As a growing content writer, you will write both greater and lesser content than from when you started. You might even begin forgetting and making mistakes you once knew were wrong. Once you become overconfident, you begin overlooking basics and write for the sake of completing the job. This includes writing fluff, overlooking grammar errors, and overusing words you should avoid altogether.
Writing filler into your work does not alleviate the issue of shorter content. If anything, writing filler and fluff acts as the antithesis and opposite of true writing. Utilizing weaker words and phrases not only fails to be good writing, but it adds nothing to your work. In content writing, you want to be clear and concise, yet simple and impactful. By avoiding certain wording and phrases, you can avoid easy pits and craft stronger pieces altogether.
Nothing confuses and drives an audience away from your marketing content more than wordiness. In the field of content writing, you want to be clear, quick, and terse. Extending articles with phrases like “In order to,” “When it comes to,” “The fact of the matter,” or “As a matter of fact” provide nothing extra. In fact, you probably felt exhausted just going through that sentence. When content writing, always consider your audience’s point of view.
You can just as easily cut down such phrases in one or two words, like “actually” or “in truth” instead of “as a matter of fact”. Not only will this give your work better readability, but it will keep them around instead of scaring them away. Sometimes, such wordy phrases are completely unnecessary, and you may be better off deleting them entirely. Avoid the problem of having the audience think too much about extra words and get to the point.
As a content writer, you want to have confidence and certainty in your writing, with little hesitation or doubt. After all, if you write to educate others, how can they trust you if you feel uncertain? Confidence may be a crucial factor in writing, but you can easily go too far in the other direction too. Yes, you should speak with self-assurance, but you also should not speak in absolutes either.
Absolutes such as “virtually,” “literally,” and “absolutely” do more than make sentences needlessly wordy. They also mean little to nothing on their own, though are often utilized for emphasis. Greater alternatives to create emphasis would be more descriptive writing that illustrates a point better. For example, instead of “Sally mopped the floor completely,” consider something more descriptive like “Sally mopped the floor spotlessly.” This not only describes the same sentence but gives you a clearer idea of just how much Sally cleaned the floor.
Finally, using absolutes not only makes your writing superfluous and vague—they can be outright wrong. Rarely can any statements be said with “always” or “never,” as many exceptions exist in just about every field. Instead of trying to sound smart, focus on sounding, and being correct.
One of the worst types of words any content writer can use are ones that have vague or little meaning. For example, here is the “thing” about vague words—they tell the audience nothing, just like that last phrase. Utilizing words like “things,” “stuff,” “got,” or “very” regularly leads to statements that mean nothing to an outside viewer. For example, rather than saying “the thing about vague words,” we can clarify this with “the problem with vague words.” This provides a negative connotation to vague words.
Vague words such as “got” or “very” can be specified in more descriptive ways that tell the audience more. Did the college student “get” their degree or “earn” their degree? Just a single word change provides a much clearer context on a situation. In some cases, there simply exist better words to use for a situation. Instead of saying a “very ugly duckling,” use shorter, more vivid verbiage like the “hideous duckling.”
Changing just a few words to avoid vague ideas, wordy sentences, and strict absolutes can vastly improve your writing. By acknowledging these issues and stepping away from them, you can write stronger material overall. If your content marketing team is struggling to create the interesting, shareable content your brand needs, you can find assistance. Through services such as law firm marketing, social media management, and blog distribution networks, Actionable Agency can help. By offering many marketing solutions and web development for law firms across the country, we extend their reach and develop their business. At Actionable Agency, we can provide an analysis of your current strategy and website of your firm to help formulate new solutions. For more information, call us toll-free at (855) 206-9689.
