Learning on the job - the three main lessons I have learned so far from WA

byJCrow1

118 followers

5 years ago

Before I joined Wealthy Affiliate, I had been laid off from my previous e-commerce marketing job for a few months. During these few months, I had entertained the idea of becoming a freelance writer and marketer (focusing on copywriting and content marketing). So when I signed up for WA, I focused on writing and marketing for small businesses as my niche.

I had some previous experience writing short blog posts (300 words max.) before I joined Wealthy Affiliate. They were mostly show reviews and press releases for local bands and artists and lacked any written structure or formatting for the web. I wrote them on and off for a little over a year.

Since I have joined Wealthy Affiliate, my writing and writing habits have changed drastically, and I have learned three main lessons in writing for the web.

1. Length: As I mentioned earlier, I used to write short blog posts that were 300 words maximum in length. As a beginning writer, it could be a struggle to write that many words. It was hard to imagine writing a thousand words or more but since I joined WA every blog post I have written so far has been at least a thousand words and my last blog post was almost 1500 words.
2. Keywords: When it came to keywords, I thought you were supposed to pick a keyword that was relevant to whatever you were writing and sprinkle it throughout the article. That has certainly changed since I joined WA. Every blog post I write centers around the keyword and the keyword research criteria I learned through WA.
3. Formatting: I changed the way I write and have started focusing on writing and formatting for the web. I used to write with long paragraphs and no hyperlinks, italics or bold text, bullet points, and subtitles. Now I utilize the Wordpress formatting tools whenever I can throughout my writing.

Outside of the three main lessons I have learned, I have made it a must to write for at least one hour a day. I have a day job now and a toddler so during the week this means getting up at 4:00 am to do this, but it’s an essential part of my day now.

I’m proud of my progress so far and learning a new way to write for the web. My goal for the next three months is to start generating some revenue and keep writing every day. My six month to one-year goal is to pick up a freelance client or two.