The key to awesome content creation today is simplicity. Write with finesse and your audience will have a much easier (and more pleasurable) time engaging with your brand.
In this article we’re going to focus on 5 naughty content creation mistakes that are likely making your writing far more complicated than it needs to be.
Let’s remedy that…
1. Failing to have a clear plan / purpose for each piece of content
This should go without saying but each piece of content you create needs a clear purpose:
- Who are you writing for?
- What subject are you covering?
- What will your audience gain from engaging with this content?
- What action would you like them to take next?
Without a clear plan, your writing will invariably become messy. Keep it clean and simple and then get to the point!
2 – Your content is a solid wall of text
If your website visitors come across a massive block of text when clicking through on one of your blog posts, they’re going to have a bad time.
Most people will abandon the search; the rest will let out a huge sigh while they exhaustively trudge through the wall of text as they try to find the information they need.
It’s unnecessary.
- Use short sentences.
- Smaller paragraphs.
- Regular line breaks.
- Headers (e.g., H1, h2, h3 etc.).
- Bulleted lists (see how lovely it looks?).
Your writing should be easy to scan and even easier to digest. Walls of text have no place on a modern website.
3. Using overly grandiose locutions
See? I don’t even understand what “locution” means and I’m the one who put it there!
When writing your content, the goal is to use simple language that will make it more accessible to everyone.
If a 10-year old can read and process your content, then you’ve nailed it.
Yes, depending on your industry and target market, big words can often serve you well, but only when it adds value.
If you are using verbose language for the sake of showing off your talents, you should quit your day job and pursue a career in writing poetry instead. Read more about the best inventory management software apps sarkepo
4. Unnecessary imagery
Every image you include in a blog post or on a web page should be relevant – and add value.
If you are including an image simply because you want to mix things up, then at least make sure that it fits the context.
I am forever reading blogs and then scrolling past images that make me stop and think…” Wait, what? How is that relevant? Am I missing something here?”
They must fit the context of the whole piece and add value to it – otherwise its distracting.
5. A lack of punctuation
Punctuate your writing accordingly – even if you don’t use it “the right way” (no one is going to fault you for using an em-dash when a comma would do, so long as it helps break up the text).
If you do not punctuate your writing you will invariably end up exhausting your readers and confusing the point you wish to make because there is no visible place in the wall of text to pause for a breather and this might not seem like that much of a big deal but by this point particularly if you are reading this out loud you are likely running out of breath and about blue in the fact which is not fun.
Punctuation exists for a very good reason detectmind.
Conclusion: Hire the pros
One very effective means of simplifying your writing and getting the most out of each post that you create is hiring the pros. The fact is, crafting awesome and share-worthy content that will keep your audience coming back for more is a full-time job in itself. Between running a business and living your life, there’s no shame in outsourcing the rest to those who are best suited to it.
Just like you outsource your accounting to a professional bookkeeper, leave the content creation to the SEO experts in Melbourne.
In any case, we hope this article has been handy. Keep it simple, cut the fat, get to the point. Your readers will thank you for it and your conversions will reflect that fact.