Even the best and most experienced writers make content writing mistakes. After all, it’s human to err. However, you should strive for zero mistakes as it will save your time and effort in rework. Moreover, error-free content creates a credible image of the writer in the mind of clients and readers.
Here are six common content marketing writing mistakes you should avoid:
1. Not Addressing Target Audience Pain Points
If you miss addressing the target audience's pain points, then content will appear promotional and gimmicky. The readers will either unfollow or unsubscribe from your content.
The target audience doesn’t want to read about the features or a product or service. Rather, they want to know what benefits it will deliver to make their life easier. Your content should provide solutions to the problems of the target audience. It should be relevant, valuable, and informative.
2. Not Using a Compelling Headline
“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar”.
— David Ogilvy
Now that’s the power of an attractive headline! If the headline of your content is not catchy and interesting, it will fail to grab the attention of the target audience. They will not bother to read the entire text. A strong headline should be simple, clear, concise, and highlight the main message.
3. Not Adding Visuals
Did you know that visuals increase the viewer’s desire to engage by 80%? Imagine the grave mistake you are committing by focusing only on the text in the content!
Visuals not only boost engagement but also increase the aesthetic appeal of the content. Make sure your content has images, videos, infographics, GIFs, memes, graphics, animation, or some kind of visual element.
4. Not Using SEO
What’s the use of writing content when people can’t find it to read? The value of your content is probably negligible if it is not SEO-friendly. A survey revealed that 81% of companies reported ROI positive when they implemented an SEO strategy. Hence, not incorporating keywords and other SEO elements is a major mistake you should refrain from committing. A good content writing agency gives SEO a high priority in its overall content strategy.
5. Not Proofreading
Proofreading is akin to wearing your seatbelt for safety before sitting in your car!
If the content writing service provider submits or publishes content without proofreading, it is a big mistake. It shows that the writer is inexperienced or unprofessional. Proofreading is a mandatory and standard step in content writing. A writer mustn’t forget to check for the following essential elements in proofreading:
- Spelling and grammar
- Sentence structure
- Formatting
- Tone
- Flow
6. Not Checking for Plagiarism
1.5 billion out of the 5.1+ billion (30%) web pages on the internet have duplicate or similar content. Not scanning the content through a plagiarism checker reflects poorly on the quality of copywriting service.
While there are no clear-cut guidelines on how much percentage of plagiarism is acceptable, the thumb rule says that it shouldn’t be above 15%. However, ideally, the content should be 100% plagiarism for two reasons. One, it improves the trustworthiness of the writer. Two, it increases the search engine ranking.
There is no scope for mistakes in content writing. The 411Writers content writing company understands this completely. Hence, it strives to provide 100% quality and original content to its clients. It conducts multiple levels of proofreading to ensure that content is free from errors.
