3 Absolute Turn-offs to Avoid in Your Web Content

We’ve all pretty much warmed up to the idea that, to succeed in today’s search engine-oriented marketing sphere, content is paramount. RRR (Regular, Relevant, and Reliable) rated content. And that’s tricky, because quality takes time, and time runs in short supply these days.

If you’re like many other small business owners who’ve found themselves opening a blogger account one caffeinated evening, reading a few crush-guides to SEO, and spending every spare moment since clickety-clacking on those keys, the last thing you want is to see those precious moments going to waste.

Here are three common turn-offs to look out for in your web content if you want to avoid sending your hard-earned readers squirming for the ‘Back’ button:

Bias

Bias occurs when your content is evidently trying to promote a given idea or action by providing only partial, slanted information. People don’t like to be coaxed. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have and promote your own opinion—you certainly can, especially if it’s relevant—but you must argue your way through in a balanced way so that readers may follow your reasoning and form their own conclusions. As rational beings, we enjoy appeals to our intellect; what we cannot stand is manipulation.

Salesy-ness

No one likes salespeople. Why? Because they’re always trying to sell you on something! This goes back to what we mentioned about bias: people hate feeling coaxed. Avoid salesy copy or trying to ‘herd’ readers into buying your product. Instead, provide useful information, advice, and guidance that will demonstrate your value. People are naturally drawn to value, and if you’ll stand out as a valuable resource, they will naturally want to follow.

Spelling & Grammar

Spelling & Grammar are the nuts and bolts of writing (we’ll even throw in Punctuation as the glue to hold our metaphor together). You may have the best ideas in the world—but start structuring your article without paying close attention, and your grand cathedral will turn hunching over weak joints like a literary Quasimodo.

Internet readers may be a bit more lenient with minor grammatical errors (not to say that you should bank on it)—but spelling errors stick out like sore thumbs. So make sure you give your text another pass once you feel satisfied with all the other elements (structure, flow, etc) — and strictly focus on proofreading.

Quick tip: Look out for homophones (words that sound the same but spelt differently, like ‘To’, ‘Two’, and ‘Too’) as these can be the worst culprits. A window instead of a door can make even an otherwise worthy building appear laughable, and the same goes for your article.

Conclusion

It’s hard enough to find the time to update your blog, and the last thing you want is to realize that time has gone wasted because your readers never seem to return. A simple exercise is to put yourself in your reader’s shoes. What would you want to read about? What kind of writing style do you find engaging? What attributes and practices do you appreciate when looking for information on other websites?

It’s easy to shift into your business mind—but we’re all customer at some point in the day. Simply reminding yourself what it feels like on the other side of the counter can often be enough to get into the right mind frame.

Happy writing!

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