Some guy, possibly from ancient Greece, once said; 'to be human is to err'. For most people, this is especially true when it comes to copywriting.
We all make writing mistakes, and given the non-phonetic spelling, illogical grammar, and often contentious rules of the English language, there’s no shame in doing so. However, there are ways you can improve – especially by avoiding common copywriting mistakes.
As a professional copywriter, I’ve edited countless articles, emails, press releases, tweets, LinkedIn posts, video scripts, and many other forms of content. Here are the most common copywriting mistakes I’ve noticed:
1. Using passive tense instead of having used active
Using active tense will almost always make your copywriting shorter, clearer, and more compelling. Sometimes using active tense just means not including redundant words, for example:
✘ Passive: Larry has been driven to succeed.
✔ Active: Larry is driven to succeed.
Sometimes it means inverting the subject and object of a sentence, for example:
✘ Passive: Salespeople are always congratulated by the CEO when they close a deal.
✔ Active: The CEO always congratulates salespeople when they close a deal.
Or:
✘ Passive: An email was sent by Larry to the marketing director.
✔ Active: Larry sent an email to the marketing director.
2. Sentences that go on for days, weeks, months, and even years
Extra long sentences are the written equivalent of someone trying to tell you their entire life story in one breathless go. Think of a full stop as like taking a breath.
So how long should a sentence be? While the ideal length could be a matter of debate, I personally recommend no more than 25 words.
While this is ideal for marketing/business copywriting, some of history’s greatest writers would regularly, and in some cases, epically exceed this limit. Notable achievements include that of James Joyce, whose seminal work Ulysses includes a gargantuan sentence clocking in at 4,391 words.
3. Using words that are completely and absolutely redundant
The general rule is; if a word isn’t needed, delete it. While this sounds simple, it’s harder than you think.
A good way of eliminating unnecessary verbiage is to look at a word and ask yourself; 'does it add any meaning or value to the sentence?' If not, delete that sucker.
Another good way is to pretend every word costs $100 to use. Now run your eye over what you’ve written and I guarantee you’ll spot redundant words.
4. Using too many "thats" that aren’t needed
This is an extension of the previous point, however the word 'that' deserves special attention. I don’t know the exact statistics, but it must be amongst the most overused words.
Much of the time you can delete all 'that's from a sentence and it does nothing but improve it.
For example:
✘ That-heavy: Larry says that he won’t be able to deliver the report that finance needs and that is due today.
✔ No 'that's: Larry says he won’t be able to deliver the report finance needs and is due today.
If you really want to go to town on this sentence, you could refine even further:
✔✔ Even better: Larry says he can’t deliver the report finance needs today.
5. Repeating and repeating words
Sometimes it’s really hard not to repeat words. This generally happens in two ways.
Firstly, when the same word (or conjugations of that word) is used several times within a sentence or two, but where a synonym of that word should be used.
For example:
✘ Repetition: The company wanted to simplify its processes by simplifying the way their management team works.
✔ Synonyms: The company wanted to improve its processes by simplifying the way their management team works.
Or where a second or third instance of the same word within a sentence is redundant, and therefore should be deleted:
✘ Repetition: The essay had too many spelling mistakes, too many words, and too many sloppy sentences.
✔ Sans repetition: The essay had too many spelling mistakes, words, and sloppy sentences.
6. Gerunding everything
If you haven’t heard the term before, a gerund is a word ending in 'ing'. While it’s not grammatically incorrect to use these words, it almost always makes the sentence longer.
For example:
✘ Gerund-heavy: Accountants need to be concentrating when they are reconciling figures.
✔ Normal: Accountants need to concentrate when they reconcile figures.
7. Capitalising a Noun for no reason
Capitalisations of nouns aren’t necessarily wrong, but they’re not right either. For example:
✘ Random and inconsistent capitalisations:
Words are essential in the world of Content, because many Thought Leaders use them to convey their ideas.
A good rule to follow is ... just don’t capitalise random nouns. We’re not writing in German (where, if you didn’t know, it's the norm).
8. Leveraging the word "leverage" and other buzzwords
There are some very technical grammatical reasons why you shouldn’t use 'leverage' as a verb, which I won’t get into because it’s really boring.
Those aside, I’d advise using the word sparingly as it’s one of the most overused and notorious corporate buzzwords (a title hotly contested by 'paradigm shift,' or more recently, 'the new normal').
Other notable buzzwords include bandwidth, efficiency, effectiveness, productivity,
innovation … the list goes on.
I’m not saying don’t ever use them. Just don’t go balls-to-the-wall buzzword like this article’s title did. I don't know about you, but three or more in one sentence makes my eyes glaze over.
9. Constructing incorrectly, a sentence and paragraph all wrong
You know a badly constructed sentence when you see one.
Whether it’s too long or short, has commas in the wrong places, ends with words that should be at the start, or its rhythm is just off – there are so many ways to murder a sentence or paragraph.
In my experience, one of the best remedies for a poor piece of copywriting is to simply walk away. Not forever, but for maybe 20 minutes, an hour, or overnight – just to get out of your head and clear your mind. You might be surprised how quickly you rectify your sentence upon return.
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