Captain Obvious is a superhero close to the hearts of all ordinary folk. Whenever a co-worker looks out your window and informs you that it’s raining; whenever someone comments that a crying person seems sad; whenever someone says, ‘That’s funny!’ after laughing at a joke, Captain Obvious will be near. Captain Obvious is attracted to exclamations of the jaw-droppingly obvious.
It’s important to remember that you’re not the only person who’s able to detect his presence. There are plenty of SEO jobs that cover the obvious with a little too much enthusiasm, and it can put internet users off:
*The article that tells your market what they already know. This is a classic, and millions of websites are guilty of it. Desperate for SEO content, a site owner will whip up a basic article and stick it on the site. This is fine if your audience needs to know the basics. It’s not fine if there are 3000 other articles out there explaining a ridiculously simple concept. Your readers already know that the sky is blue. Telling them will simply make them feel bored and patronised.
*The Twitter update of zero importance. Another common mistake, posting an ordinary observation on Twitter can also put your audience off. Your desperation to keep tweeting might lead you to post that you just went down the street and got a coffee, but chances are, nobody cares other than maybe your mother and that stalking ex you got rid of ages ago
*The oversell. Desperate to boost conversions? Telling people in 50 different areas of your page that you sell [insert product] won’t encourage them to buy. Subtlety works better
- What are the nuts and bolts of digital marketing? - September 10, 2020
- What is Google RankBrain and how do you use it? - September 9, 2020
- Three dos (and three don’ts) of writing great content - September 4, 2020
