How to establish credibility in your writing

Without a doubt, establishing credibility cannot be done overnight – it takes time and effort. Businesses seeking to establish themselves as industry experts should remember how important their web content is and whether it’s helping or harming their case.

Follow these simple steps to start producing content that will help to establish your business as a credible voice.

Keep It Simple

When you are writing your article or blog, use simple words that the wider audience will understand. The simpler, the better! It’s important that you use an authoritative, yet approachable, voice in your blog, web and social media content. To write with authority, present thoughts easily, clearly and with confidence. Do not use technical words unless you are aiming your writing at the technical market.

Don’t Be So ‘Wordy’

When writing a sentence, try to use one word normally you would use two, three or four. For instance, instead of saying “the weather today is wet and cold”, you could say, “it is wet and cold today”.

Don’t Write Unnecessary Words

If you want to keep your reader interested, then don’t use unnecessary words. For instance, if you are talking about times of the day and you are using the 24-hour clock, it is not important to write “in the morning”, if the time you are using is 9 or 10 AM.

If you are using the phrase ‘at this present moment in time’ just write ‘now’.

Be More Direct

Be more direct in your writing. In other words, say what you mean, get to the point.

An example of this is to use your ‘active voice’ i.e. say “I posted the letter” rather than, “the letter was posted by me”, which is using the passive voice.

Know Your Audience

Write with your audience in mind. If you know who read your articles, then it is easier to write things that they will appreciate. For instance, if you are aiming your article at people who are in the same industry as you, then it is ok to use technical jargon that they will understand and will therefore make your article more credible.

Confirm Your Evidence

If you are claiming that you have an award-winning product or service, then back that statement up by telling people about the awards that you have won.

If you are giving a presentation of your product and you tell the audience that it is ‘recommended by experts’, then name some of the experts. Always back up any claim you make so that what you have written is more credible.

Source your facts and quotes

This is particularly important if you are a student and you are writing your dissertation. If you state a fact, then you must back it up by writing where you got the fact from.

Proofread

Lastly, remember, before you press that ‘publish’ button, proofread your article. Or, if you would like to use my proofreading services, please contact me on 07545 583 102.