As a writer, blogger, journalist, whatever you like to call yourself, creating content is how you make your living. If you want to be successful, however, you should strive to make it easy for people to consume your content. This can be accomplished by using plain language. Here are our top tips for adding plain language to your content strategy.
Put Most Important Information First
When you are outlining your content, focus on putting the most important information first. This is known as a content hierarchy. What do your readers want to know? What tasks do they need to complete? Focus on these items and you’ll end up with a solid piece of work.
Understand Your Audience
Remember, you can’t be everything to everybody as a writer. Stay on topic and avoid including information that isn’t truly relevant to either your audience or your topic. Going off on a tangent can really make your readers lose interest. If it’s necessary, you can always link to supporting content.
Structure Your Page Using Bite-Sized Pieces
The majority of readers like to scan documents to find information on the topics that are most important to them. Using subheadings to organize your content can help users easily find what they need.
Also try to keep your sentences shortish – around 20 words. Nobody likes a run-on sentence. Mentally speaking, run-ons are just a lot more difficult to process and come off as being lazy.
Don’t Skimp on the Design
A good layout can be just as important as the words on your page. Don’t forget to add design elements (e.g., video, graphics) to illustrate concepts or to share data in a creative way. Readers love a great visual design.
Other key elements of your design include using white space between topics to make it easier to read. Also be sure to use the right font size. You don’t want your readers to have to squint or pull out their reading glasses to get the message. If necessary, be sure to select the right font color if you’re not using a standard white background with black font.
Use Simple Words and Phrases
Even though some people might consider it to be “dumbing down” your content, using plain language can truly help prevent a lot of confusion.
The questions I have always had to ask myself are:
- Would you rather have someone know how many big words you can use?
- Or, would you rather have them understand what you just wrote or said?
The truth is, you never know who your audience is. It could be a junior high school student, a Ph.D, an elderly person, or a mix of them all. While certain wordsmiths may be tempted to show off their vocabulary, using simpler words will pay off in the long run.
If you’re creating content for a group of experts in your field, it is OK to use technical terms here and there. But, most people, even some of your colleagues, might not pick up on all of the lingo.
Also, keep in mind that most readers prefer a more conversational tone anyway. Avoid being “stiff” and using unnecessary jargon whenever possible.
For example, if you’re at work and need to alert people about an upcoming meeting, which of these do you think is easier to understand?
a. The meeting with commence at 1 p.m.
b. The meeting will start at 1 p.m.
The correct answer is B.
Simple changes like this can go a really long way. I hope that was plain enough for you.
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