Get Clear(er) Content By Trimming the Fat
A lot of the web content out there is too fat. Overstuffed, failing to persuade, droning on and on…
And I think I know why. (Well, ONE of the reasons.)
Some of it comes from our school days. When we were kids, you had a word requirement for essays, right? It stuck with us. We equate “longer page” with “better page.”
But it’s not the case. All Clear(er) Content has to do is address the need of the person reading it. That’s it. Anything else you add is fluff, filler. The extra words you stuffed into the essay to meet the word requirement.
(Not to say longer content isn’t effective. It definitely is! Giving lots of content is GOOD when the content is informative, relevant–and doesn’t mince words.)
Think of it like giving a speech. Chances are if you had to give a speech, you wouldn’t waste any words. You’d get to the point, back it up, and then finish.
Do the same with your web content too. Here’s some ideas as to how.
1) Dangling Words = Shorten the Paragraph
Ever seen a word or two dangling at the end of a paragraph? (Shrink your editor’s window so it looks like the website will.) Edit the paragraph’s sentences until the dangling word isn’t dangling anymore.
2) Secondary Point? Remove It
Doesn’t matter if you’re writing an email, a webpage or a white paper. One piece of content, one topic discussed. If you’re talking about more than one thing, split the content accordingly.
As the Star Wars pilot said, “Stay on target!”
3) Cut Down to Half. Then Another 25%
There’s a usability maxim: Once you’re done writing content, take out half the words. Then do it again. You’re left with what matters. I prefer to cut by half, then a quarter. Feels easier and goes faster.
Couple ways to go about this:
- Drop as many adverbs as you can. (Remember, ending in “ly”). “I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me.” – Mark Twain
- Any sentence you can’t read aloud in one breath? Cut it in half.
“The way people work has changed dramatically as new tools and technology challenge the traditional rules of how and when people can do their jobs.”
VS.
“Work isn’t 9-to-5 in the office anymore.” - Read each paragraph. Does it directly relate to the main point? Yes? It stays. No? It goes.
4) Never Use a Paragraph When a Sentence Will Do
Resist the urge to “surround” a point with verbiage. It doesn’t help make things clearer. (The opposite is often true.)
Wait. Won’t This Hurt SEO?
Not really. You’re sticking to 1 topic, where the real focus should be. Remember, humans have to read this for it to be effective. Make it clear for THEM first.
Editing is more than just trimming out words. There’s a lot more factors involved. Editing however becomes much easier (and faster) with lean, clear content.
What’s the last piece of “fat” content you came across?
What is the Goal of Your Content?
A question every web writer – and every web writer’s client – should ask
While sloughing through post topics, I glanced at Twitter.
A tweet came through from Lorraine Thompson, @WritersKitchen – itself a retweet of Nick Usborne’s, who posted a link to the Web Content Strategy Blog titled An Interesting Content Manifesto.
(Why am I thinking of Kevin Bacon all of a sudden…)
Anyway, this blog post makes a very, very crucial point in regards to content. ALL content.
“Content Manifesto: Don’t create content ABOUT something. Create content IN ORDER TO DO something. To achieve goals. All content should be in service of a goal. If not, cut it.”
In service of a goal. I agree 100%.
But what goal?
Do Something? How about “Spur Reader to Action?”
I have asked clients the question of what goal they want to accomplish with content. Almost every time the answer goes like this…
1. “Just something about the product/service.” (Okay…what?)
OR
2. “It should tell the client about how great our product/service is, how great we are to work with, that we’re the only one to work with…” (See a “self”-evident pattern in there?)
Many clients want the goal of their content to be “talking about themselves.” It’s understandable; if you’re passionate about something, you want to talk about it.
But it’s not the kind of goal you should use when writing content.
Look at that citation again. “Create content IN ORDER TO DO something.” Now obviously, companies want their content to do something.
Like what?
Most would agree that they want their content to spur the reader to action.
Question is…what kind of action?
Examples of Content Goals
Asking questions like this helps us specify the goal for a piece of content. In order to do something, a content’s goal must be specific.
These are a few goals I’ve used when writing content in the past.
- Drive visitors to sign up on a website.
- Get prospects to read an email.
- Reward people for downloading a file or application.
- Encourage readers to consider a product/service in their project plans.
- Educate the reader on specialized information the company has.
- Make people want to bookmark a site and return.
- Encourage visitors to email the company about a project or question.
- Purchase a product/service.
Include Content Goals in Content Strategy? Definitely.
The Web Content Strategy post concludes by suggesting a “page goal” be incorporated into content strategy. Again, I agree. For content to belong in a matrix, it must DO something to forward the company’s overall goals.
Wait a Second, Does This Post Have a Goal Too?
Yep. The blog post you’re reading right now? It was intended to remind you – content must do something. You must decide on a goal for your content. That’s the goal here.
And if you read this far, it means the content succeeded!
To what goal will your next content be in service?
