Last updated on October 17th, 2022
Content marketing has become an important marketing channel for many organizations. Courtesy the new updates by Google on SEO, content marketing has taken the center stage in the world of digital marketing. It has led organizations to hire professional content writers and freelance content writers, building a lot of content across their domains.
However, one may come across many errors in such content. In fact, common mistakes writers make will cause more damage than the benefit a good content piece would have created for the organization. Each content piece has to be carefully drafted and care must be taken on the right message being passed on to the readers.
Some of the common mistakes are often made by professional writers as well. Any writer who wants their readers to be in love with their content perpetually, following are the seven mistakes that must be avoided.
The less the time spent on correcting mistakes,
the more time is available to actually get things done.
7 Common Mistakes Professional Writers Makes- Tips to Avoid Them
1. Too Much Complexity
It is often said that complexity is the mirror of one’s intellect, knowledge and how deep the writer thinks. However, in actuality it is the other way round. Content is everything from story-telling to factual descriptions but like every other piece of communication, it requires simplicity as a vehicle to reach out and connect with the readers. Usage of too many jargons and concepts at the same time leads to reader’s confusion and ultimately stops the engagement with the reader.
As a solution whenever one starts with writing a content piece, make it a point to use simple and engaging language. Create a structure for the blog without dumping ideas and give the readers perspective and insight and food for thought-inspire them.
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2. Not Knowing What Readers Want
For effective content writing, the writer must define its readers and for whom is the content meant for. Pay attention first to what do the readers like, expect and appreciate. Many times content is written as a self-expression. However, it is also a tool where one wants to engage with readers and pass on the content to them. Thus, it is imperative to build the content by keeping the reader as a focal point and focusing a little bit on whether the readers are liking the content and are they sharing the same or engaging with the same? Ensure that as a blogger,freelance writer,or professional content writer, one must conduct simple research on the topic online and check the questions for which the readers are seeking answers.
This is one of the most successful blogging practices. Content writers should use analytics in order to understand the minute details regarding the content and to avoid content writing mistakes. For example, using a tool like Google Analytics will not only help to get better insights but will also help to write in a productive manner.
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3. Covering Too Many Sub-Points
Certain blogs try to convey too many things at the same time. However, one must know that sometimes bigger isn’t better. Also, there are times when companies try to deliberately exaggerate a point to cater to the wider audience, which unfortunately is one of the most common mistakes and doesn’t work. While successful content has to be large in size for SEO purpose, it shouldn’t lose its entire plot when stretched unnecessarily.
The truth is that readers want to read from experts about their niche. It is beneficial to narrow the focus a little bit and communicate the message in a crisp method so as to increase the readability of the content. The readers doesn’t want to know everything about a topic, they are satisfied reading content that adds value to them. Writers should do a thorough research on the content’s subject matter. When one provides the readers with insight and knowledge it can take a new level of excitement for them.
4. Not Editing the Content
Often when one is reading content on sites, reader come across unedited work with visible errors that could have been avoided. One can identify various grammatical errors, wrong sentence structures or not defining the pronouns. Example: One can find errors like ‘It’s a problem’ without defining what the problem is. Unfortunately writers create the content, superficially check them and dispatch for publication immediately.Avoid this mistake,pay attention to what content you put out.
However, editing works well in case one has allowed some time to pass by between writing the content and editing it. The time gap helps in looking at the content with a new sense of curiosity, perspective and insight. Editing can help converting a great piece of content in something even greater,by helping writers avoid common mistakes. Additionally there are quite a few editing tools available online like Write and Grammarly which help in producing successful content.
5. Not Proofreading the Content
Post editing the content, it is also important to proof-read the same. Editing helps one in making big changes to the content in terms of the ideation and flow. However, proofreading helps in rectifying content writing mistakes like spelling or grammatical errors. It’s important to proofread content multiple times as few minor errors might escape the writer’s eye. One will also be glad as a writer that the content has been proofread multiple times.
Proofreading comprises of making changes in adding keywords to improve SEO, testing the links given in the content, giving the source of data and citing appropriate topic tags. It also involves checking if the content is harmful to any of the stakeholders, if the content could offend readers and if the content is in sync with company’s mission, philosophy and goals.These are all successful blogging practices which will help you create long form content.
6. Writing Too Fast or Too Slow
There is no ‘right’ speed of writing. However, one needs to be aware that the speed of writing influences the quality of writing. Each writer should write at a pace which is suitable to them and allow creativity to flow. If one is writing too fast then there are chances of sloppy mistakes and on other hand, if one is writing too slow then there could be clumsy mistakes. The quality of writing will always be better if one is writing slowly. This doesn’t mean that one has to deliberately reduce their speed but it is important to identify the pace that is suitable for the content type and topic. In certain cases, the ideas flow in quite fast whereas on technical topics, one may take longer to identify precise words or phrases.Write a little bit every day to get into the mindset of a writer.
Slowing down is usually a good idea.
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7. Not Outlining Content Before Writing It
Providing a structure to the content always helps. It provides certain boundaries for the content which help in clarity and speed. Some individuals start with an introduction and conclusion which leads to the subject matter and then sum it up. This strategy helps in filling up the spaces between topics and paragraphs with relevant and meaningful content. Make sure that the outline is simple and write down things that one wants to talk about. While writing the outline, one may write a few bullet points which are incomplete sentences, since what is being written is just an outline and not the complete content. Not only does outline save time but it also provides clarity to the writer.
Writing better is about avoiding common mistakes one makes while developing content. Writers,whether professional or freelance content writers, even if they are writing since quite a few years, make mistakes. Therefore, it is an ever improving process.
These were some common mistakes professional writers make while creating content.
Do share with us any other common mistakes that you come across which can be avoided while developing great content for companies.
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