clear writing, editing, and seo
Archive for July, 2009
Don't take a chance, plain language always works
Jul 29th
A couple of months ago, The New York Times made public some very interesting internal data: a list of words that its online readers were frequently looking up. On the NYT site, you can look up the meaning of any word by selecting it and clicking on the small question mark that appears beside.
The story about these findings is here. Some of the oft-looked up words were:
sui generis
solipsistic
louche
laconic
saturnine
antediluvian
epistemological
shibboleths
schadenfreude
feckless
The deputy editor, Philip Corbett, in his memo asked reporters to not talk down to readers and to use fanciful, uncommon words only when the situation warranted it: ‘… striking and very specific words can become wan and devalued through overuse. Consider apotheosis, which we’ve somehow managed to use 18 times so far this year. It literally means “deification, transformation into a divinity.” An extended meaning is “a glorified ideal.” But in some of our uses it seems to suggest little more than “a pretty good example.” Most recently, we’ve said critics view the Clinton health-care plan as “the apotheosis of liberal, out-of-control bureaucracy-building,” and we’ve described cut-off shorts as “that apotheosis of laissez-faire wear.”
‘So what do we say if someone really is transformed into a god?’
Corbett also admitted being stumped by two words on the list: sumptuary and phlogiston.
The story has drawn many comments and some readers have said NYT shouldn’t blacklist the big words because they loved them and read the NYT because it used such words. Some others have said they love learning new words that NYT introduces them to and they should not be robbed of this joy.
This brings us to oft-repeated questions used in arguments against plain language:
1. How plain should plain be?
The NYT readers have already answered this question. ‘Bildungsroman’ may have seemed to be a grand piece of Roman architecture to some, while ‘paroxysm’ may have had people wondering if this was some form of an orgasm. If you have to use a big word, make sure there is no other everyday word that will do the job equally well.
2. Who decides what’s plain enough for whom?
Your readers decide what’s plain. You write to be read, unless you’re jotting down things in your personal diary. If your readers do not understand you at the first reading, you have failed to communicate. A newspaper is a mass medium of communication and there’s no way of telling who knows what. When it’s becoming increasingly difficult for newspapers to prove their relevance and keep their business viable, ‘Sisyphean’ surely is not helping them.
3. Should all text be written for five-year-olds?
As we have said earlier, plain language is about being honest with your reader. It does not mean dumbing down. If you have something to say, say it clearly. That shouldn’t be too difficult if you have well-formed ideas.
Also, as Corbett’s note on ‘apotheosis’ shows, writers frequently get enamoured with some words and use them even when the specific meaning is not intended. This dilutes the purpose of the word. And often, the point is to ‘show’ the writer’s scholarship more than anything else.
The other trap writers fall in is to get so involved with their writing that they leave the reader far behind. It’s more like they are making notes for themselves.
Jargon is bad for business
The NYT web analytics data not only tells us about how news should be written, but also gives businesses valuable insights into how they should be talking to their customers.
You’ll perhaps never have a customer come up to you and tell you they didn’t understand what you meant by ‘knowledge-based organisational alignment’ or by ‘deconstructed relative contingencies’. They’ll just assume you don’t care.
Have you ever asked any of your customers what they think of the letters you send out, the user manuals or help documents you create, or the canned responses you use? What you write to your customer tells a lot about your company – whether you’re keen on putting the terms across clearly or you want to hide behind jargon and legalese.
The language you use is a very important part of your branding. You don’t want to be remembered as a gobbledygook company, do you? Speak smart, if you are.
How to write search engine-friendly copy and keep it interesting for your readers?
Jul 20th
One of the ways to keep driving traffic to your site is by writing and publishing informative articles on your site or on article submission directories. While writing quality articles with the right keywords is important from the SEO perspective, keeping it informative and interesting to your readers is equally necesary.
The keywords are important so the search engines can pick you out among the zillions of sites clamouring to be noticed. And by writing on current industry trends, you become a source of information for people. Even a casual visitor to your site may then become an interested reader, and, if everything else works out, a customer.
Why should articles be optimized for search engines? And how do you do it?
Quite simply, to drive more traffic to your site and increase conversions. Of course, article writing is not the only SEO trick you can pull, but it’s definitely an important one. Content is king today, and you better bow down.
It’s not enough if you write well or know a lot in the specific area of your work. You need to put yourself in the shoes of your reader/potential customer and insert those keywords in the text which they may use when searching for a service you provide. A little bit of imagination and help from some tools like Keyword Tool by Google Adwords will get you a list of keywords you need to use for a particular article.
But be discerning and creative. Don’t go for all the keywords that are automatically generated or rely solely on such tools. You know your work best and you deal with your customers daily. You are in tune with what your customers are looking for. So, if you try, you can easily get capital keyword ideas.
The keywords then have to be weaved into the sales copy, travel writing, blog post or any other piece of online writing that you intend to use.
Avoid keyword stuffing
Using keywords can work both ways for you, unless you maintain the delicate balance between keyword-friendly and keyword stuffed copy. Remember, you are not writing ‘for’ search engines, but are just using them to get to real people.
I have my doubts about the purchasing power of a bot and bots are super-smart these days. They will not even sniff something that reeks of keywords.
Write articles to create value for your readers and be recognized as an authority in your domain. Genuine wisdom will find a lot of takers, who will eventually become believers/fans, and God willing, buyers.
Get professional help: outsource your content needs
If you feel you are getting more caught up with running your business or if writing is not your core area of expertise, you can always get professional ghostwriters to do the job for you. Give them a clear brief on what you expect, work out a production schedule, and make sure both of you understand each other’s terms perfectly well. If you can show the content writer examples of the kind of work you’re expecting, that will make it easier for both of you.
Article submission – how it helps
Submitting articles to directory sites will generate inbound links to your site. You can also cash in on the submission site’s traffic volume that your site may or may not enjoy. Thus, you get more eyeballs too.
But, again, select the article submission sites with care. Check if they link to spammy or adult sites. The top article directories that come to mind are EzineArticles and Buzzle. But there are many other quality sites you can choose from.
Keyword-rich and interesting articles will win you readers interested in your niche area. It doesn’t happen overnight, but the fruits are sweet.
Be honest with your reader. Write in plain language
Jul 11th
Plain language as defined by Martin Cutts of Plain Language Commission:
The writing and setting out of essential information in a way that gives a co-operative, motivated person a good chance of understanding it at first reading, and in the same sense that the writer meant it to be understood.
This means pitching the language at a level of sophistication that suits the readers and using appropriate structure and layout to help them navigate through the document.
It does not mean always using simple words at the expense of the most accurate words, or writing whole documents in kindergarten language even if—as some adult literacy surveys claim—about seven million adults in the UK and 70 million adults in the US cannot read and write competently.
As well as its strong connotations of clarity, ‘plainness’ is about honesty. Essential information should not lie or tell half-truths, especially as its providers are often socially or financially dominant.
What does it mean to write in plain language?
Plain language does not mean baby talk. When we write clearly and avoid jargon, we do not compromise on accuracy. On the contrary, you are being straightforward with your reader. You are being honest. This can only serve the best interest of a democracy or a company.
To write in plain language:
- use shorter sentences and everyday words. Deliver the message as directly and quickly as possible.
- use ‘I/we’ and ‘you’, wherever possible. Unless you are reporting the results of a scientific experiment, there is no harm in addressing your reader as ‘you’.
- avoid passive voice. Using the active voice makes for fewer words and better understanding.
But a document that tries to be reader-friendly needs to do more than just use plain language. It needs to be designed logically and be easy on the eye.
Why plain language?
Because, language that intimidates, obscures, and confuses will turn away people, thus affecting your image and business. Obsolete, jargon-filled legalese robs people of their right to know.
When you write in plain language, you are understood faster and better. It also saves time and money for you and your customer. This is not a mere claim, but a quantified fact. For instance, the US Department of Veterans Affairs revised one form and recorded the results of this change in one VA call center. The number of calls received dropped from about 1,100 to about 200. This was just one form. You can only imagine the huge potential of cost savings if every form, every letter, every brochure is recast in plain language. The same analogy works for business entities, too.
We are all customers of a bank, an insurance firm, electronics company, etc. When we pay up to buy a service or product and are handed an unintelligible user manual or an intimidating, distant-sounding letter, we don’t exactly feel a warm glow within, do we?
The user manual or the bank letter is supposed to be for people from different educational backgrounds and not for the engineers who designed the product or bankers who run the bank. If you have trouble understanding these documents, it’s not a reflection on your IQ, but rather shows the disconnect between the obsolete legalese and jargon these firms used and the language that you, their prized customer, talk in.
How can Blue Pencil India help?
You can communicate your ideas effectively in plain language or plain English, and we can help you do that. To start with, we can do a free review of your site or a few documents, and guide you on how you can implement plain language and make them user-friendly.
Plain language as defined by Martin Cutts of Plain Language Commission
The writing and setting out of essential information in a way that gives a co-operative, motivated person a good chance of understanding it at first reading, and in the same sense that the writer meant it to be understood.
This means pitching the language at a level of sophistication that suits the readers and using appropriate structure and layout to help them navigate through the document.
It does not mean always using simple words at the expense of the most accurate words, or writing whole documents in kindergarten language even if—as some adult literacy surveys claim—about seven million adults in the UK and 70 million adults in the US cannot read and write competently.
As well as its strong connotations of clarity, ‘plainness’ is about honesty. Essential information should not lie or tell half-truths, especially as its providers are often socially or financially dominant.
What does it mean to write in plain language?
Plain language does not mean baby talk. When we write clearly and avoid jargon, we do not compromise on accuracy. On the contrary, you are being straightforward with your reader. You are being honest. This can only serve the best interest of a democracy or a company.
To write in plain language:
· use shorter sentences and everyday words. Deliver the message as directly and quickly as possible.
· use ‘I/we’ and ‘you’, wherever possible. Unless you are reporting the results of a scientific experiment, there is no harm in addressing your reader as ‘you’.
· avoid passive voice. Using the active voice makes for fewer words and better understanding.
But a document that tries to be reader-friendly needs to do more than just use plain language. It needs to be designed logically and be easy on the eye.
Why plain language?
Because, language that intimidates, obscures, and confuses will turn away people, thus affecting your image and business. Obsolete, jargon-filled legalese robs people of their right to know.
When you write in plain language, you are understood faster and better. It also saves time and money for you and your customer. This is not a mere claim, but a quantified fact. For instance, the US Department of Veterans Affairs revised one form and recorded the results of this change in one VA call center. The number of calls received dropped from about 1,100 to about 200. This was just one form. You can only imagine the huge potential of cost savings if every form, every letter, every brochure is recast in plain language. The same analogy works for business entities, too.
We are all customers of a bank, an insurance firm, electronics company, etc. When we pay up to buy a service or product and are handed an unintelligible user manual or an intimidating, distant-sounding letter, we don’t exactly feel a warm glow within, do we?
The user manual or the bank letter is supposed to be for people from different educational backgrounds and not for the engineers who designed the product or bankers who run the bank. If you have trouble understanding these documents, it’s not a reflection on your IQ, but rather shows the disconnect between the obsolete legalese and jargon these firms used and the language that you, their prized customer, use.
How can Blue Pencil India help?
You can communicate your ideas effectively in plain language or plain English, and we can help you do that. To start with, we can do a free review of your site or a few documents, and guide you on how you can implement plain language and make them user-friendly.
