Writing and Editing: Five Problems to Avoid in Your Content Marketing

Content is king. This is even truer now that people are using more and more ad blockers. The only way to get to them these days is by slipping your product in among the information they’re looking for. At least until some smarty-pants manages to find a way to block that as well!
Of course, not all content marketing has been created equal. Some of it works for months and some of it fades within minutes to that dark, dark place where internet pages go to die. The question is what is the difference between the former and the latter and how do you make sure your content sticks around?

Content matters

The first, most important point is that your page actually has content. A lot of people try to get away with a few paragraphs of fluff with their link hidden somewhere inside, hoping that their readers won’t notice. They will.
And that while the information is out there! It takes a little bit longer and a little bit more effort, but that can be the difference between your audience moving on and your site moving up in the rating hierarchy. And therein lies the power of content marketing; that your page can end up becoming a useful resource and thereby reach thousands of readers for months to come, rather than only a few dozen for a few minutes.

Keyword stuffing

Linked closely to the above mistake, some marketers think it’s more important to write for Google than for their readers. Yes putting in the right terms will get you more attention from Google. But how useful is that if nobody sticks around because your page reads like it was put together by a caveman? And if they don’t stick around then what use is your page? After all, Google doesn’t buy your product, people do.

No style no market

Equally, if your readers can’t read what you’ve written or don’t like the style, then it often doesn’t matter that the content is valuable. For that reason, take the time to edit and not just once but several times. Even better, request editing help as a second pair of eyes can see mistakes that might slip you by. “But that costs money” some of you shout. Yes, but isn’t that worth it if as a result your page has staying power? That question pretty much answers itself.

You’re not an academic

And, more importantly, your audience isn’t a bunch of students. So don’t use overlong sentences, pompous language and certainly don’t write like a suit who irons his underwear. Writing like that will create a distance between you and your audience and then they’ll go elsewhere. After all, people don’t just go onto the internet to be informed, they go to be engaged. So make sure you address your audience in the second person (you) and engage them with stories and parables rather than facts and figures. That’s what works.

Not having a call to action

Some people go the other way. They write a great piece of text that people are just eating up, but when the readers reach the end there is no conversion. Instead, their readers simply click on to the next article on their list. What a wasted opportunity! Don’t let that happen to you. Use the power of asking. Tell the people what you want and they might just give it to you. Don’t ask for anything and they probably won’t.

Balance

There is a balance to be struck between what you want and what your audience wants. You want sales. Your audience wants information for free. Most of them are only there for that reason. And that’s fine just as long as you manage to convince some of them to click through to your site and buy your product. That’s what the internet is (mostly) based on. And for the most part, that seems to work just fine.