Do not use certain words if you can help it – they turn readers off – and here are the top five baddies.
IF – BUT – COULD – SHOULD – MAYBE
What on earth have I got against these poor souls?
They do not activate or invigorate or motivate – they are conditional – I WANT READERS TO ACT ON MY CONTENT !
If When you use these words in your copy, and I’m targetting sales and SEO copy here, there cannot be conditional requests made of your readers. They are not going to be interested in the following:
If you need fresh breath, you need Minto Fresh!
Could you buy the new Porsche but worry about the finance?
Maybe it’s time to think about a remortgage?
“If you need fresh breath?” Of course you want fresh breath why ask the question in the first place?
I drive a Porsche and I don’t give a hoot about the finance because it is a superb car that goes like the clappers!
The straight answer to “Maybe….” is “NO!”
Let’s take a look at another example:
“If you want to earn top grades in your exams you should look at XYZ PassNotes!”
Now compare that to this:
“Get top grades with XYZ Passnotes!”
Bad words encourage you to waffle with your writing and your message is going to get lost very quickly – checking your writing is not just about watching for typos and grammar errors – check your work for these words too and get rid of them!