Don’t Upton Sinclair!
Continuing a bit on the whole “find your SEO content writing voice” idea from my last blog post, there are things to avoid when writing also, particularly in the audience-targeting department.
For example, don’t sound too desperate. If you sound like you’re begging customers to click on your client’s site, they more than likely won’t. Strength in words reflects better on both you and your client in your SEO content. Too obsequious, and the client’s prospective customers will turn away, lacking faith in the integrity of the client’s company.
Also, don’t get too complex. Don’t use words like “obsequious”. I mean, how many of you readers had to kick on Dictionary.com (or any other resource) to look that word up?
No, I’m not calling you an idiot. It’s just not a commonly used word. Let’s face it, you want to hit your target where it counts. Pull on heart strings, entice their mind…that sort of thing. But it won’t happen if Mr. or Mrs. Average ‘Net Citizen hasn’t a clue what you just said. Go for “ooh”, not “uhh”.
As much as you’re not supposed to make your SEO content whiny and beggarly, you also don’t want to sound harsh and forceful. Shoot for more “if you like this, then click yourself into oblivious bliss,” not so much “Come on! Click now!!! DO IT!!! YAAAAAA!!! *incoherent grunting and growling*” Dangle the fishing line, don’t grab in the water.
Make sure to also stay on topic. Don’t throw in a bunch of random and/or useless information. Relevance to the client’s site is another showing of integrity; people know the client put his/her site in the hands of a well-versed and able SEO company who’s willing to look up everything that pertains to the client for their content.
Be sure to keep your sentences and paragraphs short. You are not Tolstoy. You’re not writing “War and Peace”. It’s content geared to the average ‘net reader. Which means they’re looking for their information in short, simple bites. If it helps, study AP-style writing (the style newspaper writers use). It’s the best style to run with when you’re writing content.
And remember to keep your writing voice.
Now, why did I choose the title that I did? Who the heck is Upton Sinclair in the first place?
Go out and read his classic work “The Jungle”. In it, Sinclair wanted to show the horrors of the industrial workplace and its conditions. Instead, most readers (including then-President Theodore Roosevelt) saw the gruesomeness of the actual product, since the main character worked in a meat processing and packing factory. The grotesque treatment of the meat processing methods, and Sinclair’s highlighting of the inadequacy of workers’ safety led to many of the USA meat industry’s changes that are still in effect to this day.
According to Sinclair, “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”
Granted, he missed the mark in a beneficial way, but still…don’t attempt the same mistake with grandiose dreams of literary heroism. It’s more likely that you’ll run your client’s customers off instead.
So don’t Upton Sinclair. Choose your focus, your voice and your words, and make sure you don’t miss your mark by drawing attention away from the client by saying all the right things in the wrong way. Find that happy medium that will draw the web consumer in without making them feel like they have a gun to their heads.
And you’ll be an SEO-writing pro in no time!
