But I’m not a writer. If you’re thinking this, you’re wrong. You may not be writing novels, but you are writing — and quite often.
- Emails — both personal and professional (this includes emails to your customers)
- Marketing materials
- Social media posts (and responses to followers)
- Blog posts (and responses to comments)
- LinkedIn messages for networking/job opportunities
- Instant messaging (whether it’s chat customer service or colleagues)
- Website content
- Landing page content
- Advertising content (Facebook ads, etc.)
- Resumes/cover letters/follow-up emails
- Written communication (is that still a thing?)
- Ebooks/white papers
- And the list goes on!
See? You’re actually doing a serious boatload of writing everyday.
These four easy writing tips will help you clean up your content, wrap it up in a neat little bow, and present it proudly to the world without fear.
1. Free Tools to Double-Check Your Writing
Using spell-check is a given. (Right?) But spelling errors aren’t the only things that can make your content crappy… hard-to-read sentences, overusing adverbs, and defaulting to passive voice are no-nos too.
So if you’re looking for the veritable king of writing tips, here it us: Use the free tools below to check your content for common errors on a regular basis — it’s that simple.
All you have to do is copy/paste your content into each of these apps:
- Hemingway App (This one’s my personal fave)
- Edit Minion
- Slick Write
2. Sneaky Little Homophones
Homophones are two or more words with the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling. (Which is just cruel to begin with… or “wicked, tricksy, false!” as Gollum would say.)
But knowing some common homophones to watch out for will let you avoid tricksy traps that can discredit your writing.
Peek/Peak/Pique
- Peeking is looking when you shouldn’t: “I couldn’t help but peek at the men in the locker room and now I’m being questioned by the police.”
- Peak is a real or metaphorical high point or pinnacle: “She peaked in high school if I’m being honest.”
- Pique from a French word meaning “prick,” means to excite: “You piqued my interest when you said you saw a llama on your lawn.”
Compliment/Complement
- Compliment is a polite expression of praise or admiration: “He complimented her eyebrows because they were seriously on fleek.”
- Complement is something that fills up, completes, or makes perfect: “That man’s blue romper complemented his eyes like a dream.”
Ensure/Insure
- Ensure is to make sure, certain, or safe: “I will ensure your safety this time, but never again.”
- Insure is to provide or obtain insurance on or for: “I found a place to insure my car but I think I’ll just press my luck instead.”
Who’s/Whose
- Who is what or which person or persons: “Who’s coming over to watch The Bachelor tonight?”
- Whose is of or relating to whom or which, especially as possessor or possessors: “I seriously don’t know whose strangely large stash of Twinkies that is.”
3. Craft Killer Headlines With These Free Tools
Headlines can make or break your blog posts. After all, a headline is the reason someone chooses to read your post, to retweet or not to retweet, to share or not to share, and so on and so on.
This is why I spend a considerable amount of time trying to come up with a “Damn, that’s good” headline instead of an “It’ll do, Pig.”
Don’t settle. (You deserve better and so do your readers.)
I normally write my first headline option down, and continue from there. I might have a list of 15 before I select the final version — and if I’m still struggling, I turn to these free headline-analyzing tools.
These tools will “grade” your headlines and tell you if they’re too long, not using a “power word,” or using too many “common” words.
- CoSchedule Headline Analyzer (This one has more bells and whistles than the one below but I like to use both to see if they agree with each other.)
- Advanced Marketing Institute Headline Analyzer
P.S. These tools can help you analyze email subject lines for effectiveness too!
4. Formatting Just Became Your New Best Friend
The fastest, easiest, most glorious way to improve your writing is through formatting. This applies to blog posts, emails, web content, all of it!
Use these writing tips to turn your content into a readable wonderland:
- Don’t build a wall. Paragraphs are important and it’s best to keep them short at 2-4 sentences MAX. (And don’t use all caps.)
- Use subheads. Subheads help separate different thoughts/topics and keep readers interested.
- Be bold. Bolding the main takeaway under each subhead helps skimmers find what they’re looking for and emphasizes your point to readers.
- Use bullets/numbered lists. Don’t make your readers’ eyes bleed with too much content or let your key points get lost. Use bullet points and numbered lists to make your writing easier to view and consume.
- Add some images. Images help keep readers interested and break up content — but don’t steal from just anywhere. Try these free stock sites instead.
Hot tip: There are many components that go into making something worth reading — and formatting is just one of them. Another way to make your content readable is by being conversational.
Third person might work for Elmo but that doesn’t mean you should try it too. First person works well for brands because it’s conversational and will make a better connection with your target audience than third person ever could.
You’ve Got This!
You’re already writing a ton. Why not use these writing tips to ensure (You knew not to use “insure” here, didn’t you?) you’re creating content that draws your customers in, rather than pushes them away.
If you format your content, keep it free of errors, and make sure it flows smoothly, it will be attractive to your target audience and add credibility to your business.
Take a little time to improve your writing and you’ll reap the benefits, guaranteed!
Oh, and if you want to keep learning, I have two recommendations: Grammar Girl‘s book, “Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing,” which is a fantastic refresher on many common grammar mistakes. And Ann Handley‘s book, “Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content,” which will help you improve your business writing immensely.