Simple Writing Mistakes that Can Cost You Readers

Everyone has a typo slip through into a published article now and then. The people who approve the articles are called "content managers," not "content editors." But some errors go beyond mere mistakes and into the realm of willful ignorance. If you're not getting the page views you'd like, maybe you are turning off potential readers with the following issues.

Writing the body of your article as one continuous paragraph
Cohesive ideas should be grouped into a paragraph which has an end, then a line should be skipped, then another group of similar sentences should be grouped. It is difficult if not impossible to read an entire page that is made up of a huge paragraph. All the words seem to run together.

Comma splices
Two independent clauses cannot be joined together by one overworked comma. Here is a comma splice. "It doesn't matter how well written my article is, I can trick people into clicking on it with a provocative headline."

One correct way to join two independent clauses would be with a semicolon. "I have the soul of a writer; I don't need the mind of an English teacher."

Another way is to make the two independent clauses into two separate sentences. "I clicked on your article. I wish I had not given you the page view."

Yet a third way to avoid a comma splice could be to use a connecting word. "I will not be reading any more of Erin's work because it's negative."

The wrong way, again, is to write, "I don't need a dictionary, the meaning behind my article is more important than my spelling."

More comma misuse
A list should be separated by commas, including a comma before "and" or "or." The right way to list is to write, "I went to the store for bread, milk, and ammunition." Do not write, "I like to read Swift Pope and fan fiction."

Misuse of common words
"Of" and "off" are not interchangeable and they never will be. Neither are "your" and "you're." If you don't know the difference between "there," "they're," and "their," you need to repeat elementary school.

Not knowing how to end a sentence that contains quotation marks or parentheses
A punctuation mark at the end of a sentence goes inside quotation marks, if applicable. Example: He said, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore."

If a sentence ends with a parenthetical notation that surrounds a clause or phrase, the punctuation mark goes outside the closing parenthesis mark. Example: She got the goldmine (but I got the shaft). (If the entire sentence is enclosed in parentheses, the punctuation goes inside the final parenthesis mark.) Parentheses, like exclamation points, should be used sparingly.

More quotation marks
If there is a quote inside the quote, the internal quote should be surrounded by single quotation marks. Example: The woman said, "The store clerk told me, 'go to hell, lady,' and I sued the company."

Your headline has to fit what is actually in the body of your article
If your reader clicks to read an article about school bullying and the article is about school shooters, they will be confused. It's okay to start writing and find your topic deviates slightly from what you had planned. Just be sure to change the headline to fit the new topic.