The 5 Worst Mistakes for Online Writing

You've been writing online for awhile and still your only reader is your mother. Are you guilty of making the 5 worst mistakes in your online writing? Sounds like it to me. Let's look at each mistake. Let's see what you can improve with your writing for the Web.

Worst Mistake #1: Unclear, Unfulfilled Title

What does your title say about your article or post? Does it tell readers immediately what your page is about? Look at the title of this article. You know immediately what this article is about, and you expect me to give you all 5 mistakes. You might have even skimmed down the page to make sure there are 5.

A Dream About Betty Crocker. It's an interesting title, but what in the world would I find if I read that? Would I find information about better cooking? How to write a cookbook? How to create a huge business? Sounds like a great title for a mystery novel to me. But, not a good title for an online article.

Worst Mistake #2: Fluffy, Useless Intro

So, my friend and I were chatting yesterday and we talked about doing some fun craft projects and she thought I should write an article about how to make my felt flower bouquets. Then we kept talking and I realized...zzzzzzz. Time to hit the back button.

Let's get real here. I don't care what you and your friend were talking about. I care about what the article is supposed to be about. How it came about that you wrote this article or post is not of value to your readers. Get to the purpose of your article right away. Right in your intro.

Worst Mistake #3: Fluffy, Useless Content 

You might have heard that 300 words is the minimum your article should be. But, you've written your information in 200 words. If you start adding in a bunch of fluff just to get your word count up, you are guilty of Worst Mistake #3.

Instead of adding fluffy, useless content, find more information that can help your readers. Suggest ways they can use this info in their own lives. Offer tips for making this info more helpful. Give your readers more value. Skip the fluff to get the word count up.

Worst Mistake #4: Bulky Blocks of Text

Online readers are actually skimmers. They will scroll down your page letting their eyes be grabbed by:

• sub-titles
• images
• lists
• short paragraphs

The first thing they will scroll right on past are large blocks of text. Test it out for yourself. How often do you stop to read 15 lines of text all bunched together?

Keep your information grouped into short paragraphs. A few lines per paragraph are great for online readers.

Worst Mistake #5: Formal, Stiff Writing

Let your high school English teacher cringe. You don't want formal writing online. You want comfortable writing. This means short sentences, familiar words and talking to your reader. You are not writing a term paper for a grade. You are giving information to a person. Another human.

Comfortable writing does not mean bad writing. Watch your spelling. Use the right contractions. Remember, "your" means it belongs to you, while "you're" means you are. Online writing is not the time to mix those up.

Review Your Own Writing for the Web

Take a look at your own articles and posts for the Web. Are you guilty of making even one of the 5 worst mistakes? If you are guilty of all 5, then you have an article or post that only a mother could love.

Writing Killer Titles for Articles and Posts

Titles -- Your 1st Impression for Readers

Let's think about this logically... an internet user opens a browser and types (on average) 2 to 5 words in the search bar. The words are a summary of what they are searching for.

A search engine returns results with the title and 160 or so characters of your introduction. Most all searchers will read the title and base their decision to click through on that. Some will read a bit, if not all, of the 160 character intro and then decide whether or not to click through to the entire article.

The title is the "bait" that you "hook" your searcher/reader with almost exclusively. It's your first impression and it better be good.

Titles Need To...

In order to gain traffic to your article or post, your one title needs to accomplish a few different tasks. Consider that a title should:

• Summarize or convey the content of your article/post
• Be easy to understand 
• Draw in your prospective readers through curiosity or information
• Include keywords toward the beginning for humans and search engines

Title Style Examples that Work

The list title is an old advertising trick that has been around for years and years. Using the trigger words of "top", "best" and/or attaching a number to the title is a proven way to lure in readers. 

However, remember that you are also making a promise of providing a list to your readers. Follow through or you will lose credibility. 

Asking a question as your title is another good title style. Keep in mind that a question title infers that you will answer that question within the content of your article or post. Make sure you do or you will lose credibility with readers. 

"How to..." is a standard and much used form for a title as well. When someone searches for instructions or directions in a search box, 9 times out of 10 they will start the query with "how to" or "how do I". If your title starts with "how", the search engines are more likely to send searches your way. 

Of course, the rest of your title has to be relevant to the article and the searcher. 

 The Nitty-Gritty with Titles

The most important thing to remember with titles is actually 3 parts: 

• If you make a promise in your title; deliver it in your content
• If you ask a question in your title; answer it in your content
• If you bring up a curiosity or challenge in your title, follow through with the information in your content. 

Titles are powerful. Use them to gain readership of your target audience. I usually wait and title my articles and posts after they are written. This gives me the ability to follow my train of thought in my writing and then deliver a title that is most appropriate. 

Title No-Nos

Misleading searchers and readers as to the content of your article will hurt you in the long run. This was the way of spammers years ago. They keyword stuffed titles with words that had nothing to do with the actual content (and vise-versa). Search engines caught on and now will penalize webmasters and writers for doing this, and rightfully so. 

Further, you can permanently damage your reputation with readers and search engines. As writers, we are always trying to build authority and trust in our chosen niches. One wrong or black-hat move like mis-titling an article can ruin your personal branding.