How to Write Content for People
I’ve been talking a lot here lately about writing content for people.
That may not make a ton of sense at first glance, as we’re (currently) the only species that can read. But think about the content you may have read recently.
When you read it, could you hear an actual human saying the words to you? Or did it sound like a bunch of keywords and buzzwords mixed together to form a concoction fit for a robot?
And that’s what I mean by writing for people.
Real talk: My writing used to sound like the concoction I described above. When I was in undergrad studying for my associate degree, I once had a classmate tell me that my writing sounded like it was authored by a robot.
He swore he meant it as a compliment because my writing was 100% polished, free of grammatical errors, split infinitives, incorrect preposition usage—all the things professors gawk at.
But once I made it as a content writer, I realized I was doing it wrong.
People Want Approachability
When people read blogs, social posts, or even eBooks and long-form pieces of content, they don’t want to feel like they’re in the middle of a college lecture.
Case in point (thanks, ChatGPT):
Option A
In order to prepare a sandwich, it is advisable to first select the desired bread, followed by the appropriate condiments and fillings, and subsequently utilize the ingredients in a manner that ensures an optimal balance of flavor and texture.
Option B
To make a sandwich, grab your favorite bread, the ingredients you want (peanut butter, jelly, turkey breast, mayo—the possibilities are endless!), and then start putting your sandwich together. Here’s how…
Option A feels kinda stuffy, eh? It’s almost like it was written by a robot, for a robot….
Option B is a lot more approachable and conversational. I felt comfortable reading the words aloud.
And honestly, it’s the type of writing that people tend to prefer, particularly in content marketing.
How to Write Content for People
I’ve picked up a few tips and best practices for writing for people, which take into consideration marketing best practices. Here they are.
1. Break the rules your English 101 instructor taught you.
My instructor* for my first college-level English class taught me a lot about the fundamentals of writing properly. Things like don’t use contractions; don’t use “you,” “I,” or “we;” use more complex words; don’t start a sentence with a conjunction; don’t end a sentence with a preposition.
The thing is that if you follow all those rules, your writing is gonna sound stuffy.
If you want an example, look no further:
We have a lot to talk about.
That sounds normal, but it’s also technically grammatically incorrect if you believe the rule, don’t end a sentence with a preposition.
The “corrected” sentence?
We have a lot about which to talk.
Who talks like this?! Not even the most pretentious person I’ve ever met would talk like this—so why write like this?
It’s OK to break a rule every now and again for the sake of sounding like a human. A lot of the rules we all learned in college are a bit outdated, and unless you want to sound like a robot in your writing, don’t be afraid to break a rule or two.
It’s not something about which you should stress. 😉
2. Don’t let SEO ruin your writing.
I recently wrote an SEO-optimized article about cloud computing. My SEO tool of choice was a bit salty over my writing because I’d used the word cloud so much.
I get it—keyword stuffing isn’t great, but neither is saying the magical place in the sky for remote storage and computing that shares a name with the cirrus, cumulus, and stratus varieties.
Don’t take the suggestions SEO tools give you as gospel. At the end of the day, you are the content expert, and high-quality content is the single most important factor of good SEO. The magical Google algorithm is smart, and so are many SEO tools, but you should rely on your own expertise in a topic to get you across the finish line.
I was able to achieve this at Huntress, when I started a project called The Defender’s Handbook. I’d written an SEO-optimized pillar page on persistence in cybersecurity, and although my SEO tool told me I’d used the word persistence too many times, I still achieved a Google snippet—even outranking MITRE on the topic.
People are going to search the way they talk, and it’s important that your writing includes the words people will be searching for, not words that appease SEO tools. If you write good quality content that’s written for humans, the algorithms and robots will reward you. It’s all a balancing act!
3. Be selective with your word choice.
Word choice really matters when it comes to writing content for people.
I’ve already crawled off my soapbox on this topic in terms of technical writing, begging writers not to choose their words for the sake of sounding smart. If there’s a simpler word that can be used, use it! Why say utilize when you can just say use? Why say in order to when you can simply say to?
On that note, other word choices can make a big difference when writing for people. To sound more conversational, speak directly to your audience (e.g., you/second-person instead of people/third-person), in the active voice, in the plainest language possible.
Your audience will thank you for it.
***
* Not to get sappy, but I owe my career to this very instructor, Dr. Tex Wood, who instilled in me a love of writing correctly. He taught me all the grammar rules I needed to know, and my career taught me that it can be okay to break them.
He’s the first person who ever made me feel like I could actually make a career out of my passion, and he ended up being a friend to me for many years.
Rest in peace, Tex—I hope wherever you are, there are lecterns worth slapping and students around yawning, waiting for you to say, “Flies get in there, young lady!”