Jargon as Jump-Starter in Corporate Blogging for Business

“Jargon is here, and it’s not going anywhere,” observe four professors at the University of North Carolina, adding that, in its most positive light, jargon can be seen as professional, efficient shorthand.

But what about using jargon in blog writing for business? One thought I have from the point of view of a corporate blogging trainer is that commonly used phrases and terms can be used as a way of establishing common ground with a select audience of readers, an important goal in SEO blog marketing..

Jargon, though, is a handle-with-care writing technique.  In face-to-face conversation, as Roundpeg points out, rather than admit they don’t know what you mean, people might just nod knowingly.  To avoid this effect, blogger Lorraine Ball suggests, introduce jargon by saying “You probably already know this, but….”.Of course, in corporate blogging, online readers won’t be doing any nodding – they are far more likely to click away, impatient to find the information they need without any navigational or terminology hassle.

In corporate blogging training sessions, once you’ve established that common ground, reinforcing to readers that they’ve come to the right place, I stress how important it is to add lesser-known bits of information on your subject. This serves several purposes:

• positioning the business owner or professional practitioner as an expert in the field
• adding value to this “visit” for the reader
• increasing readers’ sense of being part of a group of like-minded customers

For example, here’s a piece of lesser-known information that I can share with Say It For You readers:

The word “jargon” itself comes from a 14th century word for “twittering of birds”. Jargonauts, who like to study jargon, argue that no deceit is intended – jargon simply makes communication easier within a group of people.

Then, towards the end of the post, the blog content writer can allude to the jargon term again, giving the impression of “collusion” with the reader because they share this tidbit of knowledge. That, in turn, needs to lead to some call to action on the part of the blog visitor.  In other words, the jargon needs to be a jump-starter for the next step!