Technical Content Writing - Free Tools that will help you in Quality Enhancement
Your audience wants to read content that is unique and provides them with the best quality information in an easily understood manner. Your responsibility is to provide it to them.
Writing and editing may consume a significant portion of your day. If you've been spending a lot of time generating articles, here are several tools that can help you cut your time spent creating audience-centric content by up to 50%.
And I am not simply saying this. As a writer, I have been there and done that. Writing your mind out can give you the best articles. However, your best might not be the best for your audience. Use tools that help you support your writings and see results like none before.
How much would you pay for them? Literally USD 0. You can choose to upgrade to premium versions as per your need, but the basic one does most of the tasks really well.
I have jotted down tools that I use every time I write an article. Let’s analyze all these based on the sequence of the writing process.
1. IDEA GENERATION
When you get started, the first step would be generating an idea based on which you'd curate the rest of the content. An idea could be a phrase, a trend, or even a word from which you decide to build the scope of your article. Often coming up with this can get tough. This phase is most important especially when you are facing writer's block.
Answer The Public
Wondering what questions are most asked in a niche or topic that you are planning to write about? This site will come to your rescue. For example, if you are writing a general article on JavaScript and choose to enter that word, you'll get questions like:
- What is JavaScript?
- Who developed JavaScript?
Instantly, you get numerous blog topics to write upon which helps you build your expertise in the niche of your choice.
Google Trends
Out of ideas about what to write? Content online seems boring? Let's spice up with the hottest topic and trending ideas? How about creating an AR filter for Instagram to match with the ongoing Reels Trend and then writing an article on how you created it? Sounds Interesting, right?
2. RESEARCH
Google is always there to rescue when it comes to researching for content on ideas that you have come across. Using shorthand methods and proper searching techniques can help you research more effectively. If you are seeking more personalized and unique content, try looking out for problems and probable solutions found on sites like Quora, Reddit, Medium, Stack Overflow and GitHub
UberSuggest
The success of an article is defined by the impact it creates. You want your article to show up on maximum searches. UberSuggest helps serve this purpose. It's a one-stop for your SEO-based research needs. Type a keyword and it will give you a list of the most popular articles on that topic. Guess what's the best part? You also get a competitive analysis of the articles. This way you can learn from the best practices and mistakes committed by fellow authors and write more effectively.
BuzzSumo
What kind of content based on the topic of your choice is viewed more within India? Do you want to know which platform saw the most engagement for similar articles? BuzzSumo is the tool you need. You can also use this platform to find influencers, set up alerts for keywords and track competitors. For example, if you search for the word JavaScript, the top articles lined up are:
- Pass the Technical Interview with JavaScript
- Helpful JavaScript one-liners to code Cleaner
- JavaScript Tutorial - How to set up a Front-end development project
By simply looking at this, we understand what kind of content do JavaScript enthusiasts engage with most, and what we can write upon.
3. COLLABORATION
Google Docs
Remote work demands collaborative solutions that can speed up your work. Editing, Suggesting and Reviewing can be selectively done using the Google Suite's Docs.
4. FOCUS
Productivity => Focus on work Due to the intense amount of distractions around us, being unable to write at a stretch can seem like a difficult task. This hinders us from achieving upto our utmost potential. Other than apps, that limit your usage of other applications or those that reduce the clutter on your screen, one app beats them all.
The Most Dangerous Writing App
As dangerous as the name sounds, the app provides you with a sadistic experience. If you enjoy working under pressure and danger excites you, then this app is made for you. It keeps a time limit of 3 seconds on writing, so if you get distracted for more than 3 seconds, all your content up to now will be lost. The red screen above is what you see when your time is up. This threatening atmosphere ensures that you do your work on time and avoid any sort of distraction. That's not all! The Most Dangerous Writing App also features The Most Dangerous Random Prompt Generator which gives you a prompt that you can write about within the next 5 minutes. Although it sounds like a horror story to slow thinkers and writers, I must say that this app can help you accelerate your writing and help save a lot of time.
5. TITLE
A title is the first thing that you will notice on the page. Thus, you need to make sure that it stands out. A correct mixture of powerful words and emotional words is necessary.
Portent Idea Generator
While some of the titles generated might be whacky, there is a wide array of article titles that stand out. Even if you don't get a perfect title, it is sure to give you goals for the future. Here are some titles that were generated for the word JavaScript:
- 19 Ways JavaScripts Can Make You Rich
- 10 Freaky Reasons JavaScript could get you Fired
- The JavaScript Article of Your Dreams
- Why the Next 10 Years of JavaScripts Will Smash the Last 10 Aren't they interesting? Try this out for a word of your choice and see the amazing results.
HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator
Add up to 5 keywords in the textbox provided and get a list of article titles emailed to you.
Some of the titles shown to me were as follows:
- JavaScript - Expectations vs Reality
- The Next Big thing in JavaScript You now know how to fight your writer's block and seek prompts online within your niche.
Coschedule Headline Analyzer
Once you select a headline, it is a good practice to analyze it for readability and SEO. This tool is your assistant in the process. It helps you analyze headlines word by word and update them based on trending keywords to increase the SEO score.
6. GRAMMAR
Grammar is the most crucial aspect of your content. Although communication occurs when the message is appropriately conveyed, grammar may completely alter the appearance of your material. The more extensive your vocabulary, the more professional your essay will be. When it comes to content creation, readability is another important element to consider.
Grammarly
That one tool that every other individual should have heard about, whether or not you write content. It comes in the form of a website and also a browser extension that can help you check your grammar and spellings while editing content on a website. The free version itself helps you correct most spelling and grammar mistakes. However, for more details on how to enhance content based on the mood and occasion for the article, you can try the Premium version.
Hemmingway Editor
The Hemmingway Editor emphasises and corrects grammar, fluency, and sentence structure to improve the readability and appearance of your work. It not only enhances your existing writing but also educates you to write better and generate more readable content.
Synonym Finder
Add a word and find words with similar meanings that you can replace the existing words with. This practice can help you update your vocabulary and make your content sound more professional.
Cliché Finder
Certain phrases that are commonly used are called cliché. Some people avoid writing articles with cliché. This tool helps you find the cliché in your article.
7. SEO
Keyword Shitter
Add a term and you'll get a bunch of keywords related to it from the internet.
8. PLAGIARISM CHECK
Duplichecker
Plagiarism is a criminal offence that must be avoided at all costs. However, as writers, we have a tendency to replicate what we read. It is usually a good idea to verify your content for plagiarism before getting it published.
9. PARAPHRASING
Quillbot
Is your content lacking in quality? Do you want help in rephrasing your content more professionally? Do you need to avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing? Numerous problems, one solution - Quillbot: An AI-based paraphrasing tool that will help produce content more fluently.
10. MISCELLANEOUS
Word Counter
This is helpful when you have a word limit on the content or if you are being paid by the word. This tool not only counts words or characters but also checks grammar, flags plagiarism and scores you on your SEO.
CONCLUSION
The tools mentioned above aren't exclusive for producing technical content. These may be used for any type of content that you generate. It has aided me on my path, and I am confident that it will assist you as well.
Have you used any of these free resources? Is there another tool you prefer over these? Please leave them in the comments so that they can assist other content authors in their writing journey.