Are You Making These Content Mistakes?

Content creation is an integral part of any successful marketing strategy; however, many businesses are committing content mistakes without even realizing it. Writing with a cluttered and keyword-stuffed tone, not providing enough visuals, relying too heavily on passive writing — these are just a few errors that can seriously damage your online presence.

As a content writer, you want to make sure you’re presenting your material in a professional and polished way, rather than distracting readers with sloppy grammar or dull topics. These mistakes may seem simple and insignificant at first, but don’t underestimate their impact on gaining potential customers’ trust and increasing search engine rankings.

Content is the lifeblood of your online marketing campaigns.  You’re writing blog posts, articles, web content, sales content, ads, social posts, newsletters, etc. You can’t afford to make content mistakes.

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.

Glaring Content Mistakes

These mistakes might look small on their own, but they’re usually signs that something deeper in your content isn’t working together. What shows up as surface-level issues is often the result of content being disconnected, unclear in purpose, or built without a larger structure behind it.

Bad Spelling/Grammar

Bad spelling and grammar aren’t just writing issues. They’re usually a sign that content is being rushed or treated as a task instead of something intentional.

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’re like me and don’t catch your own errors, get outside help.

Size Matters – When It Comes To Content

When content feels too thin or overly packed, it’s often a sign that there isn’t a clear sense of what the piece is supposed to do.

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

Reusing content too aggressively is a signal that there’s no clear plan for how content should be distributed or where it belongs.

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 first. Once it’s live, you can share or adapt it for other platforms, but don’t just copy and paste it everywhere.

If you’re republishing, make sure there’s a clear link back to the original, and adjust the content so it fits the audience you’re putting it in front of. The goal isn’t to spread the same piece everywhere; it’s to extend its reach without diluting it.

Feather Boas

Content that feels generic or lifeless usually points to a deeper issue, where there’s no clear voice or perspective guiding it.

There is an endless supply of content online, and much of it is 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.

Always Think Optimization

When optimization is treated as the goal instead of a support, the content itself isn’t doing enough on its own.

Search engines are going to crawl your content, so you want to work relevant phrases in there for SEO. However, they have to fit naturally within the topic and actually support what the page is trying to do. If a phrase feels forced, it probably is, and your readers will notice long before anything else does.

Shoving something like “New Hampshire SEO agency” into a post over and over doesn’t make it more effective. It just makes it harder to read and easier to ignore. Write for the reader first, and let optimization support the content, not drive it.

Be Current

Content that feels outdated or disconnected from what’s happening now often signals that it isn’t being maintained as part of an ongoing system.

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

When authorship and ownership aren’t clear, you’re creating content without a strong sense of identity behind it.

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 communicate your marketing message clearly in the bio.

Short & Sweet

Dense, hard-to-read content is often a sign that clarity wasn’t a priority during creation.

Remember to keep your sentences and paragraphs short and sweet — too much text lumped together is intimidating and isn’t skim friendly.

Headlines and Subheads Are Your Friend

Weak or missing structure in headings usually means the content wasn’t organized with the reader in mind.

Make strong points and guide your reader through your piece by using compelling headlines and subheads. 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

Content that relies only on text is often a missed opportunity to make ideas clearer and more engaging.

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

Overuse of jargon makes the content look like it’s trying to sound authoritative instead of actually being clear.

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 a page feels overwhelming at a glance, the content may not have been structured for readability from the start.

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 highlight key points and ensures the page looks pleasing to the eye.

A Note on Direction

If you find that you’re making these content mistakes, what you can do right now is take a new direction. Test your posts and articles against what your content is supposed to do before you publish. Stay on topic, provide more information than filler, make it significant, and satisfy the promise made in your headline to the reader.

Conclusion

If you’re seeing these issues, the next step isn’t to fix them one by one, it’s to understand what’s happening across your content as a whole. Before you try to fix these issues, the next step is understanding what’s actually happening across your content and where things are breaking down.

Learning from your mistakes is essential for any business owner who wants to create high-quality, engaging content that resonates with their audience. Use that knowledge to improve your content strategy going forward.