Five Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Website Content

Did you decide you want to create website content to attract customers to your website, but you aren't sure where to start? You are certainly not alone. Creating a backlog of content from ground up is daunting, but understanding what mistakes to avoid is a great place to start.

With several goals in mind—engaging your audience, ranking well on search engines, conveying your message, and standing out in a crowded online space—it’s easy to make small mistakes that can hurt your website’s performance and water down the impact of the content you are spending valuable time creating. Here are five mistakes to avoid when writing your website content and how to steer clear of them.

1. Not Understanding Your Audience

One of the most critical mistakes is failing to define and understand your target audience. If you don’t know who you’re writing for, how can you utilize your content strategy to gain leads for your business? A general tone or broad message might fail to resonate with the people you’re trying to attract.

How to Avoid It: Spend time researching your audience’s demographics, needs, and pain points. Use this information to tailor your content, addressing their specific challenges and goals. For example, if your audience is small business owners, write in a way that aligns with their priorities, such as saving time or increasing revenue. Are you writing a post geared towards a specific generation? If so, learn their language and learn how to balance it with your personal tone and company messaging.

2. Using Too Much Jargon

It's a given that you want your written voice to sound professional, and it's tempting to achieve this tone by using industry-specific terms in your writing. After all, you want your audience to see that you know what you're talking about and that you are familiar with these terms. But overloading your content with jargon can often have the opposite effect, alienating your readers and even intimidating them. If visitors can’t understand your message, they’re unlikely to stick around.

How to Avoid It: Aim for clarity and simplicity. Write in plain language that your audience can easily understand. If you must use technical terms, explain them in a straightforward way. For instance, in real estate, instead of saying, “Evaluate the property's current market dynamics to ensure a strategic purchase decision,” try, “Understand the local housing market to make a informed homebuying decision." By simplifying your language and avoiding overly complicated technical terms, you can strike the right balance of connecting with your reader, while sounding professional and educated on the topic at hand.

3. Under or Overusing Keywords

Keywords are essential for search engine optimization (SEO), but misusing them can hurt your website’s visibility and impact your credibility. Stuffing too many keywords into your content can make it sound unnatural and like an advertisement, while neglecting keywords altogether can leave your site invisible to search engines.

How to Avoid It: Use keywords strategically. Research and identify primary and secondary keywords relevant to your topic, and incorporate them seamlessly into your content. There are tools available to help you identify the right keywords to use. Although SEO is important, always remember to focus on writing for humans first, with keyword usage as your second priority.

4. Not Linking to Other Content

Internal and external links are often overlooked, but they play a crucial role in enhancing user experience and SEO. Without links, you miss opportunities to direct readers to related content and establish your credibility by citing sources.

How to Avoid It: Include internal links to guide visitors to relevant pages on your site, such as other blog posts, service pages, or your contact form. Including external links gives you authority and credibility to speak to the topic at hand, and adds value to your content.

5. Veering from the Main Point

Personal anecdotes or stories can be relatable, but rambling or including unrelated information can confuse your audience and dilute your message. Every piece of content on your website should have a clear purpose and stay focused on achieving it.

How to Avoid It: Before writing, outline your main point and supporting details. Stick to your outline as you write, and regularly review your content to ensure it stays on track. If a sentence or paragraph doesn’t directly support your main point, cut it.

Now that you know what mistakes to avoid when producing content for your website, you are ready to jump in and connect more effectively with your audience. Following these tips can help you build trust and loyalty with your customers or clients.

Need help identifying SEO keywords and drafting compelling content? I am happy to help you get started!