The Best Online Content Writing Classes for Freelancers in 2020

Are you looking for the best suitable online content writing courses? Do you want to try making a living as a freelance content writer? We have your back: in this guide, we’ve selected some of the best online courses for freelance writers, but also resources to become a better content writer and to secure a job.

Becoming a freelance writer is not that easy as it sounds: you may think that you only need to know your language, grammar, and how to write correctly. The truth is that to become a good freelance writer, you need to know all of the above, but you also need to know the techniques to communicate appropriately and to create content that is suitable for the audience you have to reach.

What are the different types of writing?

The point above leads to one of the essential things to consider when it comes to freelance writing: writing is too generic because there are multiple types of writing, based on the industry, the kind of content to create, and the message to create.

These are some of writings:

• Fiction Writing (prose and poetry, novels, screenplays, short stories, and stories)
• Nonfiction Writing (personal essays, opinion pieces, articles for newspapers and magazines, everything that is factual, bios, etc.)
• Content Writing (copywriting, memos, reports, all the content that has conversions and leads’ generation as a primary goal)

These three types of writing can then be further divided by niche, company type, and audience in demographic but also geographic terms; as you can see, freelance writing means a lot of things, and can be pretty comprehensive.

In this article, we will be focusing just on content writing.

What is content writing?

Content writing is the process of creating web content, typically for digital marketing purposes. It doesn’t necessarily mean “writing blog posts” or “writing articles” because the definition of content writing includes many different things. They all share one purpose: generate leads. Whether it is a proper blog post with advice to get readers or a review to sell something or a social media post to create engagement, the goal of content writing is always the same: converting, at different levels.

What are the skills of a content writer?

Content writers have to have the skills of a good writer, but not only. This job requires to know other things as well: starting from SEO, sales techniques, social media, branding, just to name a few. Not all the content writers know everything, and that’s why there are different types of freelance content writers out there, according to their skills.

The best online content writing courses

Regardless of which aspect of content writing you need help perfecting, we’ve put together this useful list to help you find the best online content writing courses to refine your skills and become a better content writer. All of the courses chosen assume that you already know the necessary spelling and grammar or have resources for learning them.

1. Copywriting secrets – How to write copy that sells

Learn how to write compelling sales copy and how to apply the power of emotional drivers, even when writing in a B2B environment. This course has a ranking of 4.5 and 4500+ enthusiastic reviews. It will help you discover the secrets of copywriting success for different media and outlets.

2. Content Marketing Masterclass

This course is designed for people into content creation, promotion, copywriting, SEO, email marketing, & more. One of the most exciting aspects of it is the chapter about understanding the cognitive buying journey and how your content can inspire people to take action. This online content writing course also focuses on how to generate ideas, how to make sure to create content that will rank, and how to repurpose existing content efficiently.

3. Ultimate Web Content Writing Masterclass

In this online course, you will learn how to write killer content that sells for a website. This course is for people interested in learning the differences between writing for the Web and writing for other media, and it’s perfect for writers interested in perfecting their digital skills.

4. Become a Freelance Copywriter

Learn how to turn basic writing skills into a career with this detailed step-by-step guide to becoming a successful freelance copywriter working from home, from scratch. The course is full of useful information, and it’s more focused on giving you a list of things to do rather than explaining to you how to write: for this reason, it’s an excellent complement to other proper writing courses to get things done.

5. Content is King: Writing Killer Content for Web & Marketing

In this online course, you’ll learn how to find ideas and develop content for websites, blogs, and also ebooks but also how to edit them so that they will convert better. The author will also explain the 3 best ways to create killer content.

6. How to Write Great Web Content – Better Search Rankings!

Rank in the search engines for lots of search terms, without using tactics that can get you banned. Get a better understanding of the type of content that Google wants to ranks in the top 10; learn how to come up with great ideas; understand the term “niche vocabulary” and how to find the niche vocabulary for any content. This course is designed with SEO in mind, so it will also give you an essential checklist of SEO to create content.

7. Business & Technical Writing Immersion

If you want to master the art of business writing, this course can be your choice. It will help to learn a proven approach to the art of practical, persuasive business, and financial writing. Using 12 steps and almost 60 practical techniques, the course works through from initial writing analysis to final copy, producing documents that succeed every time. It is a particular and focused course, so you want to enroll if you have a passion for technical and business writing.

8. The Strategy of Content Marketing

In this course, you will learn the core strategies content marketers use to acquire and retain customers profitably. Specifically, you will learn how to develop, organize and implement a content marketing strategy, analyze and measure the effectiveness of content marketing, write compelling copy, use a strategic framework when writing, and build your professional brand and authority through content marketing.

9. Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals

If you want to learn the basics of SEO to create better content, this is the course we recommend. You will learn how search engine algorithms work and how they affect organic search results and websites. You’ll also learn the critical elements for creating an effective SEO strategy, including how to select keywords and perform keyword research, consumer psychology, and search behavior, and how to conduct on-page SEO analysis to identify opportunities to improve a website’s search optimization.

10. Content Strategy for Professionals Specialization

If you’re serious about content writing, this specialization is possibly one of the best you can get online. You’ll learn how to engage your audience by implementing stories and using proven tools and techniques to enhance an audience’s experience and interests. You’ll manage content once created by learning how best to tell an organization’s “content story” across media platforms using a human-centered design. You’ll also learn actionable ways to grow internal and external audiences, and expand your content’s reach. The specialization is constructed as a series of 4 courses (+ 1 summary) that help you master this skill. You can enroll in the specialization directly, or just choose the one you’d like to start with.

Modules of the content writing Specialization:

• Content Strategy for Professionals: Engaging Audiences
• Content Strategy for Professionals: Managing Content
• Content Strategy for Professionals: Expanding Your Content’s Reach
• Content Strategy for Professionals: Ensuring Your Content’s Impact

11. Advanced Content and Social Tactics to Optimize SEO

Discover the content marketing and social media ecosystems and how these interconnected channels drive search results to a website with this online class. Learn how to leverage content marketing and social media as part of your SEO strategy and how to use influence marketing to establish a website’s authority.

Can content writing skills be improved?

Yes, writing skills can be improved by taking classes online and practicing: the more you study and the more you practice, the easiest it gets to write with a goal in mind.

Aside from online classes, books can help as well content writer (and marketer) perform better.

Our recommendation goes to Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content: author Ann Handley gives expert guidance and insight into the process and strategy of content creation, production, and publishing, with actionable how-to advice designed to get results. A must-read for content writers, because good content matter now more than ever.

How to find a job as a freelance content writer?

It’s not easy to find a job as a freelance content writer: the competition is fierce, and very often, earnings are minimal. But if you improve your skills and you start putting out your content, opportunities will arise; of course, you need to facilitate companies when it comes to hiring you.

• Open a blog and showcase your expertise in a given subject to gain authority.
• Create a profile on one of the many freelancing websites: do not feel the pressure to lower your rates, and ask the price you think it is reasonable to you. Companies are always on the lookout for a good content writer, and the majority of them can recognize a good one from a cheap one, so they’re willing to pay more if you show them that your price is worth it.
• Apply to join Writers Access if you have residency in United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, or New Zealand. You can earn 3 cents to $2/word, depending on the research requirements, project complexity, and/or skills requirements using our star rating system that guides fair pricing.
• Optimize your Linkedin profile and gain useful contacts and insights.
• Pitch, pitch, pitch: the more your name is seen, the easiest is to get assigned to projects as a content writer!

Are online courses on content writing for freelancers useful?

If you’ve read our guide on the best content writing online courses, you may have developed a better understanding of the subject. Whether you decide to enroll in one (or more) of these courses or you decide to embrace self-learning, only one thing matters: make sure you keep learning and improving, make sure you become competent in what you do, make sure you don’t sell skills you don’t have. The only way to succeed as a freelance content writer is by studying, learning, and also questioning yourself!

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Veruska Anconitano

Veruska is a freelance content marketer and digital strategist, proudly working from home for clients located everywhere in the World. She's the co-owner of FreelancingJournal and a bunch of other websites.