Plagiarism in writing isn’t always as obvious as copying and pasting someone’s entire blog post. Sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s accidental. But no matter how it happens, plagiarism can harm your credibility, damage your reputation, and even lead to legal trouble. Continue reading “Plagiarism 101: What Writers Need to Know (and How to Stay Safe)”
Creating content for your business website can be challenging, especially if you’re a small business owner (SMB) or a freelancer just starting out. Knowing your audience is one of the most crucial aspects of successful content creation. In this article, we’ll explore what an audience is, why it’s vital for your business, tips you can use to identify your audience, and how to create engaging and relevant content. Continue reading “Knowing Your Audience: The Key to Successful SMB Content Strategy”
When I was growing up, I hated grammar. All those rules and requirements were too hard to remember. But now, I see a different side of grammar – enough to recognize that good grammar is essential when writing. Continue reading “Good Grammar Is Essential for 5 Reasons”
Why is it that when we see a word or phrase that we really like that we grab it and use them forever? Do you ever stop to think about the words you are using in content? Are they overused and full of consultant-speak speech? Well, let’s check out some words or phrases to consider stripping out of your content.
Strip Out Overused Superlatives
What the heck are superlatives? I don’t use them. Are you sure? Do you really know what a superlative is? Let’s check out Dictionary.com for some help.
1. of the highest kind, quality, or order; surpassing all else or others; supreme; extreme: superlative wisdom.
2. Grammar . of, pertaining to, or noting the highest degree of the comparison of adjectives and adverbs, as smallest, best, and most carefully, the superlative forms of small, good, and carefully.
3. being more than is proper or normal; exaggerated in language or style.
Let me give you five examples from random sites that I looked at:
• the biggest benefit
• the best managed
• need us the most
• the most notable
• the least promising
You can use these words – occasionally – but try not overdo it, okay?
Strip Out Overused Buzzwords
Buzzwords are overused a lot in content, even to the point of distraction. Buzzwords are usually trendy words that are specific to a certain group. For example, in the Information Technology (IT) industry, common buzzwords are SBS, MSP, VAR. In the Virtual Assistant (VA) world, one might speak of EA or VA or PA. Be careful that what you are talking about can be understood by the person it is intended for. Spell it out as I have done with IT or VA or leave it out.
Other types of buzzwords that are just used too much are popular words specific to a particular industry. Have any of these examples cropped up in your content writing?
• Thinking outside the box
• value-added
• alignment
• win-win
If you tend to use the words above, you would be better served to use alternative words in your content or leave them out altogether.
Strip Out Pronoun Overabundance
There are better ways to write proposals than using an overabundance of ‘I’, ‘you’ and the rest of the pronouns. In my opinion, it doesn’t show any creativity and is extremely boring. Quit it!
You want people to read your content, right? Well then, now is the time to strip out overused consultant-speak speech in that content. Get rid of overused superlatives and buzzwords and leave the pronouns back in your office
—–
Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. Borlok Virtual Assistants is the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.
Mastering SEO is no easy task. Content writers must use top research sources to create high-quality content.
Before sitting down to write, a content writer typically needs to explore various sources, digging through reliable information to present content that informs and engages. But where do we start? How do we ensure that our research is both thorough and credible? Continue reading “Master SEO with These Top Research Sources for Content Writers”
Everyone has been talking about it. Since Google changed their algorithm, there’s been a lot of concern whether or not article writers and virtual assistants should stay away from writing good wholesome articles altogether.
So what is Google’s purpose?
Google is intent on improving ranking for article writers. What will happen is that quality should take a big step up. I’m sure you’ve noticed trying to search in your favorite search engine for a term and getting very low-quality articles. Some of them don’t even pertain to the search keyword(s) you typed in. Google believes that this is just the start and readily admit that new updates will be coming down the pipeline that should improve quality even more.
What Is a Content Farm?
According to Wikipedia, a content farm as it relates to the World Wide Web “is used to describe a company that employs large numbers of often freelance writers to generate large amounts of textual content which is specifically designed to satisfy algorithms for maximal retrieval by automated search engines. Their main goal is to generate advertising revenue through attracting reader page views.” Unfortunately, many of these content farms can promote articles of low quality due to excessive spinning or poor writing abilities.
How will this affect article content distribution sites?
Places like Distribute Your Articles (DYA) believe that content farms are in trouble. DYA has always encouraged their members to always submit original content. Their coaches are put through an extensive training program so they are comfortable recognizing errors that can cause an article to be rejected by publishers and site owners. Included in the training is how to correctly apply Article Alchemy™ technology. The end result is that the article writer can rest assured that their articles have been intensively reviewed to make sure that high quality is maintained.
Other content distribution places are raising the bars in their review process to ensure that they are not penalized by Google with a low rating. This will include places like EzineArticles who has recently announced several changes they have implemented to improve their ranking. One of the biggest changes was to increase the minimum length of articles from 300 to 400.
So what is my strategy going to be for me, as well as my clients? I will follow the course of DYA and recommend to my clients that we only submit original content to multiple sites, depending on the client’s memberships. However, my advice to them will also be to blog, and post their articles on social media like Facebook and LinkedIn.
Do I believe that Virtual Assistants (VAs) should be concerned with Google’s new algorithm? I would more say that VAs should become aware but not necessarily concerned. So, for me, that means business as usual. What do you think?
—–
Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. Borlok Virtual Assistants is the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.
I’m sure you would all agree that birds have rights, just like people, right? So it should go without saying that a hummingbird feeder should be for — well, hummingbirds, right? So why is it that I, Ruby, have to put up with someone else on MY feeder?
