remains the standard for WordPress-based content management, offering real-time optimization guidance as you write. The integration of technical SEO recommendations with content creation workflow makes it essential for teams publishing directly to WordPress.
Clearscope and MarketMuse represent the premium end of content optimization, offering AI-powered content scoring and optimization recommendations, though pricing starts at $170-$600 monthly, making them suitable for larger content operations.
The evolution here is toward real-time optimization rather than post-creation analysis.
Visual Content Creation: Professional Design Without Designers
Visual content has become non-negotiable for modern content strategies, requiring tools that enable non-designers to create professional assets.
Canva Pro has solidified its position as the go-to platform for content creators. At $12.99 per month (or $119.99 annually), Canva Pro includes premium templates, advanced design tools like background removal, brand kit features, and 25+ AI-powered tools. The built-in social media scheduler can replace separate $15/month scheduling tools, making it cost-effective for content teams.
Recent 2025 enhancements include:
- Improved team collaboration features
- Enhanced brand consistency tools
- Integration with content management workflows
For teams of 5 or more, Canva Teams at $14.99 monthly provides shared workspaces and approval workflows essential for maintaining brand consistency.
Plagiarism Detection: Content Integrity in the AI Era
With the proliferation of content generation tools, plagiarism detection has become more sophisticated and essential.
Grammarly’s integrated plagiarism checker (included in Pro subscriptions) covers most professional needs, scanning against billions of web pages and academic databases. For teams requiring more specialized detection, Copyscape offers dedicated plagiarism services with API integration for workflow automation.
The focus has shifted from detecting copy-paste plagiarism to ensuring content originality in an environment where similar ideas often emerge simultaneously across the industry.
Integration and Workflow Optimization
The most effective content tools in 2025 aren’t standalone solutions—they’re integrated workflows that reduce context switching and improve collaboration efficiency.
Zapier and similar automation platforms have become essential for connecting content tools. Common integrations include:
- Automatic content calendar updates when blog posts are published
- Slack notifications for content approval workflows
- Social media scheduling triggered by content publication
Browser extensions from tools like Grammarly, Notion, and SEMrush enable in-context assistance without disrupting workflow.
Strategic Tool Selection for 2025
Building an effective content toolkit requires understanding your team’s specific workflow requirements and growth trajectory. Here’s how leading content organizations approach tool selection:
For Individual Content Creators:
- Grammarly Pro for writing enhancement ($12/month)
- Canva Pro for visual content ($12.99/month)
- Notion for organization and planning ($8/month)
- Basic SEMrush or Ahrefs for keyword research ($140-$300/month)
For Content Teams (3-10 people):
- Team versions of core tools (Canva Teams, Notion Team plans)
- Dedicated SEO platform (SEMrush Pro minimum)
- Project management integration with development workflows
- Collaboration-focused features and approval processes
For Content Agencies and Large Operations:
- Enterprise SEO platforms with API access
- Advanced automation and integration capabilities
- Multi-brand management features
- Custom workflow development resources
Implementation Strategy
Rather than adopting all tools simultaneously, successful content teams typically implement in phases:
- Foundation: Grammar checking and basic project management
- Research Enhancement: Professional keyword research and competitor analysis
- Workflow Optimization: Automation and integration development
- Advanced Analytics: Performance tracking and optimization refinement
The key is building competency with core tools before expanding into specialized solutions.
Looking Forward: Content Tools Evolution
The content tool landscape continues evolving rapidly, with several trends shaping 2025 and beyond:
Integration depth is increasing—tools that previously operated independently now offer native integrations that eliminate workflow friction.
Collaborative intelligence is expanding beyond basic sharing to include real-time optimization suggestions and workflow automation.
Performance measurement is becoming more sophisticated, connecting content creation directly to business outcomes rather than vanity metrics.
The most successful content operations focus on tool mastery rather than tool accumulation, building expertise with a focused toolkit that enhances rather than complicates their creative process.
How to become a successful Content Writer who works from home?
Now that we’ve mentioned some of the tools that one should start to explore to become a successful Content Writer, let’s speak more about the inevitable digital skills.
✅ Know your SEO – It stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it helps us increase the traffic on our websites. A properly optimized content will not only attract more audience, but it will attract exactly the audience you’ve been striving to reach out to. The good SEO combines the quality and quantity when it comes to engaging the readers.
Creating an SEO strategy begins with determining the keywords and looking at the most relevant results that show up on Google (the first page shows the most relevant ones, in case anyone had any doubts).
Backlinks or Inbound links are crucial for SEO and good ranking. Here’s how it works – if your website or Web Page is linked on another website, Google will consider it more prominent. Other search engines will agree with Google. If a link on someone’s website is directing their audience towards your website, it will bring certain credibility and importance for your content.
✅ WordPress platform – you can start your Content Writing career by signing up to this platform for free and starting your blog. WordPress is known for its plugins, which include the ones related to SEO. Yoast is the most frequently downloaded SEO plugin. It’s very cleverly built, which makes it comprehensible and newcomers-friendly.
Since WordPress offers numerous plugins, Content Writers should get informed about them and explore the possibilities.
✅ Keywords – we’ll never get enough of hearing and speaking about the importance of Keywords. What are Keywords? Those are the words and phrases frequently typed into the search engine by people interested in a specific subject.
Make sure to do your Keyword research each time you reach out for any topic. Once you establish the topic, you should be in the clear regarding your goals. Feel free to take a peek at what others are writing about – reading as many articles and knowing the market is gold.
Choose a tool for Keywords research that suits you.
There are many options besides Google Keyword Planner. Wordtracker is one of the online solutions for this research. Keyword tool is also a great choice, and it offers you the possibility to explore Google, Bing, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Reddit also has its tool developed for this purpose, and it’s called Keyworddit. You could also use Keyword Surfer, a Google Chrome extension that will help you do your research.
✅ Social Media – If you’re a Millennial or if you have a Generation Z origin, it is highly likely you are a Social Networking aficionado. However, Social Media proficiency has a different meaning in this case. Sure, Instagram and Facebook will still play a significant part in Content Write’s work-life, but so will LinkedIn, Medium, GrowthHackers, and other platforms. These websites will enable you to share your written content, to promote your work, to gain new ideas and insights, and to get in touch with other professionals.
There’s another aspect to the Social Media usage – all of these platforms work by specific algorithms and patterns. There’s a lot to discover in this area – how to target your audience, how to obtain more views, clicks, and reactions, etc.
Online presence certainly is a must for a Content Writer. And so is the familiarity with all of the benefits Social Media and Digital Marketing can offer. Keep checking out regularly all the groups relevant to your role and the topics you’re interested in.
Free tutorials and courses to become a Content Writer
Don’t waste any more time contemplating whether you should start learning about Content Writing. Start browsing and find some free online help.
You should visit Udemy and find some expert opinions on this matter. You can preview the courses and decide if they’re the right choice for you.
- Check these Udemy courses up to 50% off
SkillShare will also offer you a variety of free online classes. You can choose from several similar subjects, based on your preferences and your current skills.
Coursera will help you collect the Digital Marketing facts that are closely related to Content Writing.
MOZ Academy is offering a number of courses, each one is adjusted to a different level of knowledge and experience.
These courses will keep you occupied & productive. Learning is the healthiest way to face the pandemic while staying indoors.
How do Freelance & Remote Content Writers charge?
Remote, freelance, and flexible Content Writers usually charge by one of these three payment platforms – PayPal, Payoneer or TransferWise.
If you’re commencing a Content Writing career make sure to set up an account on one of these platforms. Registration is free of charge in all cases.
- TransferWise is trusted by over seven millions of people. It is known as a platform with quite low fees.
- Payoneer goes by the motto of paying and getting paid globally, which makes it easily accessible to many freelancers and service providers – wherever they’re located.
PayPal is equally suitable for individuals and for companies. It currently has over 200 millions of active accounts worldwide. You only need a valid e-mail address to sign up, but it’s kinda expensive.
And to wrap it up:
Stand out as a Content Writer!
Follow your interests and focus on the areas your good at – You can start by choosing to explore the topics you find compelling. Analyse them deeply and make sure to add a personal touch to each article or piece of content you create.
Never stop learning. This should go without saying, but daily responsibilities can make one lazier or less keen to explore. Come up with a reminder to stay up to date with as many relevant subjects as you can.
Never fail to proofread your work. You can use Grammarly or another automated tool, or you can do it with the help of a knowledgeable friend. You’d be surprised by the number of unexpected typos that went unnoticed and spoiled some potentially great content.
Fall in love with your words in a positive way – leave the ego behind. You’re entitled to be proud of what you’ve created. But make sure not to be rubbing everyone’s nose with your eloquence and impeccable style. That’s such a washed-up celebrity thing to do.
Be patient and tolerant – And this one goes to all the freelancers out there. Some clients will be more demanding or harder to deal with, but one mustn’t succumb to the distress. Set your aims high and keep doing your magic. After all, it’s not easy for someone who possesses tremendous imagination to be easily affected by an annoying regular earthling.