Picture the face of a person who has just unexpectedly bitten into a lemon. Really picture it. The drawing in of the lips, the little frown, the crinkling of the nose; all those unattractive features. Now you know what Internet users are picturing every time they read criticism that isn’t completely objective.
There are a lot of examples of sour grapes on the net. It’s understandable. If a competitor publishes something you dislike, you want to answer it. The thing is, Internet users have a finely-tuned palate for sour grapes. They detect them instantly.
Composing a piece of critical content can be a great strategy to boost your search engine optimisation content. Lots of people connected with SEO recommend controversy as a way to draw attention. Trashing others in your industry when they’ve put a foot wrong certainly comes within the category of ‘controversial’, and it probably will draw a bit of traffic. Complaining about your competitors can get you noticed – but before you take this path, it’s a good idea to consider what the after-effects are going to be.
Also, the effect of Internet sour grapes is much like eating sour grapes in reality, except it goes on for much longer. It affects your website’s health because it remains a blight on your online reputation.
Sour grapes make you look unprofessional, petty and childish. By all means, write down how you feel immediately after reading something that upsets you. Then throw it away. Publish only calmly considered, objective content. Anything else could sink your reputation with your site users.
- How to surf the rising tide of content marketing - June 5, 2018
- Money saving tips for content marketing - May 16, 2018
- Is your content readable enough? - March 21, 2018
