The evolution of language and the importance of content writing

Language is forever changing. Think back to the time of William Shakespeare, the language he used in Romeo and Juliet is very different to the language you might find in a current play. Language evolves over time and it is the same in the content writing we do here. This is why I thought it would be interesting to see how the words we use for business and marketing have evolved and changed over time. 

Thanks to Google Ngram, this is a doddle. Google Ngram is a resource where you can discover how many times a word has been used in books during a certain amount of time. It does this by scanning books and documenting how many times the word appears in books. The books Google scans date back to pre 1850 so you can truly get a feel for how language has evolved over the years. 

Choosing the right words for your article Writing good content for our clients means using persuasive, flowing language that entertains the reader while also enticing them to interact with your services. From an SEO perspective, there is also the keywords articles need to hit to ensure Google picks up the article and deems it worthy enough to make visible to the world.  So, what constitutes choosing the correct words for your article?

Hitting those keywords 

First and foremost our main aim in content writing is to make sure we hit those keywords. Hitting certain keywords will help the overall SEO performance of the site and help increase the visibility of the site. At Embryo our dedicated organic team is made up of both SEO and content experts who work together on a strategy to make sure we target the correct keywords for your business. This could be a service you sell that needs boosting or a new service you are providing. How we do this can vary from a detailed guide to a blogpost or a service page. 

Speaking the language of your audience 

The language we use varies from client and client. The reason for this is because each client has a unique audience they need to provide valuable engaging information too. The tone of voice is something we discuss quite heavily with our clients for this very reason. For example, financial clients may require the article to be quite to the point, professional and formal whereas writing content for a hospitality client would lean towards being more friendly and casual. 

Powerful, impactful language 

Words have an impact. Using punch powerful worlds helps create a vivid image in the reader’s mind of what you want to say to them. Without this, it is hard to tap into their imagination which could lead them to lose interest in what you are trying to share with them. 

Emotive words 

As writers we are quite emotional empathetic people. As a result, we are able to tap into this part of our personality and translate the emotion onto the page using key emotive language to enable the reader to sit down and feel the words on the page. Examples of emotive language include words such as adored, confused and exhilarated. 

The evolution of business terms

It is amazing to see how the words we use in the world of business has changed over time. Thanks to Google Ngram viewer, we are able to identify how popular certain business terms are and if that has changed over the years. An example is the word Advice. Here, you can see the use of the word has fallen over the past 220 years. If we break this down into countries you can see this has taken more of an effect in the US than it has in the UK. The rate seems to have fallen steadily during the years indicating we are steering away from using the word in our everyday vocabulary, especially in relation to business. Instead, the trend seems to show a huge shift in the use of the word counsel for a few years. Following this, we can see that the language shift away enormously from counsel quite rapidly to fit the purpose of business and has been replaced by the word guidance which appears to be on an upward trend. 

On the other hand, we have the word process. The dictionary definition of process is a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. In accordance with the data from Google Ngram, we can see the word process has been on a steady incline for the last 100 years. The overall use of the word has increased by over 175% which is quite extraordinary. A similar word with a similar meaning is operation. An operation refers to the action of functioning or the fact of being active or in effect.  The data shows that while in total, usage for the word operation has declined by over 50% at its peak in 1947, it is now used -76.69% less often it is still a more popular word to choose above process. 

We hope you can see the science and strategy that goes behind the content writing we produce here at Embryo. It goes beyond simply putting words on a page. It is about making the words on the page count. 

Have a question about content creation? 

As a marketing agency based in Manchester, we provide content service for a variety of different clients from all industries. If you are interested in learning how we can help you create words for your website, contact us today.