Yes great content writing
Common content writing errors in business documentation.
Content writing is the coalface of your business and online presence. There are some errors in content writing that keep presenting themselves. It is useful to keep reminding ourselves of these – after all it makes good writing sense. [Read more…]
The answer is simple – high quality original seo website content. Written content that provides value to readers and potential customers is your best safeguard against future search engine changes like Panda.
Well, probably, the answer should be high quality original content is a great start to keeping your website visible and relevant to the online community. Search engines want to see well managed websites with information that informs readers about your particular product or service.
Know your keywords; they are the heart of your SEO website content. Identify a few words that are relevant to your products and input them into Google’s Keyword tool to see what the global and the monthly searches are for that word and also the competition. Think about variations of the words that make sense for your business and put them in the perspective of someone conducting a search on your product. Some examples could be ‘how to set up blog posts’, ‘seo content writing’, ‘web content writing services’.
Don’t forget to track your keywords and their success or otherwise. Monitor and analyse your keywords and see what is working for you – don’t just leave them there and hope for the best. Your keywords can become the base for your seo website content pages and blogs. In the end, it does all contributing towards your branding and professional image you want to create.
Blogs are a great way to keep your website relevant and fresh with great content writing. They can utilise tools of your website SEO like meta description and tags, and orientate around your keywords. They will inform your readers on your business products and services and if interesting enough, will invite readers to link to your website, thus providing backlinks.
Blogs are conversational and must be easy to read, clear and concise. Don’t forget to illustrate the benefits to your clients not just your services or products. At the end of the day, your readers will become your customers if they think you or your products are making their life easier and providing value. It is not always just about the dollar.
Product launches are also a great subject for your blogs or website content. You are the expert in your field, so if there is a new product or service available, tell your readers, but tell them in ‘everyday speak’, not technical jargon. Your customers will appreciate you keeping them up to date and aware.
Write naturally and let your keywords fall where they will in the writing of your soptimised website content. Use keyword variations and make sure they show context for your product e.g. content writer and copywriter.
Another useful method to keep your website and your blogs current and relevant is using visual content like video content and clear images of your products. Google likes this as well – so everyone will be happy.
Guest blogging or articles on your website or blog is also another great idea. These writers will have a different perspective to you and will bring their own stream of readers and followers. Of course, you can always blog on someone else’s website and link back to your great content.
A definite no-no is to write one great article and then use it on multiple sites by just rearranging a few words. We all know this has been done in the past – but the news is it no longer works. Google, and in particle, Panda, put an end to this.
Above all, write for your readers. Make sure it is logical, concise, clear and not full of typos. Clear and concise means no rambling – but then, that is another story.
Business writing is not the same as conversation.
‘How did you find your steak?’
‘I moved all that lettuce and there it was. What! You asked how I found my steak. Well, say what
you mean.’
We get away with a lot in conversational language as environmental context, body language and eye contact are there to support our intended meaning.
However, in written communication and business writing, there are only the words, tone and the context created in that document.
I very much like a term I heard recently, ‘the living language’. Whilst there are different interpretations of the term, I feel it describes the development of language. Language
is alive, changing all the time, and yes, it can be challenging at times.
Social media is changing the language and grammar of young minds and who knows where it will end. N. James (2007) says about language development that one generation’s ‘barbarism becomes the next generation’s common usage’. Mmmm.
The move away from history’s very formal, stifling and overdressed language (which perhaps still is used to bewilder and maybe bully readers) to the concise writing of plain English, where we say what we mean (persuasive though it maybe) can be confronting to some of us.
There is a relationship in business communication between shorter words, clear sentences, document presentation and an improved response and efficiency. Why? Because the message is clear and people understand. It makes sense.
Creative design is now available to us in the preparation of our everyday documents and it does impact on our communication strategies in business. Good design is very influential in written messages and a wise writer uses it to full advantage.
Promote integrity and trust in your business communications. Say what you mean but be respectful. People read between the lines and honest communication rings very true.
Personally, I like punctuation. It is so powerful. How would you punctuate this unassuming and lame sentence?
‘A woman without her man is nothing.’
I like the 2nd one personally. The unassuming sentence is now powerful.
But then I have motive, agenda and am being a little bit of a bully.
To be published www.flyingsolo.com.au February 2012.
Great business writing is a feather away
Good business writing means no waffle.
Plain English is the key to good business writing
Snoopy knowingly and willingly plagiarised the first few words to a notorious and dreadful opening sentence for an even worse novel called “Paul Clifford”, written by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton in 1830. The words were “a dark and stormy night” and snoopy was sitting on his kennel rooftop with his typewriter.
Thirty ago, “A dark and stormy night”, sparked off a bad writing contest and over 30,000 wretched writers have aimed to claim fame with their winning bad sentence. Visit the website www.bulwer-lytton.com/ for further amusement.
So it seems there is fame and fortune to be found in writing bad sentences.
However, bad sentences are not that productive or rewarding in business.
Would you rather read:
It is incumbent upon management to display appropriate behaviour and verbalise what is consistent
with the messages that are being conveyed via your business communication
methodologies. (James, N. 2007)
Or: As a manager, you should always demonstrate the communication methods of your business. (James, N. 2007)
I attended a short seminar on Plain English writing recently and it felt like the sun had finally shone through my years of accumulated grey and dense cloud (or should I say fear and absolute dread) since my school days in fear-filled grammar classrooms. Coming from an academic and health background, my burden with heavy writing has been tiresome.
Finally, I have a systematic structure on which to develop business writing that has clarity, efficiency, is readable and yet persuasive. It is called Plain English.
Writing is creative and meant to be fun; otherwise, why has it persisted since forever. Sometimes I think people would rather walk on hot coals than write words. Sometimes when they do write those words, the words and their meanings are so complex and obscure—and then there is the tone.
Yet the flexibility of words is such a powerful tool it can be utilised in business so successfully. We don’t necessarily want to be an Orwell, Greene or Austin. However, maybe not Bulwer-Lytton either, although he did coin a few well used cool phrases like “the almighty dollar” and “the pen is mightier than the sword”.
Written communication is a key business communication strategy, whether it is in reports, copy, newsletters, emails or websites. It reflects the quality of your business product, attention to detail and emphasises quality management.
Clear communications can save time, stress and money in the workplace and in the business community, and contribute to improved processes and efficiencies.
Plain English is a flexible and efficient writing style that readers can understand in one reading. It combines clear, concise expression, an effective structure and good document design. (Plain English Foundation)
The Writing Shed. October 2011
© Copyright. No reprinting of article permitted without direct permission from R. Osborne.
Good business writing makes great sense.
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