If you’re an aspiring freelance writer looking to score top-paying online writing gigs, this short but comprehensive guide can help you. No matter what topics are right up your alley, the more types of freelance writing you’re familiar with, the easier it gets to score a good gig and earn some reputation.
Freelance content writing is just like any other online market these days. It’s saturated with millions of writers trying to find their place under the sun. The best way to beat your potential competitors is to tap into the immense selection of different types of content writing to narrow down your options and choose the one that matches your skills, needs, and professional desires.
Since this guide aims to help you move forward with your professional development, I’ll list some of the top types of freelance writing gigs to make building your writing portfolio as easy as possible.
Content writing
Probably the most popular type of freelance online writing, content writing refers to creating various content for the web, ranging from social media posts, feature articles, and guides to essays, blog posts, product descriptions, etc.
If you’re new to online writing, this type is probably the best place to start your journey. Content writing should be engaging, reader-focused, entertaining, informative, and educational.
Whether you’re writing a how-to guide to particular software or listing top destinations to visit in Africa, the goal is to write content that resonates with your readers.
On the other hand, your content should be SEO-friendly so that internet users can find it easily on search engines like Google.
To write the most effective and engaging content, you need to understand the client’s goals and requirements regarding format and length and the content’s target audience.
Copywriting
While content writing is more educational, copywriting is more promotional. A copywriter is in charge of writing marketing and promotional materials with the primary goal of selling a particular product or service.
They do so by providing an in-depth description of the essential features of a product or service and the things it can do for a customer. Such content contains call-to-action (CTA) incentives to persuade the reader to complete the desired action.
Copywriting includes the following types of content:
- Case studies;
- Website copy;
- Sales pages;
- Gift guides;
- White papers;
- Product reviews;
- Category descriptions;
- Buyer guides;
- Email sequences;
- Product descriptions.
For copywriters, it’s mandatory to know their target audience well to provide content with real value that can address their specific needs. An expert in some field isn’t going to appreciate a guide for beginners, and beginners will be confused by content meant for specialists. So, keep that in mind when doing your research.
Technical writing
Freelancer writers with proper knowledge and expertise in a specialized area such as IT, medicine, web design, or engineering should consider technical writing.
This type of online content writing refers to creating various evaluation reports, SOPs, manuals, and how-to guides that cater to the experienced professionals in the area.
However, technical writing also extends to training guides, instructional articles, grant proposals, legal briefs, business plans, schedules, etc. If you excel at managing data and workflow and have an eye for specific details and formalities, technical writing might be your best option.
Journalism
Anyone with a phone and internet connection can be a journalist today. However, modern-day readers demand a more thorough approach to particular events and topics.
If your goal is to specialize in writing investigative reports, feature articles, and journals, you should learn to work on a tight deadline.
When it comes to journalistic writing, it all comes down to checking your facts and identifying trustworthy sources for presenting the information.
You must support and verify every little thing you write with accurate statistics, facts, figures, and first-person interviews if you want to grab the attention of your target audience. Journalistic writing requires utmost accuracy, reputable sources of information and references, and incredible attention to detail.
Websites
With more news, journals, blogs, and magazine outlets becoming present on the internet these days, the need for writing content for websites has never been greater. While they all have their print materials, they also need someone skillful to write top-grade content for their pages.
On the other hand, the number of online magazines is increasing daily, and each of these websites requires fresh news pieces, features, and articles. This gig is also an excellent place to start your online writing career.
Conclusion
Aside from possessing mad writing skills, a freelance online writer should be able to use words and phrases in a meaningful way that can evoke positive emotions in the target audience.
If you have no problem doing that and have a way with words, online writing is the right job for you.
While there are many other types of freelance writing online, those above are among the most well-known types that dominate the web.
Writing online content is almost like writing digital poetry in the eyes of internet users, so keep that in mind when choosing your freelance writing type.