10 Content Writing Mistakes You Need To Avoid

Content writing never goes out of style. People love reading well-written content. There are many mistakes you need to avoid if you’re writing content.

Don’t Write About You

Your potential customers don’t care about you. They care about themselves. They’ll get bored quickly reading about your company. If you find yourself saying “we” a lot, start over! It’s understandable you want to showcase your company and products. Resisting the urge makes your content more appealing.

Use Headlines to Break up the Text

It’s hard for people to read a long wall of text. Break your text into smaller sections with punchy headlines. People tend to scan a page to look for interesting parts. They’ll enjoy your article more if you format it this way.

Stay Away from Jargon

Some of the most boring articles you’ll ever read employ a ton of jargon. The only people who will enjoy reading something like this are experts in the field. Simplify your language use for everyone else.

Be Original

No one wants to read the same article, only on different websites. Stay away from rehashing articles and write from your own unique viewpoint.

Be Specific and Not Broad

Covering a broad subject in web content is useless. You need to drill down to the specifics to educate and enlighten your readers.

Forget Writing for Search Engines

It’s okay to mention a keyword or two, but don’t write your content for search engines. Humans are your target. Your content needs to appeal to human readers, who are the ones who actually buy products and services! Search engine traffic is great, but there’s a lot of proof that writing for search engines is more likely to damage your rankings then help them. Web marketing is about conversions, not traffic.

Make Sure to Proofread

Everyone makes mistakes on their first draft. It’s perfectly acceptable to. What’s not okay, though, is to leave those errors in and call the work done. Proofread your document before publishing. Usually the mistakes are minor. Someone landing on your page won’t appreciate any screw-ups. Clean up your content with a thorough edit.

Watch out for Spelling and Grammar

There’s no excuse for spelling mistakes. Your editing program will automatically correct spelling and grammar errors. The spelling errors can fixed instantly. Correcting grammar is a bit trickier. Programs can miss mistakes or disagree with usage that’s correct. Hone up on your grammar every day with a bit of learning. That’s the only way to get better.

Don’t Veer off Topic

It’s easy to start rambling if you aren’t careful. If you fall off the path, your reader will too. Lead you reader to the end zone with a targeted article that stays complete on topic.

Don’t Pad Your Word Count with Useless Fluff

Good writers use enough words to convey meaning. Bad writers add as much fluff as possible, because they aren’t sure what they’re trying to say. Their readers won’t know either. Be concise and use simple language to communicate effectively.

Web content needs to stand out. Readers see so much content, they can pick and choose the pieces they want to read. They don’t have to read every article online. If yours is a dude, they’ll pass. Respect how busy your readers are. Don’t waste their time with a poorly written article. The respect you show them will be returned.