Are You Making These Content Mistakes?

by Jennifer Horowitz on October 4, 2012

Content Mistakes Content is the lifeblood of your online marketing campaigns. You are writing Blogs, articles, web content, sales content, ads, tweets, Facebook posts newsletters etc.

Ensuring you put the best possible content out there is important. So here are some very common mistakes we see and some advice on how to avoid them.

Bad Spelling/Grammar: Make sure you edit your work. I’m guilty of this one myself. I think in spurts and when the content is flowing I don’t want to stop to correct errors. That’s OK. Go with the flow. But be sure to edit when you are done; and if you are like me and don’t catch your own errors, get outside help.

NOTE: In an attempt to satisfy everyone that will now be scrutinizing my work to see if I am following my own advice, I’d left some errors in here. See if you can find them. :) LOL

Size Matters – When It Comes To Content: You don’t want to give too much but you definitely don’t want to give too little either – that just blows your credibility and makes it look like you are all smoke and mirrors with no real value. Just like Goldilocks, you have to find the one that is just right. So aim for offering enough value that you actually help people, without pouring out every little gem your brain has.

Over-using Your Content: You want to use your social media to drive traffic to your content BUT you don’t want to post the original content in a zillion different places. Post it on your site and once it’s been indexed, put it on quality article directories (with slight tweaks and variations to keep it fresh).

Feather Boas: There is an endless supply of content online – much of it boring, stilted, regurgitated and of little value. Dress yours up. Don’t be afraid to show some personality. Use analogies. Share stories and insights and opinions. Make jokes. Be controversial. Have fun with it. Make people feel like they are talking to the real you and not just hearing some corporate fodder that you have to spit out. Don’t be afraid to look foolish. (So many of my attempted jokes have flopped – but it’s OK because they got people responding and engaged!)

Always Think Optimization: The spiders are going to be crawling your content so always try to work some great phrases in there for SEO.
Be Current: If there is news in the world that you can relate to your content, go for it. Everyone loves a good pop culture or news reference to make a point. Show people your content is new and fresh and current.

Be Loud & Proud: Don’t forget to include a strong About The Author on articles you submit. Make sure there is no question that you wrote the content and make sure they know who you are, what you offer and how they can reach you. Offer value in the body and scream your marketing message in the bio!

Short & Sweet (Just Like Me!): Since I’m just under 5 feet, I’m a fan of being short. :) Remember to keep your sentences and paragraphs short and sweet – too much text lumped together is intimidating and isn’t skim friendly.

Headlines and Sub-Heads Are Your Friend: Make strong points and guide your reader through your piece by using compelling headlines and sub-heads. It breaks up the text and also gives compelling peeks at the content covered when someone skims before they commit to actually reading the content.

Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Words: While the key messages will be delivered in your content, you should also use imagery to jazz things up and help make a point.

Avoid Jargon: Most people think industry jargon makes them sound smart but more often than not, it just confuses readers. Remember KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). It’s one of the best copywriting rules.

Format, Layout and Visual Presentation Are Key: If someone takes one look at your content and decides it’s too overwhelming it doesn’t matter if it’s the best content ever written, no one will read it. Be sure you format with plenty of white space, bullet lists, bolding etc. It helps you highlight key points and it also ensures the page looks pleasing to the eye.

Jennifer Horowitz

With over 13 years in the industry, Jennifer Horowitz, Director of Marketing for EcomBuffet, has amassed much knowledge and experience and has much to say about all things SEO (marketing, copywriting & social media). Always happy to share with an audience, Jenn is now a regular contributor at Level343.