It is not easy to make it as an SEO content writer, especially when you are only just starting out. The competition is steep while the pay is low in most instances. The job demands intellectual flexibility, a versatile knowledge base, and of course, the ability to produce quality content.

All that being said, it is still possible to earn well and make it as a part-time/full-time content writer, provided that you have the necessary skills. If you wish to land higher-paid writing gigs as an SEO content writer or work full-time with a renowned employer at a higher-than-average hourly rate, make sure that you have the following skills honed first.

Impeccable Grammar

Every time you apply/bid for an SEO writing job/gig your potential employer will automatically assume that you have your grammar on point. Understand that this is a standard requirement, not an optional one. Even when writing in your native language, it is easy to make a few common mistakes, which is why editing is so important. Proofread every paragraph once right after finishing it, and then proofread the entire article after you are done. Just one or two typos, a few silly, grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, etc. can ruin a post’s overall quality.

Innovative Writing Skills

To write grammatically accurate, descriptive posts about the same product five times in a row with identical keywords is not easy, especially since every one of those posts will also need to be 100% unique and pass Copyscape with flying colours. Without some creativity in your writing style, you will end up plagiarising your own posts unwittingly!

Researching Skills Must be Honed

In case the anchor is at odds with the chosen subject, the affiliate link’s placement will end up looking unnatural. Therefore, scouring the net for new information is a requirement for SEO content writers. Do note that the ability to research a plethora of brand-new topics is not exactly a hard skill, but an all-important soft skill that content writers need while working.

Deciphering and Communicating Knowledge is a Hard Skill

Research is only the beginning, but a writer’s ability to quickly summarise new subjects that they may not have had any previous knowledge of is the tricky part. Nonetheless, it is a skill all content writers must master with practice.

Deciphering unfamiliar research material and writing original posts based on the writer’s own understanding of a subject matter does require at least some degree of cognitive flexibility. They will also need to optimise the posts with appropriate keywords in the right percentage while maintaining a tone that is suited for the placement blog as well. As should be obvious, this one is a genuine hard skill that can only be acquired with practice.

Good Hold Over the Basics of SEO and Optimised Writing

To write high-quality content, you do not need to be an SEO expert, but you will need to have a good grasp of the basics. Although there are others, the following topics should take precedence.

• Link building strategies.
• Page strength (domain authority/domain rating).
• The “relevance” factor, which is the act of creating relevant connections between keywords, key phrases, the overall content, and the included links.
• Content creation for a customised target audience.

Nearly everyone believes that they can write search engine optimised, high-quality content. Quite predictably, most of them have little to no idea regarding what they are getting into. If you manage to master these five skills though, there is an ever-growing scope for talented SEO writers nowadays.