We’re obviously big at Business Wire on offering advice for writing a good press release. Search Engine Optimization is an important part of that, but so is simply writing concisely and clearly — avoiding jargon, placeholder phrases, filler and other stuff that creates clutter and keeps people from understanding (or just getting through) your news.
Now, HubSpot has a new tool that can help you avoid gobbledygook phrases. Their online Gobbledygook Grader will analyze your content — press releases, brochure copy, and anything else — and help you avoid the clutter. Marketing strategist David Meerman Scott, who helped develop the tool, analyzed more than 700,000 press releases that ran over Business Wire and other sources in 2008; his top five, and the number of times they appeared:
- Innovate 51,390
- Pleased to 48,672
- Unique 48,095
- Focused on 40,964
- Leading provider 33,101
Sounds like words that might be hard to avoid, but give it a try — your press releases can only get better.
Thanks for writing about Gobbledygook. The full analysis may be found here:
http://www.webinknow.com/2009/04/top-gobbledygook-phrases-used-in-2008-and-how-to-avoid-them.html
[...] a year ago, we wrote about gobbledygook phrases — words that are used over and over in press releases and other marketing materials, but [...]
[...] a year ago, we wrote about gobbledygook phrases – words that are used over and over in press releases and other marketing materials, but [...]