Top 14 Content Writing Courses to Kick-Start Your Career

Your aspiration to have a thriving content writing career must be matched with relevant content writing skills. Has a lack of writing skills impeded your freelance career? Or do the vast intricacies of digital marketing bog you down? Learning content writing doesn’t have to be intimidating—wherever you are in your career, there are several ways to improve your skills. Here, we’ve listed some of the best content writing courses, most of which you can try for free.  

Types of Content

Content writing is a broad term that refers to the creation of any written work, mostly on digital mediums. The requirement of content permeates industries. With the ever-increasing demand for content development, a career in content writing is a promising one. However, such demand is for high-quality content. 

Before you head over to our list of content writing courses, it’ll help to know what kind of content you can create. Content writing covers, but is not limited to, the following: 

• Blogging
• Social media posts
• Sales and ad copy
• Thought leadership content 
• Guest posting
• White papers 
• Ebooks

Content Writing Courses: Offline or Online?

Many courses are available for every kind of digital content requirement. While deciding on whether to opt for an online or offline course, consider the following factors:

• Time: How much time do you want to invest in a course, and how much can you actually spare?
• Commute: Are you okay with a long commute to offline classes? Do you have alternative commuting options?
• Budget: Factor in the time and expense you’ll incur for an offline course; compare that with online options.

Free Content Writing Courses

Here are a few online content writing courses you can try out. 

1. Content Marketing Toolkit Course by SEMrush

Offered by SEMrush, this free course is designed to help you improve your content marketing skills. You’ll get tips and guidance from experts in the field. It’s a series of simple video lessons supplemented with materials for further studies. The lessons are followed by evaluation in the form of quizzes and tests. 

Source

Duration: Three hours

Instructor: Ashley Ward

Skill level: Beginner to intermediate

What you’ll learn: 

• Optimizing content to make it search engine-friendly; in-depth knowledge of analytical and optimization tools to create a strong content strategy 
• Leveraging free content writing tools for topic ideation; research methods that’ll help you come up with solutions to your audience’s challenges 
• Techniques and practices to enhance the reach and discovery of your content 
• Monitoring content performance: you’ll be able to better evaluate the preferences and trends of your target audience. 
• Tips on managing your publishing schedule with the use of a content calendar

2. Essentials of Writing Content by Udemy

This short course by Udemy expounds the characteristics needed to become a content writer. It is the best online course for those trying to begin their professional writing journey. 

Duration: One hour

Level: Beginner

Instructor: Girijan Raghavan

What you’ll learn: 

• Understanding the basic attributes of a content writer
• Determining your writing potential
• Getting a sense of the polishable aspects of your writing capability 
• Enhancing your writing skills

3. Content Marketing: Blogging for Business by LinkedIn

This free content writing course provided by LinkedIn highlights the detailed process involved in blogging for business, including creating highly optimized content. It is a comprehensive course, which involves everything from blogging goals and developing blogging ideas to guest blogging and setting up a team. Each module is supplemented with a fun chapter quiz. 

Duration: About 50 minutes

Level: Beginner

Instructor: Martin Waxman

What you’ll learn:

• Online marketing
• Social media content promotion
• B2B/B2C marketing
• Evaluation metrics
• Blog design and development
• Developing editorial guidelines

4. Good with Words: Writing and Editing Specialization by Coursera

The University of Michigan offers this series of four courses via Coursera. It has everything you need to become a good writer. It’s designed to help you gain writing and editing skills, explore your creativity, learn time management, and hone persuasion skills for effective communication. This is one of the best online content writing courses.

Duration: four months, flexible schedule

Level: Beginner

Instructor: Patrick Barry

What you’ll learn:

• Creative sentence construction and crafting slogans
• Strong concept and practical nuances of punctuations and paragraph formation
• How to meet deadlines; time management practices
• Developing persuasive writing skills
• Storytelling skills
• Access to a wide collection of books on excellent writing
• Strategies to get started
• Revision tips and techniques; editing and proofreading skills 
• Working with statistics and data in writing
• Feedback management 

5. Content Strategy Course by HubSpot

This online content writing course by HubSpot Academy will teach you all the essentials of a successful content strategy for consistent audience engagement. Aimed at content writers and digital marketing professionals alike, it takes you through everything from content analysis and promotion to storytelling. 

Source

Duration: Three hours (approximately)

Level: Beginner to advance

Instructors: Lindsay Thibeault, AJ Beltis, Justin Champion, Corey Braccialini, and Sujan Patel

What you’ll learn:

• Conceptualization of your subject; creating content based on your purpose and interest
• Creating a long-term content-creation plan
• Identifying content requirements relevant to the target audience
• Working with industry influencers to maximize content reach 
• Content optimization for search engines and users with a focus on topic clusters and pillar pages
• Managing the growth funnel in the dynamic world of digital media

6. Editing and Proofreading Masterclass by SkillShare

Basic editing is an important skill all content writers possess. This two-in-one course provided by SkillShare shares expertise in proofreading and editing. The course consists of a series of time-saving videos as well as a project at the end. It has insightful modules on fact-checking, universal proofreading symbols, weeding out unnecessary information, editing tools, and much more. It’s pretty hands-on, and it also features a bonus lesson towards the end!

Duration: Three hours, flexible

Level: Beginner

Instructor: Nitay L

What you’ll learn:

• Proofreading and editing techniques from professionals
• Syntax and grammar lessons
• Types of editing
• Tips on getting gigs in the freelance job market 

7. High-Impact Business Writing by Coursera

Writing for business is quite different from creative writing. In the former, you need to stick to certain guidelines, and make sure your writing fulfills a business objective. Be it an email or a white paper, writing forms an integral part of professional communication. Offered by the University of California, Irvine, this online course shows you how to master business-centric writing. 

Source

Duration: Seven hours, flexible

Level: Beginner

Instructor: Susan Robins

What you’ll learn:

• How to write emails, reports, press releases, and presentations
• Writing and editing business documents
• Identifying and fixing writing errors

8. So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer? By SkillShare 

This short online course by SkillShare covers the basics of freelance content writing. It consists of lessons on how to thrive in the industry as a freelance writer. Whether you are just starting out as a freelance writer or want to advance in your career, this content writing course will help you carve a place for yourself in the market. It has everything you need to know about freelancing, from creating your portfolio to establishing your own brand

Duration: 50 min

Instructor: Marisa Donnelly

What you’ll learn:

• Crafting resumes   
• Skills to land clients 
• Writing compelling copy
• Pitching to clients
• Networking 

9. Secret Sauce of Great Writing by Udemy

Offered by Udemy, this short course teaches the essentials of content writing, which include blogs as well as business writing. It covers the fundamentals of writing with skill, clarity, and simplicity. The content writing course comes with online video content as well as Q&A sessions with the instructor. 

Duration: About 40 minutes

Level: Intermediate

Instructor: Shani Raja

What you’ll learn:

• How to incorporate simplicity, clarity, elegance, and evocativeness in your content 
• How to write content that stands out
• Self-evaluation techniques for enhanced improvement

10. The Strategy of Content Marketing by Coursera

This online course is offered by the University of California, Davis, and is accessible on Coursera. It is designed to familiarize you with the indispensable practices of successful content marketing. It consists of video lectures, along with assignments and discussion forums. This is a free content writing course with a certification option available.

Duration: 20 hours (about five weeks), self-paced

Level: Intermediate 

Instructor: Sonia Simone

What you’ll learn:

• Profitable strategies, from acquiring to retaining customers, in the content market 
• A comprehensive mapping of your content marketing strategy: from ideation and development to organization and execution
• Analysis and measurement of the effectiveness of your content marketing efforts 
• Strategic techniques for powerful writing and strong content 
• Brand building, including personal branding 

11. How To Make a Living Writing Articles by Udemy 

This course teaches ways to earn income from online writing. It also covers research fundamentals and tips on increasing site traffic. It is best-suited for beginners seeking guidance on monetizing their writing prowess. 

Duration: Two hours 

Level: Beginner

Instructor: Mohammad Tahir Taous

What you’ll learn:

• Making a freelance writing career
• Finding websites that pay well
• Generating articles ideas
• Article types and their market value 
• Article formats and lengths
• Article submission tips 
• Things to know about receiving payments

12. Technical Writing Course by Henry Harvin

Technical writing is a specialized form of content writing, which requires extremely precise and clear language. It entails conveying complex information in the simplest way possible. This course teaches you just that. It also offers projects and internship opportunities, coupled with bootcamps. 

Source

Duration: self-paced

Level: Intermediate

What you’ll learn:

• Composing different types of technical documents
• Technical writing techniques 
• Understanding advanced technical writing tools 

13. How to Start a Writing Business From Home by Udemy 

This Udemy course dispels common myths about writing that stop you from starting a great career at home. It is essentially a webinar recording that touches upon some crucial lessons for freelance writers. The online course is for anyone wanting to start a writing business remotely. 

Duration: one hour, 55 minutes

Instructor: Arfa Saira Iqbal

What you’ll learn:

• Common myths about writing
•  How to get started as a freelancer
•  Seldom-talked-about niches to choose from
• Landing clients 
• Understanding payment cycles in the freelancing industry

14. Get Paid to Write by Elna Cain 

This is a free email course offered by Elna Cain on practical ways to land online writing jobs. It targets people who want to become freelance writers but don’t know where to start, those tired of nine-to-five jobs, and just about anyone who wishes to get paid for writing. Every day, a new lesson will be delivered to your inbox. 

Duration: six days

Instructor: Elna Cain

Level: Beginner

What you’ll learn:

• Ways to have consistent writing work as a freelancer
• How to create writing samples from scratch  
• Places to get freelance writing jobs
• How to land multiple writing projects in an instant 
• Publishing on Medium

As you’ve seen by now, content writing courses are key avenues from which you can acquire or upgrade your writing skills. To launch into the world of content writing, such hands-on, industry-centric courses can be your strongest allies. However, don’t forget the other factors of a successful freelance writing career: patience, effort, and passion. 

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