UPDATED AUGUST 25, 2025
Content writing tips — A to Z style!
Want to know how to write the kind of content your audience will love to read?
Here are 26 content writing tips for creating content that hits the right spot.
A is for Audience
When you’re creating content, your audience should always come first. Because if you want these people to read your content, it needs to be all about them.
With every piece of content you write, you need to consider who you’re writing for and:
The kind of content they’ll be searching for
For example, this could be:
- Information
- Ideas
- Comparison
- Instructions
- Education.
Why they’ll be looking for this kind of content
What they want to achieve by reading it.
For example, to:
- Get some inspiration
- Solve a problem
- Find answers to their questions
- Make a decision or choice
- Learn how to do something.
Article: How to write content for different buyer types >>
B is for Brand
Your content should be consistent and represent your brand in terms of its:
- Target audience
- Messaging
- Purpose and values
- Visual appearance
- Tone of voice.
C is for Consistency
Writing and posting content is all about consistency.
Post at consistent intervals
Depending on the content, that could be daily, bi-weekly, weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Article: Why is it important to post to your blog regularly? >>
Keep the quality consistent
The content you post should be consistently high quality. By this, I mean on-brand, thorough, well-researched, well-written, well-presented and genuinely helpful.
Audit your content consistently
We’re living through a time of rapid and constant change, with new content being added all the time. So it’s more important than ever to keep your content current, up-to-date and relevant.
Having a consistent approach to auditing your content will keep it fresh and useful.
Article: Refresh, Rewrite, Repurpose: how to audit and reuse your old blog posts >>
D is for Duplicate
Duplicate content is a huge no-no in the online space. It’s a bad look, you could get caught out and you could even get penalised by Google.
So what would count as duplicate content and what should you avoid?
Plagiarised content
Content stolen word-for-word from another website and posted on your own. Not cool, man. Not cool at all.
Unmoderated AI content
AI is freely available to everyone now. If you’re using it to suggest post titles and then write the content, there’s a high chance someone else will have already done that.
If you’re publishing that content with no human oversight, it could be almost identical.
Article: How to use AI in your writing without sounding like a robot >>
FYI, your content should be fresh, original and — if anything — better than the content you’ve seen elsewhere.
E is for Engagement
Talk to your readers in a way that engages them and makes them feel involved.
Start by creating content that’s intended for them. Answer the questions they have, introduce them to new ideas and give them information they’ll find useful and inspiring.
Pro content writing tips for getting engagement:
- Post original content they won’t have seen before
- Make the content relatable or useful so it’s something they might want to share
- Get them involved by asking about the kind of questions they want you to answer
- If they engage with your content or ask questions about it, make sure you respond
- Encourage them to visit your website or landing page to find out more.
F is for Format
Format your written content for the web, so it’s easy to read on a screen. Keep your paragraphs short and break them up with optimised headings and white space.
Vary the length of your sentences — from short to longer, but never too long.
Article: Writing for the web? Here’s how to format your copy and content so it gets read >>
G is for Goals
Every piece of content should be written with a goal in mind for your business.
For example, it could be encouraging your audience to:
- Read another article
- Sign up to your newsletter
- Download a lead magnet
- Sign up for a free trial
- Visit a page of your main website.
Aim to finish each piece with a call to action. Think about how the piece could persuade your audience to contact you or engage with you further.
H is for Headings
When you’re writing blog content, you need to use plenty of headings. These guide your audience through the piece and will allow them to skim-read it more easily.
Some people tell me they don’t want their audience to skim-read their content. And that’s fair enough, but it’s not really their choice. Reading is a natural thing — and on a screen, people skim. You can either make that easy for them or risk losing them.
Your headings should:
- Be relevant to the section they’re introducing
- Contain your SEO keywords
- Follow the proper SEO heading hierarchy.
Article: How to use the SEO heading hierarchy correctly on your website and blog >>
I is for Ideas
If you’re going to come up with quality content regularly, you need ideas — and plenty of them.
Pro content writing tips for coming up with ideas:
- Use SEO keyword research to find suitable topics
- Write articles that will benefit your audience and your business
- Create original content that will get you shares, but can’t be replicated easily
- Consider employee-generated content for a fresh and authentic look at your organisation.
Article: 111 Blog post ideas to benefit your business >>
Article: 101 Quick and easy blog post ideas >>
Article: 30 Blog post ideas for creating original and shareable content >>
Article: 24 Content goldmines to find inspiration and ideas >>
J is for Jargon
Inside jargon, such as acronyms and industry terminology, can kill a piece of content if your audience doesn’t understand them or know what they mean.
Only use terms like these if you’re certain your audience won’t be confused by them.
K is for Keywords
Keywords make your content searchable online.
Researching them can help you understand how your audience is searching and the language they’re using to search. But the way use them in our content is changing.
When we choose keywords, we look at a whole range of things, including:
- Rephrasing and synonyms — saying the same thing in different ways
- Relevance and search intent — what your audience is expecting to see
- Semantics and accompanying language — giving more context to your content
- Search volumes and keyword difficulty — assessing the competition.
L is for Links
Sharing links gives credit to your sources, draws more traffic to your content from social media, and gives potential customers somewhere else to go at the end of your article.
Here’s how to use them:
Include hyperlinks in your articles
Include a hyperlink to any research you’ve cited in your article — this shows you’ve done your research and gives your content credibility.
Share the link to your article on your socials
Promote your content, on different days and at different times, on all your social media platforms, so as many people as possible get to see it.
Link back to your main website
At the end of your article, include a link back to your main website. This is where potential customers should go if they want to contact you for more information.
Use internal linking
Internal linking means linking to similar content on your website that your audience may also like to read. It also helps Google to understand the relationships between your pages — and, therefore, understand your content better.
Article: How to use internal linking to send your readers down the rabbit hole >>
Article: 14 Good reasons to use internal links on your website and blog >>
M is for Momentum
Momentum refers to the rate of your delivery.
To keep your audience engaged and interested, you need to maintain a good pace and a smooth flow.
For good momentum:
- Be concise
- Make every sentence count
- Stay on topic and avoid going off on tangents
- Avoid wordiness, waffle and unnecessary repetition
- Use a logical progression from one point to the next.
N is for New
Give your audience something new. Something fresh and original they haven’t seen before. Think differently and be inspired.
Pro content writing tips for creating new and original content:
- Use your knowledge, experience, insight and expertise — nobody else has these and it will make your content unique
- Write about a controversial opinion or belief that challenges the status quo and goes against what people have heard before
- See what’s already out there and produce something different — or something better, more in-depth and more valuable
- Be first to report on new ideas and developments.
O is for Outline
When you’re planning your content, it’s a good idea to start by outlining everything you want to include in your article.
This will help you to keep it on track and avoid going off on tangents. It will also help you make sure you cover all the points you want to make and bring the piece to the right conclusion.
P is for Proportionate
When I’m asked how long a blog article should be, I always answer, ‘As long as it needs to be, but no longer.’
In other words, your article should be a proportionate length for the subject matter you’re writing about.
For example a 500-word article on how Apple’s Siri works would be a proportionate length for the subject. But a 500-word article on everything that happened during WWII would be insufficiently detailed.
However, as AI search becomes more prevalent, most short-form content will be answered at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) by the AI overview. Even if your short-form content is featured here, there’s a high chance it will get zero clicks to your website.
Writing longer content that goes beyond what the AI overview provides will be more likely to get you clicks.
Q is for Questions
Your audience has questions and you can use your content to answer them.
The first thing to do is find out what those questions are.
Pro tips for finding out what questions your audience has:
- Hang out in the same forums as your potential customers and see what questions they’re posting
- Invite questions on social media — remember to use a unique #hashtag so you can search for them afterwards
- Try Answer the Public — type in your subject in one or two words and see what questions come up
- Search Quora for questions on your chosen subject.
R is for Research
The kind of credible, valuable content your audience loves is filled with detailed, useful and quotable information. And for that you need research.
Pro content writing tips for doing your research:
- Take the time do your research properly — your audience will appreciate it
- Get information from credible sources like newspapers and official organisations — not just an opinion you found Fred Bloggs’ blog
- Find the original source of the information — i.e. the company or organisation that did the research — and include a hyperlink to it
- Make sure you interpret and use the research properly.
Article: Content research: 8 practical tips for researching your content like a pro >>
S is for Simplicity
Keep it simple. And, by simple, I don’t mean basic. I mean use language that’s clear and easy to understand.
If it’s simple, your audience will be able to consume it quickly and on the first attempt. They won’t have to go back to re-read the parts they may not have understood the first time round. And they won’t have to leave your site to find an explanation somewhere else.
It will also make your content accessible to a wider audience, including markets you may not have thought of targeting before.
T is for Tags
Remember to tag your content so people can find it easily.
Use relevant categories and tags on your blog and make use of hashtags on your social media and community posts.
U is for Updates
You should make sure your content is regularly updated to keep it current, relevant and useful.
There are four types of content on a blog. You should make sure you know which types of content you have and what you need to do to keep them updated.
1. Evergreen
Evergreen content is eternally useful and relevant, so it hardly ever needs updating.
2. Updatable
Updatable content is changeable. The article will need regular updates to make sure it contains the latest information, research, conclusions and guidance.
3. Repurposable
Repurposable content is content that can’t be updated, for whatever reason. The article’s subject or theme will still have value, but you need to Repurpose what you’ve written to look at it from a new angle or take it in a different direction.
4. Cullable
Cullable content is content that can’t be updated or repurposed because the fundamental themes are no longer relevant.
V is for Value
Every piece of content you create should have value for you and your audience.
To create this kind of content, you need to:
- Know your audience
- Have a goal for your own business
- Understand the objectives of blog content
- Understand what Google is looking for.
Article: How to create the most valuable content for your blog >>
W is for Write now, edit tomorrow
Pro tip: Never edit your content as soon as you’ve created it. Take a few hours away from it — sleep on it if you can.
Taking time away will help you come back to it with fresh eyes. And when you look at it objectively, you’ll be able to see any errors and problems much more easily.
X is for eXpertise
Okay, okay, yes, this is a lame one. But nothing begins with X. Apart from x-ray and that’s not relevant. So cut me some slack, mmmkay?
Content writing is your chance to show your expertise and authority in your field.
Showing your expertise helps to build your audience’s trust in you, so they’ll feel confident that you’re the best person/company to help them.
Y is for You
Talk directly to your audience — if it’s appropriate — and say ‘you’ and ‘your’ rather than ‘we’ and ‘our’ wherever you can. For example:
- We provide –> You get
- Our service –> Your needs
- We promise –> You’re guaranteed
- Our range –> Your choice.
Z is for Zzzz
Don’t be boring. Nobody likes boring content.
Pro content writing tips for keeping it interesting:
- Pack it with value and information
- Get to each point quickly
- Show energy and enthusiasm — if you find your subject fascinating, this will come over in the way you present your content.
Need some help to create quality content?
If all this sounds a bit too much like hard work, why not hire some help?
I’m Jenny Lucas, a freelance content writer working with UK businesses to deliver quality content that promotes their brand.
For more information, head to my content writing page or get in touch.
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