Let me go ahead and spit this out now. Don’t try to sound smart if you want to sound smart. OK, now chew on that cud—related to the German word “kitt” meaning both cement and putty—for a minute. See what I did there? I could have just left well enough alone with that sentence. Instead, I tossed in some word linguistics and gave the sentence bulk—without sounding like I’m trying to sound smart.
Here’s How to Do It
When you are writing some genius web content for a client, and you have the knowledge to give, your goal is drip-page. You want to make it drip, not drown the reader in it. Think of tree trimming with that old school silver tinsel that was supposed to look like icicles. Toss in a few fun facts here and there. Avoid filling the white void with facts packed so tight the reader will never survive to see the end of the page.
Because they won’t. The majority of readers will end up skipping on to something less tedious—most likely the content killing video version of what you are trying to say.
Keep the readers reading, Writer. Do things like:
- Write using words that you actually use in real life. Unless you are writing for a niche business, such as accounting. Then write like an accountant would talk. Your end goal is to converse with the reader through your content. You would never stop yourself mid-sentence to grab a thesaurus and look up a smarter sounding word, or maybe you would. Either way, don’t.
- If you are writing above your level, aka as an accountant without any accounting reference to how accountants actually speak to each other, read, read, Read. Read what accountants read in terms of trade magazines, online accounting articles, and journals. Subscribe to the Wall Street Journal and read the front page—at a minimum—every single day. By the way, that subscription’s a tax deduction, Professional Writer. This will give you a couple of things—trade-speak and lingo, as well as the latest trends and terms coming up in that industry. Use those to your advantage when pitching new topics to said clients.
Bring your writing skills up to the next level in another way and become a smarter paid writer right here at WriterAccess.
“Welcome. I’m the Whispering Wordsmith of the Woods, An Old Man Willow type cunning the lit forest, Disrupting textbookish writers with grammar snaps and cracks.” As a professional web content writer for small-to-medium businesses, Miranda B understands how to effectively balance technical jargon and personal brand messaging. Her content is sticky, evergreen when expected to be, and always creative. Keep ’em coming back for more, that’s Miranda’s motto!
