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Content Writing: Do’s and Don’ts

Moiz Khan Nov 07, 2019

Content is as critical as your website’s architecture and functionality because it determines the performance of your search engine results, improves access to your page and positions your business as an expert in the market. And in today’s content marketplace, the ability to gain leverage content for business outcomes is measured by both quality and quantity.

Your website markets your business. If the content writing of your website is sloppy, bloated, or confusing, it will make your brand impression negative — and then you will lose customers, regardless of how good your products or services are.

Here we have listed some do’s and don’ts to make it easy for your business to excel through content marketing.

do-and-dont-infographics

DO’S


Do write in short paragraphs

Since screen read speeds are slower than print speeds, people can skim the text quickly. Long stretches of text, particularly while reading on computers and tablets, are hard for users to read. Whenever possible, split your content into shorter paragraphs, bullet points and lists. Sometimes, work in some subheads whenever you can.

Do an overall revision

Write, edit and revise. Go back and think how to smooth the rough edges of your writing after you’ve created a first document. Chop everything unnecessary during rewriting, and make it simpler.

Do implement on-page SEO

Learn about on-page SEO. Doing so will help a business to ease things, whether or not they have a SEO team. Think about internal linking processes to transfer link capital to sites that you want both readers and search engines to highlight.

Do read daily on ‘writing’ & ‘subject’

In addition to learning the topic you write for, learn about that niche in reputed publications on a regular basis. Find and follow the lessons of existing blogs with successful writers.  A quick ‘writing tips’ search on Google provides more than a million pages. Whether from colleges or some lesser-known writers, you’re sure to find something there.

Do create unique content

Attempting to give your content piece a new makeover is what differentiates your article or blog from everyone else’s. To attract a credible audience, this specific perspective is important. You may take inspiration from their style, but you don’t have to copy that. Because every person is distinctive and unique, so they should possess a varied style of writing.

Do interact on blog comments

This is a chance to actively interact with people reading your work Not all comments have to be replied, but be sure to respond to those who do. Even sometimes just showing up and posting “Thanks for reading my blog” is worth it.

Do post on social mediums

Posting different ways on a number of social media platforms can let you engage with a range of audiences Don’t hesitate about using social media to share your posts Everything that promotes the finding of your blog for potential readers should be a must.

Do add visuals

Although readers come for information and creativity on your website, they also need to be visually stimulated. Not every post can lend itself to an image, but take advantage of it when they do.

Do your research

One needs to have vast knowledge about the topic they are writing on, particularly in the B2B industry. To build credibility and justify your claims, have facts, information and metrics. To keep new ideas and content flowing, keep up with the research. No research should be directly followed by writing and planning.

Do put links in your posts

Whether you are linking to other blogs or websites that contain great information or linking to past posts on your own site, do it whenever you can. It will not only help boost the number of clicks, but also help with the search engine rankings of your blog.

 

DON’TS


Don’t lose your focus

Make sure every piece of content is written for one single topic only. Adhere to this point and stop wandering to different topics. It is completely okay to discuss the related stuff; just make sure you don’t mix different ideas into one piece of content. It hinders user’s momentum of reading.

Don’t plagiarize

Never copy anyone’s content and publish it.  I repeat, never! Instead, take cues, draw inspirations and create your own unique content. Your content is what inspires people when it is written in your voice of writing. It is what holds them there.

Don’t copy competitors

Everyone has their own strategies and different audience to speak to. The only time you must pay attention to the competitors of your company is when you are writing for keyword rankings or top linking websites.

Don’t be inconsistent

Keep on scheduling your posts consistently. If you are doing it twice a week, schedule them at the same times on the same days based on analytics of when that website typically gets its most traffic.

Don’t over stuff keywords

Keywords are a way of making the content relevant, readable and search-friendly. But it does the complete opposite when you start stuffing in keywords.

Don’t neglect the importance of title

The title decides whether the rest of your work will be read by audiences. If the title does not catch attention, provoke an emotion, or make the reader want to know more about the topic, there are high chances that you won’t achieve the desired results.

Don’t follow other’s style

Getting into someone else’s shoes and being willing to write in just the same way is not what you should be doing. The writing style is the writer’s persona, its own identity. So, create your own exclusive ways of delivering content.

Don’t focus on numbers

Nobody gets to read every word on the page. Readers have short spans of attention, and they just scan your content for the main takeaways Usually, some interesting writers are concise in their write ups. They understand the fact that to deliver thoughts or points, you don’t need to get very descriptive and they avoid writing just for the sake of increasing the word count.

Don’t expect on immediate ROI

A lot of businesses or organizations expect to get ROI immediately in a matter of a few days or weeks. Any organization’s ongoing content campaigns take at least six months (after some strong SEO work) or more.

Don’t write for SEO only

Don’t write to please the search engine; instead, please your reader. SEO strategy is needed for what content is required, so don’t put completely focus on it. Although SEO is vital for ranking, the content that is written must be the main focus and SEO shouldn’t let you lose it.

Don’t compromise on quality

just because you’ve committed to writing multiple articles doesn’t mean the articles should be sub-par reading. Submitting sloppy work is the easiest way to damage your own credibility Therefore, check for spelling and grammatical errors and establish a solid structure of sentences throughout.

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