Aargh! What are they trying to say?
Sheesh! Is this site for real?
So many mistakes! This cannot be a trustworthy site.
What kind of language is this? Is it even English?
Online readers are even more discerning and fastidious than your average reader. The success of a business website depends on how online readers perceive the site. There are a few things that have to be kept in mind while writing for the online reader.
- Spelling and grammar errors: To a reader and potential client there is nothing more off putting than an article full of typos and mistakes. It brings down the credibility of the business. Read and re-read your articles. Read the sentences backwards. Turn on the Microsoft Word Spelling & Grammar check tool. Get a professional editor or linguist to double check the work. Imgaine if we wrote our sentinces like this. See what we mean?
- Using the same keyword or anchor text: Using the same keyword, or set of keywords or hyperlinks to the same anchor text could get a website sandboxed. To attract web traffic, use variations of the keyword(s). Different people with different levels of understanding, competence or information on a subject will type in different sets of words to search for the same object or topic. For example, somebody who wants to search for the movie adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s books may type “3 idiots”, “Aamir Khan”, “5 point someone”, “Kareena Kapoor”, or even “IIT movie”.
- Sounding like a sales pitch: Ever felt irritated by that pesky salesperson that follows you around in the shop, when all you want to do is some window shopping? Even more dubious is the salesperson that uses terms like “new in the market”, “100% guarantee”, “affordable prices”, “best product” and so on. There are a number of clichés used by marketing and sales departments to push their product, and the phrases have lost their charm exactly for that reason. Avoid using such clichés in your articles if you want your content to sound fresh and/or believable.
Moreover, there are other points to be remembered like avoiding being vague, writing irrelevant content, using politically incorrect terms, using inflammatory language, and illegal copying from other sites. By paying a little attention you can avoid making these major and minor mistakes in your content.
