Make Sure To Choose The Right Word
Every copywriter knows that one of the classic mistakes they can make involves substituting one word for another that makes there copy read badly. Of course you caught that little mishap as it was done on purpose, right? ‘There’ for ‘Their?’ Many words sound alike but make no mistake, choosing the wrong one can mean that the whole meaning of the sentence can be altered.
Although many of these you’re sure to remember from grade school, there are several that are a little less conspicuous but can cause just as much trouble for a copywriter, especially when they’re working with the kind of web content that’s sure to get first exposure like a home page. For example, a principal is of the first rank in importance and might be the person who runs a school while the principle is generally only a guiding rule. As you can see, transposing these can change the meaning of things drastically.
Some of the other examples are more common like it’s (the contraction of it is) as opposed to ‘its’ being the possessive form of it. It’s also necessary to avoid buzzwords in general business copy as well as web content. Don’t ever give your readers an excuse to click away from the site that you’ve worked to get them to. Writing modality when you could use the plain words style or method is unnecessary.
Try to avoid the kind of writing that’s long winded and heavy handed as well. E.B. White called this kind of writing the ‘language of mutilation’ since it always butchers the meaning. You should always strive to use the kind of language that’s clear and direct so that you get your point across with as few words as possible.
As well as the wrong words, you’ll want to stay away from generalities as well. Often here the writer has something specific in mind but doesn’t write it. When you leave readers to guess at what you mean, the result is generally they will click off the page where the bad writing appears or flip the page.
The last bit of advice here is that you should try to write naturally. There’s nothing as jarring in web copy as stiff writing that’s got too many words expressed in a long winded manner. There’s really no reason that the spoken language needs to be written in a completely different manner. Try writing with the same cadence that you speak in.
Robert Starr is a professional writer/editor with several published books and a degree in journalism. He’s brought 20 years of experience in the craft to his own on line writing/editing service. You can reach him at
robstarr
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