What Are Your Words Saying? Keys to Writing Great Content

By Zachary Clark, Copywriter 
07/10/2013

I love words. I’m a copywriter, so aren’t I technically supposed to? But, the constant struggle that I see every day is the wrong usage of them. Not in the sense of grammatical errors (although there are some), but more or less how people and companies are using words ineffectively. There are many things that go into making great content, but here are three important questions we should all ask ourselves when we write:

#1 – What words should I use?

#2 – How should I use them? &

#3 – How many of them do I put there?

 

If you’re like Chris, our web developer, in one of our latest “Talk-A-Bout” videos, you hate to read. Not every person or consumer loves to sit down and read a full-length novel of text when they’re trying to gather information about a company or product. Content must be carefully crafted in order to achieve its intended goals.

What does your audience want to hear?

Choosing the right words is critical to effective content. Certain words or phrases can trigger psychological or emotional connections in the brain that will make writing that much more successful. Using terms or expressions that resonate with your audience is key to grabbing their attention and then keeping it.

In order to do this you must know your reader inside and out. Knowing their complete demographic information will help you determine what they want to read and how they want to see it. Presenting information in bullet format, paragraphs or a combination can lead to a greater efficiency with content.

Watch your tone young man!

A common expression I hear from my mother, but something that can easily be used here as well. How you put your words can be just as important as what words you’re using. Tone (or how you’re saying things) is an element that should never be overlooked. The tone used on certain pieces of content (ie. your website), represents the mantra or culture of your business or organization.

There are dozens of manners in which one can write content, but tone must be selected carefully and be a true reflection of the person or business writing it.

Sometimes, less actually is more

Our graphic designer, Jesse, won’t be as candid as Chris about reading, but he’ll still be the first one to tell you how he loves putting as few words as possible in his work. And, that may work for print ads or invoking emotion through images, but sometimes it’s important to describe exactly what something is with details and adjectives.

Either way, how many words that are used is completely dependent on the medium they’re being used on. It’s essential to evaluate what vehicle is driving your media and how a reader will portray what they’re looking at.

 

As for me, finding the perfect balance between all three of these elements is what I do best. I love to be the master chameleon that can blend in and change styles to fit any project thrown my way. Whether it’s rewording content to be more clear and concise, or creating something from scratch, it’s all in the repertoire.

So, how’s your content looking? If you need some help with it give me a call or email, I’d love to help you out! (315-475-8453 ext. 231 | zclark@cowleyweb.com)

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