{"id":6211,"date":"2017-03-30T16:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T16:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/?p=6211"},"modified":"2022-02-02T15:03:44","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T21:03:44","slug":"the-write-stuff-content-and-language-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/the-write-stuff-content-and-language-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"The Write Stuff: Content and Language Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve put a lot of time and energy into the look and feel of your website and blog. You\u2019ve selected the perfect images to convey the tone and spirit of your business. You\u2019ve combed over every page and link for functionality and ease of navigation. So, how about your content? Whether you\u2019ve hired out or written the copy yourself, whether the copy is fresh or seasoned, take a second look. Content and language choice are a critical component of your website and blog success.<\/p>\n<h4>The Basics<\/h4>\n<p>When reviewing your content, first check grammar and punctuation. Read the copy out loud to catch any repetition, awkward phrases, or mistakes. Sentence length should vary, but be aware of sentences that are too long. The majority of sentences should be twenty words or fewer. Keep paragraphs from becoming too long as well \u2013 white space adds value to the user experience by allowing the reader to pause and take a breath. This makes for easier reading and understanding.<\/p>\n<p>For clear, strong writing, aim for active voice over passive. An easy way to tell the difference? Compare these two sentences:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em>The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.<\/em><br \/>\n<em> The lazy dog was jumped over by the quick brown fox.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In the first sentence, the fox is <em>acting<\/em> (active voice); in the second, the main object (the lazy dog) of the sentence is being <em>acted upon<\/em> (passive voice).<\/p>\n<p>Another way to strengthen your content is to limit your use of <em>-ing<\/em>. For example, instead of saying, \u201cI was writing,\u201d tighten up the sentence with \u201cI wrote.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Style<\/h4>\n<p>Concise or verbose, flowery or plain, your regular writing or speaking style won\u2019t always work well on your website or blog. Here are a few things to keep in mind:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adverbs \u2013 According to Stephen King, \u201cThe adverb is not your friend.\u201d Adverbs describe actions, adjectives, and even other adverbs. Most adverbs end in -ly, and, <em>typically<\/em>, they\u2019re not necessary. (See what I did there?) Compare these two sentences:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 90px;\"><em>The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.<\/em><br \/>\n<em>The quick brown fox jumped excitedly over the lazy dog.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The word \u201cexcitedly\u201d clutters up the sentence. The image of the act of jumping isn\u2019t as smooth as the image in the sentence without the adverb. And it\u2019s okay to leave some of the work up to the reader. We know that the fox is quick (as opposed to the lazy dog), and the action is jumping, so we can infer excitement.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Idioms, Metaphors, and Puns \u2013 Idioms and metaphors can happen <em>in the blink of an eye<\/em>, so <em>keep your eyes peeled<\/em> for this. Limit the use of idioms, don\u2019t mix metaphors, and avoid cheesy puns (unless it\u2019s part of your personality or voice; see below).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Personality \u2013 It\u2019s more than okay to inject some personality into your content, in particular through your blog or social media posts. If you\u2019re funny, be funny. If you\u2019re weird, be weird. Take that weird humor and tie it in to your brand. Notice the title of this post: <em>The Write Stuff<\/em>. It\u2019s a play on words, yes, but it also calls to mind a couple of different pop culture references. Depending on YOUR personality, you\u2019re either thinking about <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ElzIPn1pXWE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the crew of the Mercury 7<\/a> or you\u2019ll be singing <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/tbIEwIwYz-c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Kids on the Block<\/a> for the rest of the day. (You\u2019re welcome.) Or maybe neither of these.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><\/h4>\n<h4>One Final Word<\/h4>\n<p>Plagiarism. Avoid lifting copy from an existing blog, website, or social media post (or, in other words, keep your eyes on your own paper). Use your own unique wording to share your ideas.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Like any other skill, writing content takes practice. If copywriting isn\u2019t your thing, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact Prime Advertising &amp; Design<\/a>. Web content, brochures, taglines, blog and social media posts, and more \u2013 we\u2019ve got it (the write stuff).<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve put a lot of time and energy into the look and feel of your website and blog. You\u2019ve selected the perfect images to convey the tone and spirit of your business. You\u2019ve combed over every page and link for functionality and ease of navigation. So, how about your content? Whether you\u2019ve hired out or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":6214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,935,642,94],"tags":[937,939,940,39,942,938,25,579,45,21,1161,943,81,946,945,947,69,584,944,46,47,24,941],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Write Stuff: Content and Language Choice - Prime Advertising + Design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You\u2019ve put time and energy into the look and feel of your website and blog. Content and language choice are a critical component of your success.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/the-write-stuff-content-and-language-choice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Write Stuff: Content and Language Choice - Prime Advertising + Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You\u2019ve put time and energy into the look and feel of your website and blog. Content and language choice are a critical component of your success.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/the-write-stuff-content-and-language-choice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prime Advertising + Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PrimeAdvertising\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-30T16:00:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-02T21:03:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Quick-Brown-Fox.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2060\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"970\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sara Biren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sara Biren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/the-write-stuff-content-and-language-choice\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/the-write-stuff-content-and-language-choice\/\",\"name\":\"The Write Stuff: Content and Language Choice - Prime Advertising + Design\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-30T16:00:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-02T21:03:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.primeadvertising.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/74dea87632976427517da244e8a86b1e\"},\"description\":\"You\u2019ve put time and energy into the look and feel of your website and blog. 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