Top 20+ Most Asked Content Writer Interview Questions and Answers

1) What do you understand by content writing?

Content writing is the process of planning, writing, and editing web content generally used for digital marketing or Internet marketing purposes. Content writing is a broad field that includes writing blog posts, technical documentation, product reviews, articles on social issues, scripts for videos, and podcasts, etc.

For this purpose, we need content writers assigned to write exclusive and relevant articles or blogs, reviews, or technical documentation for different websites. Content writing can be categorized into many types as each website has a various target audience, and they need specific content to get traffic towards their business.

2) What is the basic difference between an article and a blog?

This is probably the most asked content writer interview question. The interviewer asks this question to check and analyze the content writers' basic skills in their field.

The basic difference between an article and a blog is that an article is written by following a more formal format. An article must be informative and give insights to the readers about a particular subject. Generally, the articles include various types of facts in writing, and the content writers can also make their analysis and present research work to make an impression on their readers.

On the other hand, a blog is different from an article in presentation. Generally, blogs are written and drafted informally. In blogs, the content writers may be casual and talk one-on-one with their readers.

3) What is the difference between a copywriter and a web content writer?

A web content writer may also be a copywriter, but it is not necessary that a copywriter can write web content. Web content writers are specialized in writing to the very specific format of the web medium, i.e., websites and blogs. On the other hand, a copywriter generally writes for marketing and copywriting formats for broadcast or print mediums.

4) How can content writer improve their writing skills and grammar?

There are various tips that content writers can use to improve their writing skills and grammar. Some of them are as follows:

• First of all, a content writer must learn the fundamentals of punctuation and grammar. It is necessary for writing anything.
• A content writer should write every day and get it proofread by a senior content writer.
• Make a habit of reading English newspapers daily. It is a must to improve writing and grammar skills.
• Must attend webinars on content writing and grammar etc.
• Practice makes a man perfect. So, always practice writing in English and oral communication in the same.

5) How does good SEO copywriting help a website?

Good SEO copywriting always works as a booster for a website. It raises the website's rank in the search engine results as it follows Google's algorithms that make it attractive to crawlers.

6) What essential and integral components make web content outstanding?

There are a lot of aspects that make web content outstanding. Some of them are as follows:

• Usefulness: The main motive of web content is its usefulness. It should be written in a way that caters to 'what the reader wants to read'. This is the most important thing for the readers' engagement and how a blog or article gets ranked on the search engine.
• User Engagement: Your article should be engaging to the audience. You should use proper headlines, images, and structure to engage the readers till the end.
• Utility: The content writer should create the content by keeping the readers' needs in mind. This gives a great impact on audience engagement and also affects the rankings of the website.
• Credibility: Credibility is a must for writing any content. The content writer has to make it credible. The information included in an article or blog should be from a credible source.
• Originality and No Plagiarism: In web content writing, plagiarism is the biggest crime. A content writer must create the content plagiarism-free. Plagiarism can negatively influence the performance of the article on a search engine and negatively affect the ranking. It can also harm the reputation and credentials of your company.

7) What things a content writer should keep in mind while writing a particular content?

There are many things that a content writer should keep in mind while writing a particular content. Some of the important points are as follows:

• Research about the brand you are writing: This is the most important thing that a content writer should consider. Before writing anything, he must know well about the brand or company he is writing. The content plan must be based on the features of the brand you are writing for. Thus, the content's writing style should reflect the core ideologies of the brand.
• The brand's audience: The content writer should choose the approach and nature of writing by knowing about the readers and the target audience. It is important to know about the audience to write content that can impress them.
• Publishing Medium of the Content: The content writers have to write articles for various mediums. So, they must be aware of the platform where their content will be published. For example, social media posts require a different type of write-up than SEO blogs for websites.

8) How should a content writer create a content strategy for a client/brand?

Creating a content strategy is important for a content writer to write for any specific client or brand. Different organizations have different ways of approaching their content strategy. To write up good content, a content writer must follow the steps given below:

• First, define the marketing objectives of the organization or the brand.
• Identify the organization's audience and study their personality, behavior, demographics, etc.
• Define a plan that can benefit the organization and satisfy the search of the audience.
• Create the topic using the best possible keywords.
• The content must be complete itself and can satisfy the user's search result.

9) What is keyword research in content writing?

Keyword research is one of the most important parts of content writing. A keyword is a context of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Keywords are part of the content and are used to define the content on that specific web page. For example: If you are writing a detailed article on content writer's interview questions, then the keywords would be, "Best content writers interview questions", "content writing questions", "Most asked content writers interview questions," etc. When a user searches anything on Google, they put these keywords on the Google search to get a similar result.

Keyword research is a technique to search for keywords people generally enter into the search engine to get the best possible result.

10) How do you decide what topic/subject to write on?

For a content writer, it is always challenging to find a good topic or subject to write on. Following are some methods that a content writer can use to discover new topics to write:

• Identify your target audience and their needs.
• Research about the keywords and associate keywords of your industry.
• Analyze the keywords and conversations of your competitors.
• Analyze the people's interest on social media about your working area.
• Keep track of blogs and websites in your field and read the articles of subject matter experts, commentators, critics, business experts, etc.

11) What is the best way to integrate SEO into your content?

Integrating SEO within the content is important for good web content. That's how the Google algorithm and On-Page SEO function. Following is a list of some on-page SEO techniques that a content writer must follow:

Keyword Density: Search engines need keywords to find out what your content is all about. So, a content writer should maintain a keyword density between 2 to 5 percent in his content.

Alt Tags: Alt-tags describe the attributes of an image used in the content.

Meta Tags: Meta tags are used to describe the page's content, but they are not visible on the content itself. You can see them only on the coding of the page.

Body Tags: Body tags describe the importance of the headings on the online content. These are represented with H1, H2, H3, H4, etc.

URL Structure: Small URLs and the keyword & location make the URL more search engine friendly.

Internal and external linking: A content writer should use internal and external links within the content. The quality of internal and external links has a good effect on the performance of web content and leads to better content engagement.

12) How can a content writer check that his content is doing well?

A content writer must understand the business strategy of the brand or organization that he is writing for. He should create the content according to the need of the customers or visitors of the website. A piece of content is called good content if it informs and engages the readers and answers their queries well. Good content achieves more clicks, page views, unique visitors, etc. Besides this, a content writer can check the website's rank and the search appearance of his written content. If it appears in the top 5 results on the Google search, it can be called a good piece of content.

13) What is proofreading in content writing? What are some proofreading techniques used by proofreaders?

Proofreading is a type of review work where the proofreader reviews for grammar, punctuations, correct use of language, and format. It is the final touch in content writing and ensures that the written content is correct, consistent, and professional.

Following is a list of some proofreading techniques that can be used to get the perfect content:

Take a break and then check the article: This is important if you are a content writer and you have to proofread your article. It is recommended to take a 12 to 24-hour break from the content and then proofread it for maximum effectiveness.

Cross-check the article: It is recommended to take a printout and then do the proofreading rather than on a laptop.

Remove excess words: Good content is concise and straightforward. Excess words, like adjectives or adverbs, can detract from the real message of the content. So, it is advised to remove excessive, repetitive, and erroneous words from the content when proofreading.

Remove Punctuation mistakes: Punctuation mistakes are the most common ones in content writing. So, checking the punctuation is necessary for proofreading.

Check sentence structure: The sentence structure of the content must be good. A proper sentence must have a subject, a verb, and have a complete sense. A proofreader should review each sentence for proper structure and punctuation.

Use software: There are a lot of online tools and software that a proofreader can use. For example, you can use Microsoft's Spelling and Grammar tool or Grammarly's online editor to find spelling, grammatical errors, and syntax errors that may be escaped by your spell-check.

Review flow and sequencing: A proofreader should check the formatting consistency, order, the numbering of images, tables, and appendices, and the general presentation within the content.

Fact check: The facts and the information used in the content must be trustworthy and accurate. Every detail must be correct. A proofreader should cross-check all these things.

14) What are the various forms of content writing?

Following is the list of various forms used in content writing:

• Blogging
• Technical Content Writing
• EBooks
• Company Website documentation
• Newsletters
• Social Media promotional writing
• Product Review etc.

15) What content management systems have you used?

By asking this question, the interviewer wants to know about the versatility of your writing and your technical exposure to the content management systems like Magento or WordPress. You can answer that you have a good knowledge of WordPress, and you can work easily on that.

16) What are the different tools that a technical content writer should know?

Following are some tools that a technical content writer should aware of:

• Notepad++
• WordPress
• MediaWiki
• Whatfix
• Adobe RoboHelp etc.

17) What are some tactics used to manage deadlines in content writing?

We can use the following tactics to manage deadlines in content writing:

• Calculate the time for each content and start writing the article first, which has the closed deadline.
• Set a time for each of the projects on your list.
• Work according to the deadline date. Edit and proofread the completed articles.
• Spend your time according to the requirements set.

18) How can you know that this content is SEO-friendly?

We can use the following various methods to check if this content is SEO friendly or not:

• SEO-friendly content must be plagiarism-free. Writing original content is the first rule of content writing. This makes your content SEO and search engine friendly.
• The external and internal links in the article make it SEO-friendly content.
• There should not be any grammatical or punctuation mistakes in the content.
• SEO-friendly content must have appropriate keywords, meta keywords, and descriptions in the article.
• It must be concise and straightforward.

19) How can you analyze the performance of the content after publishing?

There are some common ways to analyze the performance of the content after publishing:

• Good content always appears on the top of the Search Engine result page.
• You can use Google Analytics to check the traffic and the returning traffic on your content.
• You can see the user engagement, i.e., likes, shares, comments, etc., on the published article.
• You can see the performance of the content in the form of a call to action, i.e., inquiries, leads, sales, etc.

20) How do you keep yourself motivated as content writing is considered a cumbersome and repetitive task?

This is a tricky question the interviewer asks in content writing interviews. This question is asked to test the intellect and working ethics of the candidate. You can answer this question in the following way:

A possible answer: "I believe in the work ethics "work is worship". Yes, content writing maybe sometimes boring and repetitive, but as a writer, I am quite innovative and often experiment with styles and formats. This is how being the work repetitive and cumbersome; innovation helps me remain motivated.

21) What are the content development tools that you are familiar with?

As a content writer, I am familiar with the following content development tools:

Google trends: "Google trends" is a service of Google Inc. that provides the content writer a plan about the most recent trends of the topic.

Canva: The content writers use the Canva tool to generate the images connected to the subject. It can also be used for creating infographics.

Grammarly: Grammarly is a comprehensive writing tool that facilitates us to write clear, flawless text that can impress our readers. This tool enhances our writing skills by correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes and sentence structure problems, misused words, typos, and more.

Copyscape: The content writers use Copyscape to detect "content theft" cases, in which content is copied without permission from one site to another. This is also used to ensure plagiarism.

Portent's content idea generator: Portent's content idea generator tool is used by content writers to create catchy headlines which give attention to the content and increases page views.

22) How do you write a good blog article?

Following is a list of some tips that can be used to write a good blog article:

Use a catchy title and an impressive opening paragraph: The title must be catchy for a good blog article. By using this, we can get the attention of the reader easily. The opening paragraph should also be impressive and written so that the reader is excited to read the whole blog right away and share it.

Write the blog according to your particular audience: Content writers must know about their particular readers to write the blog according to the readers' requirements.

Optimize your article for the search engines: The written blog article must follow the SEO rules such as keyword density, use of targeted keywords in the sentences, and many more for the ease of search engines.

End with an Action: The blog article must end with action. It must be completed with something which will put the reader in action.