Mastering the Art of Content Writing: Essential Do’s and Don’ts
Have you ever been reading what seemed like a really good piece of writing but found that the narrative gets completely derailed halfway through? The effect of reading lousy content on the internet is like biting into stale fruit, and it offers nothing for you to take away but a bad taste in your mouth. This is why it is imperative to understand and implement the do’s and don’ts of content writing.
Content Writing Do’s and Don’ts
A few things to keep in mind when it comes to content writing are:
Focus on Delivering Value while Writing Content
When we talk about the do’s and don’ts of content writing the first question to ask is: Why should anyone bother reading an article? As obvious as it seems, your audience finds you on the internet, searching their relevant keywords in a search engine that yields your article. But if you seek to garner that attention without actually providing any helpful information, you betray that symbiotic relationship. The first and foremost thing for content writing must be to deliver value when you’re creating content by doing your research, offering, at the very least, a comprehensive perspective of the matter you’re writing about, and creating a call for your audience to engage with you. It would be best if you gave them something to take away from your article, and detailed information is precisely what they’re seeking.
Organise your content writing
Preparing an outline for your work will help you get your point across lucidly and eloquently. A basic outline would include an introduction, a main body that touches upon the definitions and details of each concept, and a conclusion that offers an opinion and summarises your findings.
A riveting article offers something to its readers, and a headline is the first glimpse that readers get that validates what they are seeking in the form of content. Calls to action, emotional appeals, questions, and informative phrases make for good headlines, drawing a reader in with the precise agenda of the article. For example, a headline as simple as “Ten Ways to Make Your content Writing More Immersive” can entice a reader to learn more about these tips and tricks in a well-lay-out and easy-to-read format.
Proofread and Edit
A good rule of thumb is the 1-2-3-4-5 Rule, which of one central concept expressed in two or three short sentences, taking up no more than four to five lines on a page. This outlines the perfect ratio of information to keep your readers engaged, just enough to offer them a basic understanding of the idea without overloading them with unnecessary details. Avoid using acronyms and abbreviations, as these can age down an article and make it seem rather rudimentary.
If possible, allow your work to go through multiple rounds of editing and proofreading with collaborators. This can help catch any spelling mistakes, dissonant narratives, or changes in tense or tone. You could even step away for a time so that you can personally read through with a fresh eye later to pick up on any missed errors or clarity issues.
Pay Attention to Text Formatting
It is essential to remember the do’s and don’ts of content writing are applicable everywhere, including content writing on the internet. Text formatting can be a silent boon to make work more readable and easily grasped. Text formatting, such as bold or italicised text and lists, points, and headers, can help break a chunk of text into more easily read portions and emphasise keywords and phrases.
Write for Your Niche
Avoid using jargon and cliches that make your content writing seem general and formulative. Instead, focus on creating value through informativeness for the target audience you hope to reach. For example, if your work concerns the applications of botany in medicine, skip the patronising general speech and get right to the thick of the theory because that’s what your audience is coming to read.
Do Proper Research
Do not attempt to plagiarise content, as this betrays an unprofessionalism and insincerity that you do not want to be associated with. If you are referencing another article or any other form of attributed content, make sure to give credit and cite your sources at the end of the article. By reading the work of various other writers, you can also diversify the perspective that you provide to your readers, offering a more multifaceted point of view for their consideration. This is one of the most important things to remember in the list of do’s and don’ts of creative content writing
Keep SEO in Mind
Include keywords in your article’s headers so that your target audience can quickly locate your work on Google. This can improve your ranking in the search results, and make your article more straightforward to find, as well as allow visitors to navigate the website page to find the information that they require all that much faster. A well-structured article that includes an introduction, body and conclusion can offer a tone of professionalism and resourcefulness that proves that you know your stuff- endearing you to your target audience and catering to their purposes.
Avoid keyword stuffing for SEO on your website, as this can work against your intentions and portray your work as full of spam or not worth the read. Use these terms in moderation to create relevance, but do not make them sound unnaturally repetitive in the text. Most writers forget this when they are making a checklist for the do’s and don’ts of content writing.
How to Write Effective Content
Effective content writing focuses on giving information and holding the readers’ attention, creating value for the brand or the consumer through content writing. And you cannot write that unless you adhere to the list of do’s and don’ts for content writing.
First and foremost is the experience of reading content, and a content writer must endeavour to make their work as clear and simple to understand as possible. Any miscommunication or incorrectness is the writer’s fallacy, and their style must cater to their audience’s preferences.
The notions that the work deals with are paramount to the audience; that’s what they came to read about. Thus, writing about subjects that are relevant, interesting or of importance to a target audience can offer a natural connection that shall maintain their interest in the article.
Uniqueness and ingenuity are unbeatable in content. If you can offer a fresher perspective or new information, your work is bound to garner an audience. As content writers, adding to the canon of information that already exists about a certain subject is all one can hope to do, and giving the readers something new that they can engage with will establish your brand as something to keep a lookout for.
Create something for the audience to take away from your work. Memorability guarantees action, and the longer that your content lingers in the reader’s mind, the likelier they are to act upon the information that they have learned from it. Whether this is as simple as providing insight or understanding or creating spaces where they can take action and engage with the brand, the value that the reader associates with the article is precisely what it is truly worth.
Do’s and Don’ts of Writing
While good content writing is mainly derived from the criteria outlined above, there are stylistic differences between various fields of content writing. Let’s look at a few examples.
Do’s and Don’ts of Research Writing
Research writing is a highly academic form of content writing, and the dos and don’ts of research writing contrast these other styles greatly. Whereas a bulleted list might make website content more easily readable, academic research writing advocated for the use of complete sentences that are linked into longer explanations that detail these concepts with objectivity and precision. There is no scope here to offer a personal opinion. Conversely, it would help if you elucidated your understanding and the theoretical definitions of your subject matter with a complete distancing from the self. The research paper is a blank slate.
Repetitiveness is a no-no. Those reading a research paper are likely to grasp complicated concepts and manipulate them with new information more easily than a layman. They are not well-disposed to the use of slang or jargon, colloquial writing, and conversational tones.
The Do’s for research writing include using formal language, a more advanced vocabulary, and non-personalism. The use of references is not only highly appreciated but required, and footnotes contain exhaustive notes on references, context and relevance. Instead of initiating discourse through questions, academic writing is an exercise in writing and proving statements.
Do’s and Don’ts of Creative Writing
Creative content writing is an entirely different ballgame from any other type of content writing; it lends itself well to manipulation, to the unique touch of each writer’s hand. But there are certainly some features in creative writing that can give away the author’s amateur experience or non-professionalism in a work. Here are a few do’s and don’ts of creative writing that you can put into practice for your job.
Avoid using excessive jargon, foreign works and unorthodox spellings. These are shortcuts to content writing that assume that a reader knows what the author means or attempts to use real-world concepts in a setting that is dissonant to their actual use. This can alienate a reader and come off as ‘lazy’ writing, something you definitely don’t want to be associated with.
Excessively long sentences in creative writing can have adverse effects on a reader; instead of explaining a concept, they drone on too long and divide the reader’s attention. This tends to happen with writers who, after a point, stop doing a checklist of the do’s and don’ts of creative content writing.
Stuffy writing that takes itself a little too seriously is an inevitable experience for any reader. If your writing sounds like you’re patting yourself a little too enthusiastically on the back for doing an excellent job of writing it, you had best believe that your readers are thinking the same thing. Instead, try to create a little perspective and play with narrative points; for example, switching between an internal monologue to detail your thoughts about a specific topic through the mouthpiece of your character and a closer point of view where the character’s current experiences play themselves out for the understanding of the reader. Going too far into a character’s narrative can be a pitfall, too, though. Sentence fragments are a feature of young adult writing that have become notoriously hard to beat in creative writing. For example, take into consideration this line.
“She stepped out of the car, her foot immediately sinking into a muddy puddle. Great. Wasn’t that just swell? It’s such a blessing. What a great start to her day.”
While this style undoubtedly represents the sarcastic, sardonic style of angsty teenagers that fiction has come to love, one must observe how it breaks up the narrative, fracturing the natural flow of text.
Overexplaining is the bane of writers, especially in the fantasy and science fiction genres. In an effort to explain a concept that seems foreign or unorthodox, they ‘overexplain’ or ‘info-dump’, causing reading fatigue and throwing a smooth-flowing narrative off course. Instead, offer information only when it is required and only to the extent that it affects the plot at that moment. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting too deep into the worldbuilding of your book actually to write the story.
Creative writing works best when you write in an active voice, situating the reader in the same perspective as your characters. A clear, coherent block of text can drive a reader forward, propelling them into an immersive experience of the work, but this can only come about with prose that is easy to understand, flows well, and does not create more questions in the reader’s mind than it answers. Hence, it is crucial not to get carried away, and from time to time, keep checking if your work is as per the norms of do’s and don’ts of creative writing.
Do’s and Don’ts of Technical Writing
The do’s and don’ts of technical writing are simple: prioritise the information that you’re putting across and cut the flowery prose. The purpose of technical writing is to provide instruction and deepen one’s understanding of a particular subject. The best way to do that is to detail these concepts in language that is simple to understand.
Most importantly, a technical writer must understand what the reader hopes to take away from this work. They must see the gaps in knowledge that their content must fill to provide a coherent grasp of the matter and contextualise this information with what the reader is likely to know already. If one is already vaguely familiar with the matter, they’ll be able to pick up the threads of the argument much more easily.
This includes the use of technical terms and phrases, something that makes technical writing seem like more of a behemoth task to consume and create because most people assume that this style of writing is meant to be confusing and needlessly pedantic. A writer must make use of these terms in order to associate these labels with comprehensible ideas, but they should try their best at every turn to simplify their language in order to make it graspable. You should also try to outline the scope of your work early in the article, explaining the hypothesis of each concept and what its implications can be. This is something the readers can keep in mind as they move through the article, either justifying or contrasting the statements of scope.
A guideline that is key in the do’s and don’ts of technical content writing is for writers to avoid making any time-sensitive references. This includes using clauses like ‘this year’ or ‘The past decade’, which can date a work, freeze it in its contemporary period and alienate readers simply because the writing then seems to be irrelevant or obsolete. By maintaining a style that does not touch upon these markers of time, the actual content of a work shines through and can be easily perused by readers at any point in the future. This also goes for any trending references or ideas, which, unless explained in detail for the understanding of a non-current reader, can be jarringly discordant to read.
Technical content writing relies on information, and this information has to come from somewhere. Relying on subject matter experts, crediting their work, and staying abreast of current research are all essential to the task.
The don’ts of technical content writing are apparent: don’t overcomplicate the language, and don’t forget to cite your sources. A dead giveaway of bad technical writing is work that doesn’t seem well-researched, and citing your resources at the end of an article can validate the conclusions you draw from your study. A pitfall of this advice, though, is that some technical writers will make their work too familiar, speaking almost colloquially and not defining concepts well. This can be exacerbated with the use of abbreviations and contractions, which one should avoid at all costs.
Do’s and Don’ts of CV Writing
A good rule of thumb for ‘curriculum vitae’ or CV writing (or what is colloquially known as a resume) is to use a clean and professional format. This includes an open and uncluttered layout with precise details; no fluff and flourishing is required. A basic format should start with your contact details, move to your educational qualifications, outline your career and briefly touch upon any other validations that you would like to include. Do make sure to highlight your achievements; a sentence about the importance or relevance of your work can be complimentary in a recruiter’s eye, but beware of not droning on and on about it. Having too long of a description for projects or achievements can sound superficial and false, making you seem ingenuine.
Even in a CV, it is mandatory to follow the do’s and don’ts of content writing. Do not forget to proofread your CV carefully. A spelling mistake or grammatical error in a resume is grievously unprofessional and can create a horrible first impression about you. Do not forget to keep your contact details updated, along with any academic or professional developments. An outdated CV is entirely obsolete and can inversely harm your chances of landing any career opportunities.
Do’s and Don’ts of Writing a Conclusion
The do’s and don’ts of conclusion in content writing follow in the same vein as those we looked at earlier. Research papers, for example, advocate not to state the obvious at the end of one’s work. To say ‘in conclusion’ or ‘in summary’ on the final page of one’s thesis is to patronise the reader. Instead, the discipline demands a brief summation of the preceding work and offers a definite closure to a work that is meant to be taken away from. Meanwhile, website and social media content endeavours to create a dialogue with the reader that continues beyond the bounds of the original post and, as such, can include other types of conclusions. These might consist of a reflection by the writer, which offers their thoughts about the work and can outline their experiences with the subject matter or can offer a personal opinion. Calls to action can invite readers to engage with brands and firms by encouraging readers to contact and facilitate their services, poignantly placed at the end of a helpful or informative article in order to carry on these good associations over to the brand itself.
That being said, there are a few things to keep in mind, considering the format of the conclusion. Do try to reflect on the subject and give some perspective to the article, reminding and emphasising the main points. A final remark, well-put and precise, can make the article memorable enough to remain in the reader’s mind. For research work, one should avoid this being a question, but online content and especially creative content writing, can make use of these stylistic flourishes to engage its readers.
You should never introduce new information at the end of your work. Instead, restate the main points and sum up how they interact with each other. Do not end with a vague quote, which only makes the article seem as though it’s trailing off without a precise end.
There are a number of rules and guidelines that one can follow, but content writing is a field that really shines when you trust the narrative voice you’re writing with. A natural cadence for rhythm, tone and mood is one of the first things that inspires a writer to pursue a career in content writing, and this can help to convey your thoughts, ideas and information just as fluently as you would speak it. These tones inevitably shift as one goes through the various styles of writing, such as technical content writing or creative content writing, keenly felt because the writer understands what the reader (in this case, you) desires to receive from this experience of reading, whether it’s a more profound understanding on the mechanics of worldbuilding or the term-heavy technical essays that phrase themselves more as dialogues between well-read colleagues. Basic guidelines like the do’s and don’ts of content writing simplify the process for beginners and those looking to refine their skills.
References:
https://credible-content.com/blog/etiquette-dos-and-donts-when-writing-content/
https://digital.uoregon.edu/web-communicators/writing-for-web/dos-and-donts
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ultimate-guide-content-writing-mastering-dos-donts-naeem/
https://document360.com/blog/top-10-tips-for-great-technical-writing/
https://www.stylusolutions.com/blog/technical-writing-dos-and-donts/
https://www.apa.org/education-career/job-search/cv-resume/vitae-tips
https://www.writerswrite.co.za/a-must-have-checklist-to-improve-your-writing/
FAQs: Frequently Asked Question
Q: Why is it important to understand the do’s and don’ts of content writing?
A: Understanding the do’s and don’ts of content writing ensures that your writing remains engaging, informative, and valuable to your audience. By following these guidelines, you can avoid common pitfalls and create content that leaves a lasting impression.
Q: How can I deliver value through my content writing?
A: Focus on thorough research, providing comprehensive perspectives on your topic, and offering actionable insights for your audience. Ensure that your content adds genuine value and addresses the needs and interests of your readers.
Q: What role does text formatting play in content writing?
A: Text formatting, including the use of bold or italicized text, lists, and headers, helps improve readability and emphasizes key points in your content. By organizing your content effectively, you can make it easier for readers to grasp your message.
Q: How can I improve my SEO while writing content?
A: Incorporate relevant keywords into your headers and content to improve your visibility on search engines like Google. However, avoid keyword stuffing, as it can detract from the quality of your writing and harm your SEO efforts.
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