June 16, 2024
You know it’s imperative to write good articles as a freelancer and freelance writer. But what is “good content” and what goes into writing content that will be viewed as “good” by your freelance clients and their audiences? Who determines what constitutes a “good article” versus an article that isn’t well-written or very good? You might also want to know how to write an article—for your freelance writer portfolio or for a freelance client.
The question of “what makes content good” and “how can freelance writers create good content” is one a lot of freelancers wonder about.
Lately, we might even wonder if our article writing is better than AI-generated articles from companies like Chat GPT, Jasper.ai, Rytr, INK for All and more. Follow these tips to learn how to write good content as a freelance writer—or if you’re a business owner writing your own blogs.
(These article pitch examples will help you land a job in the first place.)
Learn how to write an article and how to write good content what will leave freelance clients hungry for more writing.
What makes content great is different for every client, editorial site, and brand that I write for and work with. Some clients might find that video content does well for them and need to focus their efforts on those initiatives. (This freelancer FAQ will answer your other burning questions.)
For other brands, an infographic gets a lot of shares and ‘pins’ on Pinterest and drives traffic and sales to their website. Another client might know that “what makes great content” for them are engaging slideshows that drive page views. Once you have an agreement from a freelance clients, send over some of these top questions freelancers should ask clients to ensure you’re covering all bases.
When you get started thinking about how to write good articles as a freelancer, make sure the article or assignment you’re working on has addressed these factors:
If you’re writing good articles as a freelancer, you want the content to be well-written, good content, and thorough, but make sure you are sticking to the client’s word count and their freelance assignment guidelines. Don’t over-write articles and send in articles that are way over the word count the client is paying you for.
Make it a fun read that is easy to skim and create a CTA (call-to-action) on the bottom. Here’s how to write faster and earn more money as a freelancer. (Pro tip: keep these pointers in mind when you’re writing magazine article pitches.)
Find places to include recent research and cite the numbers, percentages, and years. This can help make your point and show the reader that you’ve done your due diligence when it comes to showing how to write good content that is better than AI-generated content.
If you’re writing an article for a client, ask if they can share quotes from executive team members or experts they rely on to provide some color and help the article stand out. Include real-world examples—from your own life, people you interview, or the client’s customers—to make the article more interesting to read. It’ll also help it show up higher in Google Search results.
On our sister site, Best Freelance Tips, freelancers share their personal experiences and anecdotes to help the reader better understand the topic. It’s one of our rules for writing good articles.
To determine if you’re writing good articles as a freelancer, you might want to consider these factors.
One of the things I enjoy most about digital writing and freelance writing for online clients is that I can see how often a piece of content has been liked on Facebook, favorited on Twitter and retweeted, and pinned on Pinterest sometimes. Usually on the back end of a digital website, the editors monitor Google Analytics and look at how a certain piece of content is trending.
Some of my editors have said to me in the past, “XX piece of content you wrote for us is doing very well. Do you have any ideas similar to that to freelance article pitch example?” (When a piece of good freelance content is performing well and getting a lot of clicks, usually a homepage editor will see that through analytics and make sure it’s positioned “above the fold” of their homepage as long as it keeps performing well.)
Those “immediate results” that I learned while working on staff as a digital editor at websites can be quite gratifying in a way that a print magazine doesn’t necessarily deliver. (That’s just one way you can come up with article ideas.) If you’re writing the blogs on your website, look at Google Analytics to determine if the piece you wrote was good freelance content and readers are interested in the topic.
If you want to make sure you’re turning in good articles as a freelancer—or even better, great content—I think it’s wise to ask your editor how you can improve your writing to deliver work that will help them maximize audience engagement and traffic goals. (Here’s how freelancers should use social media to get more assignments.) You can ask them directly: How do I create good freelance content for you?
The editor might suggest using more SEO keywords, using bullet points or subheds to break up the article copy, or offering up another idea that will help the article be qualified how to write a good freelance article.
As a former assigning editor, I would be thrilled if a writer I worked with asked me, “What can I do to make sure this piece of content performs well for you?” (Learn how to find the right editor to pitch your article idea to.)
One indicator that you’ve answered the question of how to write good articles as a freelancer is if your editors keep asking you for more pitches or keep giving you more freelance assignments. You might also find that you’re getting work from new freelance clients who saw your posts or articles on LinkedIn and like your writing style.
Securing more freelance work will help you answer the question, “Can you earn a living freelancing?”
What else do you do to ensure you’re writing good content? (Check out these freelance writing tips for other career-boosting tidbits of advice.)
Ready become a great freelance writer and consistently write good content as a freelancer?
Enroll in my Get Paid to Write e-course on Teachable and learn exactly what I do to run my freelance business as well as the components that are in a good freelance article.
Tags: content marketing, freelance, freelance course, freelance pitches that worked, freelance writer, freelance writing, freelance writing advice, freelance writing tips, freelancer, magazines, online course, pitches, productivity, time management, work at home, writing tips
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