5 Experiences That Can Help You Write Better Onsite Content

If you want to be successful in online marketing, you need some kind of content strategy. The straightforward, out-of-the-box approach to "content marketing" isn't always necessary, but at the very least, you'll need a website with unique, practical content that explains your business to new visitors and establishes your presence.

But if you're new to the marketing game or you can't afford to hire an existing professional, you'll need to rely on your own writing skills to develop and refine this content. Even if you're an experienced writer, you'll always need to improve your skills if you want to earn better results and stay competitive in the job market.

The Straightforward Path to Improvement

There's a simple way to improve your onsite content writing skills, but it's not fast, and it's not always easy: read and write, as often as possible. Reading exposes you to new vocabulary, diverse writing styles, and new ideas, while writing reinforces your skills and helps you grow over time. There are no real shortcuts around these necessary means of development, but at the same time, they're excruciatingly slow. So how can you get better, but faster?

Experiences to Boost Your Skills

The key is to give yourself new experiences that help you get new perspectives, expose you to different elements of language, and spark new lines of creativity in your own mind. These are some of the best experiences to do it:

1. Take a trip to a foreign country. First off, leave the country - just not permanently. Take a tour of a country you've never been to, and soak up the lifestyle while talking to the residents. You could book a hotel in Rome, or prepare for an African safari - the exact destination doesn't matter, so long as it takes you out of your comfort zone and exposes you to something new. This novel exposure helps your brain forge new connections, and gives you new perspectives on the world (and people) you can bring to your writing.

2. Talk to more strangers. Many writers live introverted lives, but it's vital that you talk to lots of different people if you want to become a better writer. Everybody speaks in a slightly different way, and everyone has some unique perspective to offer, whether it's an original opinion or an area of expertise. Only by talking to new people, somewhat randomly, will you be able to unlock these secrets and improve your conversational skills at the same time.

3. Take classes in something new. In the same way, you can go out of your way to take classes in something that was previously foreign to you. For example, if you've never considered yourself an artist, you could take a class in painting. If you usually eat takeout and frozen dinners, take a cooking class. These experiences will help you understand how to communicate with people who are unfamiliar with a new subject, and give you a better perspective on the world in general.

4. Learn a new language. Go out of your way to learn the intricacies of a new language. It may seem counterintuitive to spend time learning a language you won't be writing in, but learning a new language actually helps you better understand the elements of communication in general. You'll get to see parts of speech in new contexts and new ways to construct sentences, not to mention you'll have a good excuse to revisit your current vocabulary.

5. Engage with your target demographics more frequently. Your website's content needs to speak to your target demographics directly, but how do you know what your target market wants to hear? One of the best ways to find out is to talk with them directly and more often. Meet people who seem like they belong to your target demographics, and have simple conversations with them. You'll learn about their perspectives, their wants, and their needs, and you'll get better at speaking to them in writing.

These five experiences and habits will help you hone your skills as an onsite content writer, but remember, these aren't substitutes for reading and writing more often - they're designed to work in tandem. While pursuing these experiences, you should be reading the content of more websites, reading books and articles, and of course, refining your skills through actual writing. Only then will you be able to become a better content marketer.