The Good and the Bad of Fillers in Blogs

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Fillers are words that add no substantive meaning to a sentence and merely fill the space, Wordvice.com explains. Whether you’re writing a journal article, a research paper, a dissertation, or a blog, creating sentences that are strong and concise is important in conveying your message to your audience.

Wordvice.com offers three examples of sentences that can be shortened by eliminating filler words:

  • “There is an octopus sitting on top of my car.” (Better: “An octopus is sitting on my car.”)
  • “This is actually an interesting question.” (Better: “This question is interesting.)
  • “In order to apply the new method to our entire system, perhaps we should perform a local test.” (Better: “We should perform a local test before applying the new method to our system.”)

In speech, grammarly.com notes, while fillers such as “ums” and “uhs” don’t add meaning to your statements, they do allow you to take a second to think about what to say next. In writing, though, unnecessary adverbs and empty phrases add length but not substance.

Filler words and phrases commonly used in writing include: basically, just, really, highly, needless to say, in my opinion, okay, totally, and literally.

Blog content fillers and SEO
Unfortunately, blog content writers often insert fillers for the sole purpose of increasing the word count of each post. Based on the perception that search engines use article length as a ranking signal, writers intentionally use word fillers to “plump up” their content with an eye to SEO.

Since search engines do measure reader time on site, instead of fillers, writeonline.io suggests “grease-slide copy”, which are phrases that create smooth transitions between paragraphs and sentences and keep readers on the page.. Grease slide text might include questions such as “Have you wondered why…..?”i..Ever noticed how…..?” “Want to know a secret…?” or provocative statements such as “Be honest….” or “We’ve all done it….”

Problogger.com ,  meanwhile, suggest “killer fillers”, which are shorter posts requiring less original in-depth research, including guest posts, interviews,  link roundups, and reader discussions.

At Say It For You, we have found, the most effective length for any one blog post is as long as it takes to show readers that “right here” is where to find answers. I teach the importance of keeping a very specific focus within each post, avoiding either extraneous words or extraneous material.

“Fill” your blog with valuable, “killer”, content, but avoid fillers that have little value to add.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blog Like a Fundraising Round

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

 

One of the all-time best pieces of advice for blog content writers that I’ve heard comes from an unlikely source – corporate startup fundraising consultant Kristen Copper, CEO of Startup Ladies. “A round is a cycle of fundraising that clearly defines the amount of money being raised and how it will be used within a defined time,” Cooper explains

It’s important for business owners and freelance blog content writers to remember that the title and the actual blog post content must be congruent, so that readers find the kind of information they’ve been led to expect. It’s all well and good to use keyword phrases in blog titles in order to win online search, but the blog post must deliver on that implied promise, by providing content that is on topic and on target for the search terms.

Blog content writers face a challenge when it comes to clearly defining readers’ expectations. Analytics can offer after-the-fact clues (how long readers remain on the page, who many of them click through to website landing pages, email us, or sign up for an RSS, but it is our job to communicate clearly the extent to which our product or service can be expected to deliver results within a clearly defined time period.

On another note, Cooper mentions the importance of a “lead investor”, a person or group working directly with the founder of a company. The “lead” not only makes a substantial initial investment in the company, but makes introductions and connections, putting their own name behind the fundraising effort. The parallel in blog marketing is testimonials.

Client testimonials can boost credibility in two ways: Customer success stories help prospects decide to do business with you. At the same time, the process of writing or posting the recommendation or even being interviewed for a testimonial reinforces the commitment of the “lead customers” themselves..

In blogging for business, content writers can use the model of a fundraising round, clearly defining expectations and using “lead customers”.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

When Blogging, Be Prescriptive, But Be Present

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

 

Understanding how the point of view differs in three different types of personal narratives is crucial in telling a story effectively, William Kenower explains in Writer’s Digest.

  1. A memoir is how we tell a story about something that happened to us in the past.
  2. A personal essay describes a solution to a problem the author sees in the world and lays out how the solution should be brought about.
  3. In a prescriptive, the author is an instructor and the article or piece is an instruction manual.

“Though the author may use stories to illustrate their lesson, in a prescriptive piece, the reader expects and understands that the author will be the one delivering the knowledge. To write these kinds of pieces, the author must feel comfortable in the rule of a teacher or guide,” Kenower says. But even in telling a story, he adds, an author is driven to write because of what experience has taught them.  

“Consumers are used to telling stories to themselves and telling stories to each other, and it’s just natural to buy stuff from someone who’s telling us a story,” observes Seth Godin in his latest book All Marketers Tell Stories.

Not all stories succeed, Godin points out, because not all stories have the following essential elements:

  • Great stories are authentic
  • Great stories are subtle, allowing the target audience to draw their own conclusions.
  • Great stories appeal not to logic, but to the senses.

In business blogs, when we tell the story of a business or a practice to consumers, we “frame” that story in a way that will appeal to the target audience. The business owner or professional practitioner is the “teacher”, driven to write because of what experience has taught them.

Blog marketing is prescriptive, offering how-to advice on solving a particular problem or filling a particular need. At the same time, we’ve learned at Say It ForYou, blogging is a very personal form of communication, and our clients’ corporate messages need to be translated into human, people-to-people terms. The blog is the place for readers to connect with the people behind the business or practice.

Because of what experience has taught me, my advice to bloggers is to be prescriptive, but be present!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blog About Your Roots, Favorite Materials, and Clever Hacks

/0 Comments/in , , /by

 

While I spend very little time crafting candles or crocheting cushions, I absolutely loved Taryn Mohrman’s article “Let’s Get Crafty” in the March issue of Woman’s Day, presented in honor of National Crafting Month (who knew?).

Taryn’s introductory piece had three parts:

My crafting roots – When she was little, her dad encouraged her to re-imagine and re-create., encouraging her love of design.
Favorite material – spray paint.
Clever hack – She uses shellac primer and sealer before spray painting, so that her projects last much longer.

As head of a team of blog content writers at Say It For You, I realized that Taryn Mohrman had used several of the blogging “hacks” we teach content writers:

First person business blog writing – it shows the people behind the posts, revealing the personality of the business owner, practitioner, or the team standing ready to serve customers.

Sharing personal background – People tend to buy when can they relate emotionally to the person bringing them the message.

Stating an opinion (favorite material) – Whether you’re blogging to promote a business, a professional practice, or a nonprofit organization, you should share your opinion or slant.

Offering a specific practical tip or trick to help readers do what they want to do, but faster, better, and more easily. Mohrman includes a simple recipe for a scrub – sugar coconut oil, and gel food coloring..

Other articles included in this Woman’s Day issue illustrate other blog post approaches and “clever hacks”:

Toni Lipse answers the question “What’s the difference?” (between crocheting and. Knitting). In creating content for marketing blogs, we need to keep in mind that people are online searching for answers to questions they have and for solutions for dilemmas they’re facing. But searchers haven’t always formulated their questions, and so what I suggest is that we do that for them in our content. .

A testimonial by Nancy Landrum explains how crafting helped her battle depression after being widowed twice and losing her eldest son. Customer testimonials in blogs are a powerful form of social proof; readers are more likely to follow the actions others have already taken.

Whether you’re getting crafty with spray paint or with words, make sure to share some clever hacks – and, even more important – a glimpse into your own roots, favorites, and opinions!

While I spend very little time crafting candles or crocheting cushions, I absolutely loved Taryn Mohrman’s article “Let’s Get Crafty” in the March issue of Woman’s Day, presented in honor of National Crafting Month (who knew?).

Taryn’s introductory piece had three parts:

  1. My crafting roots – When she was little, her dad encouraged her to re-imagine and re-create., encouraging her love of design.
  2. Favorite material – spray paint.
  3. Clever hack – She uses shellac primer and sealer before spray painting, so that her projects last much longer.

As head of a team of blog content writers at Say It For You, I realized that Taryn Mohrman had used several of the blogging “hacks” we teach content writers:

  1. First person business blog writing – it shows the people behind the posts, revealing the personality of the business owner, practitioner, or the team standing ready to serve customers.
  2. Sharing personal background – People tend to buy when can they relate emotionally to the person bringing them the message.
  3. Stating an opinion (your favorite “material”) – Whether you’re blogging to promote a business, a professional practice, or a nonprofit organization, you should share your opinion or slant.
  4. Offering a specific practical tip or trick to help readers do what they want to do, but faster, better, and more easily. Mohrman includes a simple recipe for a scrub – sugar coconut oil, and gel food coloring..

Other articles included in this Woman’s Day issue illustrate other blog post approaches and “clever hacks”:

  • Toni Lipse answers the question “What’s the difference?” (between crocheting and. Knitting). In creating content for marketing blogs, we need to keep in mind that people are online searching for answers to questions they have and for solutions for dilemmas they’re facing. But searchers haven’t always formulated their questions, and so what I suggest is that we do that for them in our content.
  • A testimonial by Nancy Landrum explains how crafting helped her battle depression after being widowed twice and losing her eldest son. Customer testimonials in blogs are a powerful form of social proof; readers are more likely to follow the actions others have already taken.

Whether you’re getting crafty with spray paint or with words, make sure to share some clever hacks – and, even more important – a glimpse into your own roots, favorites, and opinions!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail

Blog Using Presentational Coloration

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

In How Magicians Think, author Joshua Jay explains that, when he borrows a coin from you and makes it disappear, the words he uses during the disappearance “can radically change the experience in your mind”. .Jay might say, for example, “Watch as your coin fades away slowly, dissolving into the air.” Alternately, he might say “And just like that…pow! The coin is gone.” In fact, Jay adds, neuroscientists have shown that most of our experiences are shaped as much by an impression rather than by the event itself.

In blog marketing, we realize at Say It For You, an online searcher’s impressions will have a large role in shaping the outcome of the visit. Since we, as ghostwriters, have been hired by clients to tell their story online to their target audiences, we need to do intensive research, taking guidance from the client’s experience and expertise The goal – conveying the relationship between the visitor and the business owner and their shared experience. But no matter who is responsible for creating the blog content, remember this: Readers who visit your blog are judging their experience in learning about the business owner or practitioner behind the blog.

As part of offering business blogging assistance, I’m always talking to business owners about their customer service.  The challenge is – every business says it offers superior customer service! (Has any of us ever read an ad or a blog that does not tout its superior customer service? But the words you use in saying it are part of the presentational coloration that can make the difference in demonstrating that your customer service exceeds the norm.

Actual color is very important in presentation, as the Zoho blog brings out, because colors affect us at a subconscious level, and “can make the difference between someone liking an idea or rejecting it.” Interestingly, the advice Zoho gives about choosing only one primary color for each slide is in keeping with my own blog content writing advice about the Power of One.

Precisely because an online searcher’s impressions will have a large role in shaping the outcome of the visit, it’s important to blog using presentational coloration.

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedintumblrmail