Is content king? Not really. Relevance is king. You can have as much content on your website as you like, but if nobody’s interested in reading it then you may as well leave every page blank.
You might have seen our recent survey and subsequent infographic on the price of bad content. If not, here are the results.
Do we have to spell it out for you?
Spelling mistakes are one of my worst nightmares, second only to misplaced apostrophes, and they’re a big turn-off for readers. In every demographic, at least 15% of our respondents cited poor spelling and grammar as a reason to click away. If you’re content loks bit lik this, you’re sending your potential audience running for the hills.
For best results, put your content in a blender
Bad design is the second-biggest bone of contention for readers, according to our survey. When they genuinely have to tilt their heads sideways to understand what’s on screen, you have a problem.
Keep your content engaging and easy on the eye with a mix of media and a reader-friendly design. Images, videos, interactivity and a healthy dose of blank space can all turn what would otherwise be a wall of text into one of your most popular website pages.
Jargon, buzzwords and mumbo-jumbo – ditch them all
As the saying goes, ‘avoid clichés like the plague’. You should avoid jargon like the plague, too. Almost a quarter of the 25-34 and 65+ age groups from our survey say it’d put them off buying from a website.
Take this satirical warning about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide (source: dhmo.org), ‘Dihydrogen monoxide’ is otherwise known as water. Call a spade a spade, rather than confusing or alienating your readers with over-inflated words.
Keep those points in mind when creating and updating the content on your site.
How not to lose your readers
