March 17, 2021 •DJ Team
It’s that time again—the cursor is blinking on the page and the screen is white and blank, ready for some words. We’ve all faced writer’s block before, and the intimidation factor of a blank page can be intense.
In today’s online world, it has become increasingly important to be able to reach people with the written word, especially with the rise of content writing and the popularity (and success!) of content marketing.
Enter the humble content writing template. With the right blueprint at your disposal, you can quickly go from that blank screen to a compelling piece of content your customers will love.
What Is a Content Writing Example?
So, what exactly is content writing? Content writing is everywhere if you know how to spot it! Content writing can be anything from the copy on your website to a Facebook post to an email newsletter that you send out.
We are surrounded by content writing on a daily basis and once you understand what it is, you’ll see loads of examples. Although we are inundated with content, you will also notice that they all tend to follow a specific type of content writing format, especially for the most common type of content writing: blog posts.
Let’s explore that!
Types of Content Writing Formats
There are many different content writing formats depending on why you are writing content. Some ideas of types of content that you might see are things like:
Point-Illustration-Explanation - This is where you will make a point, choose examples as illustration, explain the point, and end with a call to action.
Interview - You are probably familiar with this format, as it is a common one. Choose an expert or a customer or maybe even an employee and format your interview as a question and answer. This is a great way to share expertise with your customers.
List - There’s a reason why “listicles” became so popular! Lists are a common content writing format that works well.
Link Post - Collecting links to other blogs or websites or products is similar to a list but differs because you are routing traffic to other places on the internet. Contrary to what you might think, this can actually boost traffic to you too!
How-To - Tutorials focused on specific educational topics are a common way to engage customers and help foster trust and brand loyalty.
Case Study - Another common way to educate customers, case studies are a more in-depth look into a specific business, service, or product.
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Topics For Content Writing
Okay, I’ve chosen what type of content writing I want to do, but what do I actually write about? When it comes down to it, how do I figure out what words to put on the screen?
Luckily the type of content that you choose to write will actually help inform this decision! The content writing formats help guide you into what to write about. For example, a list format would naturally mean that you have to come up with a specific number and your industry or business will help you narrow down your focus as well.
Another great way to generate topics for your content writing is to do some research - go look at your competitors and see what they are writing about. Does this spark any ideas? In addition to your competition, go back and look at the posts you already have and see what has the most engagement. Odds are that people liked that content and will respond positively to similar topics.
What Is a Content Writing Template?
Simply put, a content writing template is a structure that you can use over and over again to generate your content. You can use your “list” structure and change out the ideas to create different posts using the same structure.
This is where recognizing the type of content writing format becomes important. You need to understand what and why you are writing in order to create a solid structure and create a template that you can re-use in order to save yourself time and effort.
How can DemandJump help with content creation?
Struggling to create your content writing templates? Not sure how to get your content marketing plan underway? DemandJump has a comprehensive solution for you. Our platform automates content strategy and keyword research by showing you where you are losing to competition and informing exactly what to write.
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