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10 Must-Have Content Writing Tools Every Writer Needs

10 Must-Have Content Writing Tools Every Writer Needs

Are you tired of staring at a blank page, struggling to find the perfect words for your next blog post or article? Or you spend hours editing and proofreading, trying to catch every spelling and grammar mistake. Well, fear not, my fellow writer, because this article will share the top 10 content writing tools that every writer needs.

Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting, these tools will help you streamline your writing process, improve your writing skills, and ultimately, create content that engages and converts your audience. So without further ado, let's dive into the must-have content writing tools.

1 – Answer the Public

Answer The Public Content Writing Tools

Generating new and engaging ideas for your content can be challenging as a content writer. However, with the help of Answer The Public, you can quickly develop new topics and ideas that will capture your audience's attention.

Answer The Public is a keyword research tool that helps writers discover questions and queries that people are searching for on search engines like Google. The tool generates a list of questions, prepositions, comparisons, and related searches based on a given keyword, making it easy to find relevant topics your audience is interested in.

One of the most significant advantages of Answer The Public is its ability to provide content writers with a wealth of information that they can use to create valuable content. For example, the tool can help you identify specific pain points or challenges your target audience faces and provide answers or solutions to those challenges in your content.

Answer The Public can also help you identify new angles or perspectives for your content that you may not have considered otherwise. By looking at the questions and queries people are searching for related to your topic, you can gain insights into what your audience is looking for and how you can address their needs.

Another benefit of Answer The Public is that it can help you identify long-tail keywords that are less competitive but still relevant to your target audience. Including these keywords in your content can increase your chances of ranking higher on search engine results pages.

Overall, Answer The Public is a valuable tool for content writers looking to create high-quality, engaging content that resonates with their audience. By providing unique insights and ideas based on accurate search data, the tool can help you stay ahead of the curve and produce content that drives traffic and engagement.

2 – Semrush

Semrush Writing Assistant Tool

As a writer, you want to create content that engages your audience and ranks well on search engines. This is where Semrush comes in, as it is a powerful tool that can help you research and analyse keywords, monitor your rankings, and track your competitors' performance.

One of the critical features of Semrush is its ability to perform in-depth keyword research. With this tool, you can identify high-volume keywords, track trends, and analyse their competitiveness. This allows you to create content that targets the right keywords and ranks well on search engine results pages.

In addition to keyword research, Semrush can help you analyse your competitors' content and identify areas where you can improve your content. By analysing your competitors' content, you can gain insights into their content strategy, identify gaps in their content, and find new opportunities to differentiate your content.

Another valuable feature of Semrush is its content optimisation tools, which allow you to analyse your content for on-page SEO factors such as keyword density, meta descriptions, and internal linking. This helps you ensure that your content is optimised for search engines and has the best chance of ranking well.

Semrush also includes a suite of analytics tools that allow you to track your website's performance over time, including traffic, rankings, and backlinks. This data can help you identify areas where you can improve your content and optimise your website for better performance.

Semrush is essential for writers who want to create high-quality, SEO-optimised content that ranks well on search engines. Its keyword research, content optimisation, and analytics tools can help you stay ahead of the curve and produce content that engages your audience and drives traffic to your website.

3 – Content Brief Workflow

Content Harmony Content Brief

If you're a content writer, you know that research is a critical step in creating high-quality, SEO-optimised content. You must identify the right keywords, understand their intent, and then create a comprehensive outline that guides your writing. But this process can be incredibly time-consuming and overwhelming, especially if you must navigate multiple tabs and sources simultaneously.

Fortunately, Content Harmony's Content Briefs workflow can simplify this process and make creating a world-class outline for your content easier. With Content Briefs, you can avoid having multiple tabs open at once as you try to understand the H2s and H3s to include, common queries on sites like Quora, Reddit, and Stack Exchange, and what supplemental keywords to add. You can also identify high-quality outbound links to add authority to your content.

Content Harmony's Content Briefs workflow allows you to plug in the content structure of the top-ranking pages for your target keyword, authoritative sources that you can consider linking to, the average word count of top pages, image and video analysis, and ideas from ‘people also ask' that you can include while writing.

By automating and streamlining this research process, Content Harmony saves writers time and helps them create more compelling content. But it's not just about efficiency – Content Harmony's workflow promotes collaboration and alignment between marketing team members. Strategists and writers can agree on the best way to target a specific keyword, preventing frustrating back-and-forth later on.

In short, Content Harmony's Content Briefs workflow is a must-have tool for content writers who want to create high-quality, SEO-optimized content efficiently and collaboratively. Try it, and see how it can transform your writing process today!

4 – Google Docs

If you're not already using Google Docs, you're missing out on a tool that should be a staple in every writer's toolkit. It's free with a Google account and packed with features that make writing, editing, archiving, and sharing your work a breeze.

One of the best things about Google Docs is that it automatically saves your work to the cloud, so you'll always retain your precious words to a dodgy internet connection or a frozen computer. And if you're feeling like a hermit, you can even write offline without worrying about losing progress.

But that's not even the best part, folks. Google Docs has got some excellent collaboration skills. You can share your document with others and choose whether they can view, comment, or edit it. And those who are editing can suggest changes instead of just going in and wrecking your masterpiece.

Moreover, Google Docs keeps a history of all the changes made to the document, so you can track who made what change and when. And if you're feeling fancy, you can even use the voice typing feature to dictate your words or play around with the advanced formatting options.

So, if you still need to get on the Google Docs bandwagon, hop on now and enjoy the ride! Your writing will thank you for it.

Related:  How to Reuse Blog Content to Maximise Your Potential

5 – Canva

Infographic Maker Canva

Not only do visuals make your work look appealing, but they also increase engagement and readability. And let's face it, who doesn't love a little eye candy?

But wait, there's more! If you're tired of using those boring stock images, fear not! Canva is here to save the day. This nifty tool offers hundreds of built-in templates to help you create beautiful images, charts, mockups, and even social media posts with just a few clicks and drag-and-drop functions.

The best part about Canva is that it's designed for folks who aren't design experts. You don't need formal training in software like Adobe Photoshop to use it. Canva is so easy to use that you can create a masterpiece while munching on a sandwich (although we don't recommend getting mayo on your keyboard).

And if you're on a tight budget, don't worry! Canva's free plan is robust and feature-rich. However, to take your design game to the next level, you can upgrade to the paid plan for just $16.99 monthly. It's a small price to pay for access to a whole world of design possibilities. So go forth and make your content visually stunning with Canva!

6 – Grammarly

Grammarly Tool For Freelancing

This magical tool is perfect for catching those sneaky mistakes that even the most eagle-eyed editor would miss. Its browser extension works like a charm, picking up on your writing inside Google Docs, Twitter, Slack, email apps, and even Content Harmony's Content Grader. It's like having your editor without the high cost and judgmental glare.

And let me tell you, its spelling and grammar algorithms are more robust than those found in Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Plus, it even has a passive voice checker. Who knew there was such a thing? Grammarly did, that's who.

But that's not all! By assigning emojis, Grammarly also helps you understand how your content may come across to your readers. Yes, you read that right, emojis. They indicate whether your content is friendly, instructive, confident, neutral or more. It's like having a translator for your writing.

So, if you want to step up your writing game and avoid being roasted for your grammar mistakes, Grammarly is your tool. Trust us, most writers swear by it. Even professional academic writers who work for writing services and process “write my essay for me” requests use Grammarly all time long.

7 – Surfer SEO

Surfer Seo Tool

The Surfer SEO interactive editor is like having a personal writing coach obsessed with SEO. As you write, it keeps a hawk's eye on your keyword density, word count, headlines, and readability.

But that's not all! The Content Editor can inspect 500+ data points in one sweep and weigh your content against organic competitors. So, you can create content that outranks the competition and attracts tons of organic traffic.

And the best part? You don't have to switch between multiple windows or copy-paste your lengthy content to use the tool. Connect your content document to the tool, type your target keyword, and watch your progress in a nifty pane.

The Content Editor generates a Content Score for each piece you type, which helps you instantly assess your content quality. 

And here's the cherry on top: the Content Editor is a part of the Surfer toolset so that you can integrate it with Google Docs and WordPress. Plus, you can sign up for their 7-day trial for just $1 to watch the tool in action. So, what are you waiting for? Give your writing a boost and watch your content soar to the top of the search engines with Surfer's Content Editor.

8 – Hemingway

Hemingway Writing Tool For Designers

This handy editing app is named after the great Ernest Hemingway, who was admired for his succinct and straightforward writing style. Just paste your content into this free web app, and it'll assess your writing and identify opportunities to make it simpler.

One of my favourite features of the Hemingway Editor is its ability to identify passive voice and hard-to-read sentences. It's like having your grammar coach who won't judge you for using too many adjectives.

And if you're curious about how readable your writing is, the Hemingway Editor has got you covered. Just look at the right-hand side of the screenshot above, where the tool has summed up how readable my writing is with a grade. (Spoiler alert: there's some room for improvement here.) But fear not; the Hemingway Editor also provides suggestions to improve readability. Shoot for lower than a 10th-grade reading level, and you're golden.

So, if you want to take your writing game to the next level and make your content easier to read, the Hemingway Editor is the tool for you. Remember, you mustn't be Ernest Hemingway to write like a pro. But it certainly doesn't hurt to have his name on your side.

9 – CoSchedule's Headline Analyser

Free Headline Analyzer

Only 60% of people who click on an article bother to read past the headline. Yup, you read that right. So, to ensure your readers stick around for the whole shebang, you'd better make that headline count.

But what exactly makes a good headline? Don't worry; the Headline Analyser tool by CoSchedule is here to help. It's like having a personal headline guru, minus the creepy incense and weird chanting.

This free tool will score your headline quality and rate its ability to drive social shares, traffic, and SEO value. And let me tell you, it's like getting a report card for your headlines. So if you're a headline slacker, it's time to buckle down and study.

The Headline Analyser's real strength lies in its ability to help you strengthen specific components of your title. For example, it reports on perceived sentiment and commonality of word types. And it'll even show you how your headline will appear in search results. So, even if you're not a headline genius, you can use this tool to give your headlines a “once-over” and improve your chances of hooking those elusive readers.

Remember, while the scores and grades might not be perfect, developing an ideal headline is worth taking a few extra minutes. Trust me, your readers will thank you.

10 – Copyscape

Copyscape Review

Did you know plagiarism is one of the biggest no-nos in content creation? That's right, folks. If you're not careful, you could have a hefty, fat Google penalty, and nobody wants that!

But don't worry, because Copyscape is here to save the day. This fantastic tool checks your content against the vast expanse of the internet to ensure your words are 100% original. No more copy-pasting someone else's work and passing it off as your own. That's like putting a cheap knockoff designer handbag on the runway at Fashion Week. It's just not classy, folks.

So, try Copyscape to ensure your content is plagiarism-free and ready to take on the world.

Wrapping Up

And that's a wrap, folks! Creating high-quality content that captivates and educates your audience can be daunting. But with the right content writing tools at your fingertips, you'll be able to tackle any challenge that comes your way. And let's be honest, who doesn't love a good tool? They make our lives easier, our writing more effective, and our jokes funnier (well, maybe not that last one).

From Hemingway Editor to CoSchedule's Headline Analyzer, we've got you covered with many options to improve your writing skills, drive more traffic to your website, and avoid the wrath of Google's plagiarism police. So don't hesitate to try these must-have tools and see how they can take your content to the next level. We can't wait to see what you'll create with them!

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Stuart Crawford

Stuart Crawford is an award-winning creative director and brand strategist with over 15 years of experience building memorable and influential brands. As Creative Director at Inkbot Design, a leading branding agency, Stuart oversees all creative projects and ensures each client receives a customised brand strategy and visual identity.

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