Stephen King once said, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” It’s a long and winding road with streams of creativity and occasional obstacles like the notorious writer’s block.
That condition of creative stall aside, content writing is a fantastic way to enrich your knowledge as it requires constant reading and learning. You encounter numerous topics and become an expert in multiple fields over time. After all, being a jack of all trades is in a content writer’s job description.
However, stepping into content writing shoes brings many challenges. Here are the most common you might experience and tips to overcome them.
1. Lack of target audience information
Writing a compelling copy that resonates with readers is impossible if you don’t know your target audience. You must understand their needs, pain points, desires, and opinions to connect with them, engage them with every word, and provide real value.
Whether a client showers you with information on a specific niche market or their target audience is broad, research it to understand its problems and language. That’s the only way to write with purpose, develop top-notch content, and achieve your client’s goal.
2. Poor communication with clients
Communication can make or break your writing projects. Spoiler alert: sometimes, it’s not you; it’s them.
Not every client uses clarity when communicating their vision and goals. Some don’t go into details, leaving you with vague or confusing instructions. Others set no expectations upfront, providing only a keyword or a link to include in the piece.
You must ask for the specifics to ensure you’re on the same page and eliminate unnecessary back-and-forth conversations. The more information you have, the easier it will be to hit the bullseye and exceed your client’s expectations.
3. Unfamiliar topics
Your content writing journey will take you to paths you’ve never crossed before. Unfamiliar topics might scare you away, but that’s the exciting part that grips and compels you to push the boundaries of knowledge and discover new possibilities.
Yes, it’s all about research. I don’t mean googling a topic and reading only the first few sources – that’s not nearly enough to understand it inside out.
Lazy writers take that path of least resistance to save time, ignoring the unquestionable fact that in-depth research is crucial to delivering high-quality, informative, relevant, accurate content.
Take at least an hour to study the building blocks of an unfamiliar topic before putting words on paper, virtual or otherwise. That’s the key to creating well-researched content that impresses every client.
4. Limited creative freedom
Many content writers find restrictions on creativity frustrating. How to create a compelling piece if you have to lock your creative muse in a cage?
Unfortunately, this challenge has only one solution – adhering to your client’s instructions. Not respecting their wishes could cost you the project and hinder your future collaboration.
If the topic allows it, you could ask for some degree of artistic expression, ensuring you don’t stray off the path if the client gives the green light.
5. Insufficient SEO knowledge
You can’t develop relevant, authoritative pieces that rank high in SERPs (search engine results pages) without SEO (Search Engine Optimization) knowledge.
When I started my career in content writing, I had no idea what SEO meant. Anchor text, meta description, backlinks, you name it – loads of terms I had never heard of before.
I knew I had to get down to business and learn everything. I acquired new skills that clients valued and expected and have been honing them ever since because search engine algorithms keep changing, making room for further improvement.
Take the time to master SEO, and you’ll consistently create brilliant content.
6. Ensuring readability
Many content writers struggle to communicate ideas, often getting lost in their thoughts and moving away from a project’s primary goal.
They write overly long sentences trying to convey the message, insert unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, and use too much technical jargon that makes the content difficult to understand. Complex diction and uncommon phrases also plague content pieces when a writer wishes to sound more proficient.
That negatively affects readability and the potential for the target audience to read the content and take action.
Write concisely, break your content into short paragraphs, and use numbered or bulleted lists to improve readability.
To enhance your writing’s authority, integrity, and quality, use a readability checker like Hemingway Editor or Grammarly.
7. Never-ending revisions
Revisions are sometimes necessary because, after all, every client should receive a high-quality piece that meets their needs. However, some clients might ask for seemingly endless rewrites that exhaust you mentally and physically.
This problem ties back to communication. Discuss expectations with every client before starting a project and ask for any references that might steer you in the right direction.
Most importantly, limit revisions because you don’t want to waste precious time if you can’t see eye to eye with a client. Drawing a line will prevent incessant micromanaging that stands in the way of your creativity.
Final thoughts
These challenges are only a glimpse of the obstacles you’ll encounter as a content writer, but don’t let them scare you away. You can overcome them quickly and enjoy a fulfilling, rewarding experience.
Don’t forget to improve your time-management and organization skills to keep procrastination and distractions impacting productivity at bay, especially when dealing with tight deadlines.