Editing Tips To Increase Lead Generation
Effective content should ultimately help increase leads. In order to do that though, a company must pay attention to how its content is constructed. Whether you’re writing a new guest blog post or posting a Facebook update, here are a few quick editing suggestions that will safeguard your company from simple errors that could snowball into something much worse: credibility damage.
1. Choose a Style
Choose a style guide. Whether it’s AP style, the Chicago Manual of Style etc., all employees will have a clear reference point to help ensure consistency, correct spelling, etc.
2. Double-check Spelling
It’s so obvious, but it’s so important: Always double-check content for spelling mistakes (here’s a great resource via PR Daily to get started), and don’t overlook simple errors like improper usage of:
- discrete/discreet
- ensure/insure
- farther/further
- its/it’s
- their/there
- to/too/two
- who’s/whose
- your/you’re
These seemingly small oversights are ticking time bombs — if a prospect were to notice any of these in your content, your company could lose credibility, fast. Don’t let something as simple as a misspelled word cost you a lead.
3. Maintain Accuracy
Make sure your company name and contact information are always consistent. This will not only make your business easier to search for, but again will ensure more credibility. If a company name is spelled all lowercase on one landing page and is spelled with all caps on its website’s footer, it’s confusing and looks unprofessional.
Did your company recently move? Make sure the address and phone number are updated and accurate across all platforms — including your website, email signatures, social media channels, etc. A prospect will not be happy when he/she tries to reach a phantom company.
4. Make Sure Links Work
When including links in your content, make sure they work! Check for this frequently — imagine the frustration of someone that clicks on your CTA, which leads him/her to an “error” page.
5. Keep It Simple
In Web design, white space is encouraged because of its sleek, uncluttered effect. Simple is often better and more effective in order to catch one’s eye. The same thing applies to content: Eliminate excess words, prepositions, phrases and unnecessary adjectives to make your content as streamlined and professional as possible.
As I mentioned before, all of these editing reminders are obvious, but when overlooked, they can hurt a company’s name. To ensure your business’s content is high quality, be aware of these easy-to-make mistakes.
