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How to write good technical content

Writing Good Technical Content

Are you a tech, manufacturing or software company that struggles with writing good content? Don’t worry because you’re not alone. If anything, this is an opportunity for you to outsmart your competitors and take your content strategy to the next level.

Here’s a few of the most important factors you need to keep in mind when writing good technical content.

Keep it simple

The biggest mistakes businesses make is to focus too much on the technicalities. This can read like a wash list of industry jargon that the end consumer doesn’t understand.

Remember that your audience may not always be as technically inclined as you. In fact, we’ve found that in many situations, the gap in technical awareness between you and your end consumer is HUGE. Unless you’re developing software for IT developers, most consumers aren’t going to care about the technical ins and outs of your solution. Most of them just want to know it works and that it meets their individual business needs.

Even though they use the product or solution, they probably aren’t required to possess a lot of technical knowledge. Especially if your solution comes with an integrated support package.

For example, someone on the lookout for a CRM system might not be interested in all the complex functionality that you have on offer, so keeping your content top-level keeps them engaged.

Break concepts down

What if you absolutely must explore some technical concepts? In that case, you need to know how to do it and what to focus on.

This starts with an understanding of your potential customer. Remember, you’re writing for them.

Be aware of the language your audience uses and the terminology that resonates with them. Find out what matters most to them and what questions they have.

Focus on the outcome and the result of the solution, rather than the technical components that went into its design. While this may feel like dumbing things down, it is vital that you translate technical concepts into something your audience can identify with.

If you’re still struggling to get to grips with your ideal buyer persona, then download our free guide for more information.

Tone

Make sure that you use the right tone when writing technical content. Your blog or website shouldn’t read like a product description. It should be inspiring and exciting and should incite action!

I also recommend that you use language that is digestible, instead of bombarding our audience with complex concepts that they don’t understand.

Use Infographics

Designing infographics can be a great technique for breaking down technical content. This is particularly relevant for workflow or process-based products. Additionally, this can help break up blogs or website content and prevents you from having large blocks of text on your website.

There’s plenty of great resources out there for designing infographics. Check out our recent blog on our 5 favourite design tools for more information.

Use Video Software

If you want to go one step further, we recommend creating demo or short ‘explainer’ videos to really break down technical concepts.

This is one of the best ways to engage your audience. With video on the rise, it also means you’ll have great collateral for YouTube Marketing and social media posts.

Just make sure you prepare a script and stick to it! Keep it simple, short, and full of only relevant information.

We did a recent Maven Monday on this topic – check out the video below:

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