2021 brought writers a slew of amazing opportunities. With most of the world stuck at home, the demand for content—and of course, content writing—was higher than ever. According to Hubspot, 82% of marketers said they actively used content marketing in 2021, up 70% from the previous year. We expect this year to have more awesome things in store for writers. Here are the tips and trends we’ve compiled in this guide so you can better navigate the writing landscape of 2022: 

  • Tips on formatting, grammar and editing
  • Trends to look out for in 2022 to help you stand out as a writer
  • How to make more money on Constant Content this year 

Content Writing Basics 

Before we take a look at the trends we expect to see in 2022, here’s a quick refresher on some of the writing basics: 

Craft better headlines.  

Headlines are the first point of contact between your article and your audience. They give a quick insight into the piece of content and its relevance to the reader. Consider these tips when writing headlines: 

  1. Be clear. Your article title has to be ultra-specific to draw your target audience’s attention. The goal of a great headline isn’t just to get the reader to click—you want to provide value from the moment they see the title to reading the article and then eventually to sharing it and coming back for more. 
  2. Be concise. On-site SEO research suggests that about 90% of your headline will display properly on SERPs if you keep it under 60 characters. You don’t have to strictly adhere to this limitation, but it is good practice for writing headlines that are straight to the point and readable. If there’s no way around a longer title, place your primary keywords near the front so readers can Immediately understand what your article is about.
  3. Don’t be overly clever. It might be fun to include a pun or joke in your headline that makes you, the writer, chuckle. But will your target audience get it? If there’s the slightest chance that readers won’t understand your playful wording in the first few seconds of seeing your headline, rewrite it.  

For more writing tips on how to craft catchy headlines, read our blog post How to Write Powerful Headlines. 

Make your content scannable. 

According to Quoracreative, the average person spends 37 seconds reading a blog post. So you must make every second count to get your message across and make it stick. Organize your content with subheadings, bullet points, and numbered lists. Write shorter paragraphs and make use of block quotes to break up large sections of text. 

Make sure your grammar is on point. 

Grammar is a critical aspect of writing. You may have the most interesting topic to discuss, but when bad grammar starts to distract your reader,  you’ll lose credibility. And while grammar-checking tools are useful, they don’t always produce correct results. It’s up to you to develop the ability to decide whether Grammarly or another tool was justified in removing that extra adverb you used or not. Improve your grammar skills by:

  1. Reading more. It’s important that you read about topics that you find genuinely interesting and learn how the best writers structure their sentences and use punctuation. Also seek out grammar guides that explain the finer points of language. Since many people haven’t had grammar classes since grade school—and because language is always changing—it never hurts to brush up on your knowledge in this area. 
  2. Writing more. By writing more, you’re putting your grammar knowledge to practice and flexing your writing abilities. As you write, if you’re uncertain about how a certain type of punctuation is used or what a word means, look it up and apply the rule or knowledge. Experiment with different types of sentence structure, reorganize ideas, and play around with synonyms until what you’ve written reflects your meaning in an engagingly readable manner.
  3. Learning from feedback. It’s a great idea for any writer to join writing communities online not only to network but to gain valuable feedback as well. The best way to improve and learn is to share your work and see what other skilled writers have to say. 

For more grammar and writing tips, check out our Grammar and Punctuation Guide for Content Writers.  

Learn the art of self-editing

Editing is a task that requires different skills than writing. And while it is ideal to get someone else to edit your work, doing so is not always an accessible option. That’s why it’s important to learn how to self-edit. When perfecting your self-editing skills, keep the following in mind:  

  1. Don’t start editing immediately after writing. Step away for a few hours or leave your piece overnight. Your brain will be in a better condition to find mistakes and awkward sentences if you take a break between writing and editing. 
  2. Edit your writing in a different format or medium. Determine whether you prefer to edit with a printed copy by hand or directly through your word processor. 
  3. Read your piece out loud. Reading your piece out loud is the best way to pick out odd-sounding sentence construction, unnecessary words, and overused phrases.  

A Forecast of Content Writing Trends in 2022

To stand out as a freelance content writer, it’s important that you stay on top of the trends that can affect how audiences find and engage with the content you write. Prepare yourself for what’s to come with these insights: 

Podcasts 

Podcast audiences will continue to grow. According to Forbes, an estimated 100 million people listened to a podcast each month in 2020 and the number is expected to reach 125 million in 2022. Therefore, podcast writing will be a lucrative niche to focus on this year. Familiarizing yourself with the basics of podcast script writing is a good start. 

AI Writing  

The adoption of artificial intelligence in marketing efforts will continue in 2022. But with the rise of AI-generated content and the use of chatbots, many writers are concerned that AI technology will soon replace them. Not to worry—AI won’t oust human writers just yet. Because the technology isn’t perfect, AI-generated content can’t match the quality of expertly written content. While marketers may integrate more AI tools in their campaigns, they’ll still need top-notch writers to meet their content-writing needs. 

Long-Form Content Writing

Blogging is still an essential part of an effective marketing strategy. And when it comes to Google rankings, long-form content outperforms short blog posts. That said, you don’t have to write 2,000+ words every single time. Each article you write should be long enough to cover the topic thoroughly, but don’t bloat the article with  superfluous words or information in an effort to expand the length. 

How to Make More Money on Constant Content this Year 

Now that we’ve covered some of the predicted writing trends for 2022, it’s time to exercise your writing chops. Here’s how you can earn more with the Constant Content platform this year: 

  1. Consistently submit content to the catalog. Many writers prefer to simply write articles and post them for sale on the marketplace. They set their own rates and kick back until the payment email arrives.  

Other writers choose the alternative route, preferring to work on writer requests or join enterprise teams. They like to know when they’re getting paid as well as the comfort of working with the same clients repeatedly. 

Here’s the thing: while you can apply for requests through the system, many get filled when our managers and editors match writers with clients. 

And how do we identify the most suitable writers, you ask? Well, we look at their marketplace articles.Instead of wasting time on applications, you can just spend it writing and submitting articles—because that’s just as good as applying, except you can get paid for it.

  1. Make sure your piece is error free. Proofread your article thoroughly to make sure that it’s free of typos and grammatical errors. Error free content goes up for sale right after the it’s been reviewed, meaning the editor doesn’t have to send your article back for corrections. Proofreading will save you time, which means you can sell your articles faster.  
  1. Optimize your writer profile. It’s a brand-new year, so it’s time to give your writer profile a refresh. Start by updating your profile photo to a recent one. You don’t have to get your photo taken in a studio, but make sure it looks professional. The next step is to list all of your writing accomplishments in the past year and update your list of offered services to include the new skills you’ve picked up. Adding testimonials from clients you’ve worked with is also a solid way of hyping up your profile. 

These resources provide useful tips on how to up your game on Constant Content this year: 

Using these tips and insights, you can have a brilliant writing year ahead. And if your freelance writing journey is just beginning, an easy way to get started is to sign up to the Constant Content platform. It’s free! 

Image Attribution: Designed by stories / Freepik

Content Writing Guide 2022: Tips and Trends to Start the Year Right

Author Details: Kerry Kubilus is Constant Content’s enthusiastic head editor. Curious and inquisitive, she loves that her job involves helping writers’ work shine while simultaneously learning about a wide variety of topics. In her time off, she enjoys first-hand research about travel, culture, and food, preferably all at once.