The Dos & Don’ts of Content Writing: Best Practices For Maximum Impact

Sometimes, content writers, whether newcomers or experts, may get lost in the enigma of writing different marketing and other materials. This happens when they should consider the dos and don’ts of content writing.

Ignoring a few important steps or expounding on the less important content writing methods can be common mistakes for them. They may forget or even overlook the fact that a changing world requires constantly unfolding writing etiquette. Marketing managers or content leads must educate and train their writers in such cases. With this education, content writers can enhance their writing quality to fit today’s digital world. 

So, we have listed the dos and don’ts of writing content. Keep reading to learn what you should and should not do when writing content for your business!

The Do’s of Content Writing

Do Research Before Writing

Great content thoughts start with deep research. You must research extensively to give your readers valuable stories, interesting points, and relevant facts. All of these can help keep your target audience immersed in your content. 

Additionally, research before content writing helps you organize your thoughts enough to create an outline (more on that further below). It also enables you to become a professional in your writing topic. 

Here are some points, apart from validating your content, that research can shed light on them:

The platforms where your target audience usually is.

How your target audience interacts with other online brands and businesses.

The topics and the type of content your competitors are using can resonate with them.

The kind of response the competitors are receiving from their audience.

Extensive research in the above directions can help ensure you follow the correct content marketing path. 

Do Keep Editing and Proofreading

While providing content writing services, spelling and grammatical errors make anyone’s paper look unprofessional. No reader would like to read a piece of writing filled with such errors despite how informative it is. 

In order to avoid such a scenario, proofread your content deeply before publishing to ensure its high quality and error-free. 

Try reading the content piece loudly to detect any errors or incompatibilities in sentence structures. Once you discover such errors, edit the content immediately. 

Also, an alternative option is to use proofreading tools, such as Grammarly.

Do Learn And Implement SEO

If your content ranks on the first page of Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), consumers are more likely to find it organically. 

A 2022 study found that the CTR for websites ranking first on Google’s SERPs is 39-40%. If the first result is a featured snippet, the CTR grows to +43%. This figure drops to +18% for websites ranking second and then drastically to +2% for websites in tenth position. 

The SERP is a cutthroat competition. Fewer clicks on your website stand for fewer visits and fewer chances of generating leads, resulting in less revenue. 

This is why SEO should be the name of your content-writing game. It can bring traffic to your web page free of cost! So, learn and execute an SEO strategy in your content writing process.

Do Provide Value to the Reader

Readers do not want to read time-consuming content. They read to find answers to their questions, acquire knowledge, or entertain themselves. 

These are the values they look for when reading your content. So, do your research and understand the topic you are writing on. 

Most importantly, ask yourself why you are writing the content piece and for what purpose does it serve? What value does it provide to the reader’s experience? 

Do Focus on the Headline And Write Short Paragraphs

One of the most powerful elements in your writing is your headline or title. Crafting an impactful headline requires as much time as writing each piece of content. 

Without a remarkable headline, the rest of your content, including the intro, the body, and the closing, is worth nothing. A compelling headline will make your audience want to click on it and read your copy. 

Also, the headline of your article or other content copy should have all or any of the following elements:

• Numbers
• Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
• Easy language
• Emotional appeal
• A sense of urgency
• A question

Nowadays, any content, including over 500 words, works for search engines and readers. Yes, even if the said content piece outperforms 2,000 words (of course, each word should matter, too). 

In the case of paragraphs, though, the scenario is the opposite. Stuffing multiple ideas into a single paragraph may overwhelm your readers. 

Remember, your readers do not visit your website only to face a philosophical treatise. They want to read exact information about your brand and the solutions to their problems. 

Therefore, keep your paragraphs short, easy, and concise to enhance clarity and readability. Short paragraphs are simpler to read and skim through, so they help keep your readers’ attention.