{"id":878,"date":"2012-06-15T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2012-06-15T06:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adviceinteractivegroup.com\/blog\/?p=878"},"modified":"2012-06-15T06:00:30","modified_gmt":"2012-06-15T06:00:30","slug":"research-proves-itself-to-be-a-grammatical-bully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/research-proves-itself-to-be-a-grammatical-bully\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Proves Itself To Be A Grammatical Bully"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-883\" style=\"margin: 7px;\" title=\"Bully cartoon image\" src=\"\/images\/Bully-cartoon-image.jpg\" alt=\"Bully Cartoon Image\" width=\"300\" height=\"298\" \/>Many content writers find themselves padding content with adjectives. This isn\u2019t always to bulk it up (despite the seemingly infinite space a content box provides), but rather to liven up copy which may otherwise seem\u2026unspicy.<\/p>\n<p>With the magical touch of a professional writer, \u201cgarden hose\u201d becomes \u201cchartreuse, snaking, garden hose which breezily sprays crystalline water droplets\u201d. And while, as a writer, you may sit back in your chair and smile smugly thinking to yourself \u201cI\u2019m awesome,\u201d your reader may be scratching his eyes out searching for real information about your topic or, horror of horrors, leaving your site.<\/p>\n<h3>The Assassination of Social Sharing by the Adjective-filled Web Copy<\/h3>\n<p>While adjectives provide extensive power in the literary world (see: every fantastic book ever written), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neurosciencemarketing.com\/blog\/articles\/bad-adjectives.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research<\/a> has proven that adjectives slow down your reader and not in the good, tortoise-and-the-hare way. A slowed down reader is a bored reader, and a bored reader would rather play Angry Birds than continue reading your nonsensical, adjective-filled vanity content.<\/p>\n<p>This is especially the case when it comes to social media and social sharing. Dan Zarella, in his book <em>Zarella\u2019s Hierarchy of Contagiousness, <\/em>found that <strong>the complexity of language in content was inversely correlated with the number of shares<\/strong>. This means limiting adjectives and adverbs, and increasing the one thing you have left: verbs\u2014stealthy masters of action.<\/p>\n<h3>Don Draper Takes His Verbs Neat<\/h3>\n<p>Think of the competition between adjectives and verbs like a stereotypical, sleazy, greasy-haired salesman vs. Don Draper. Sleazy might at first grab your attention with \u201camazing speed\u201d, and \u201csexy red exterior\u201d and \u201cplush interior\u201d, but it soon becomes apparent it\u2019s really just a rusted 1978 Ford Pinto with blood stains in the back seat.<\/p>\n<p>There are no solid facts behind superfluous adjective-filled descriptions and, according to the article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neurosciencemarketing.com\/blog\/articles\/verbs-adjectives.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Harvard Lessons: Verbs beat Adjectives<\/em><\/a><em>,<\/em> \u201cVague positive characteristics will get <strong>filtered out as puffery<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Turn the example on its head, and utilize manly, actionable, Don-Drapery verbs. Verbs don\u2019t flick their hair grease in your face or confuse with descriptive non-sequiturs. Verbs pull out a sweet retro chair, coolly take a seat across from you, gaze at you unblinkingly and say \u201cAwarded number 1 in its class,\u201d \u201cPraised by critics,\u201d\u00a0\u201cProvides increased fuel efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Harvard Lessons<\/em>\u00a0continued its article with \u201cThese specifics will <strong>increase the credibility<\/strong> of the copy, in addition to <strong>providing more information<\/strong> than when the adjective-driven shortcut is taken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t to say that your content writing should become a robotic spewing of facts. As we know, style is always dependent on the client and the product. But when it comes to captivating your reader, creating trust, and ultimately selling your product, verb usage trumps adjectives on the playground of online consumerism any day of the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many content writers find themselves padding content with adjectives. This isn\u2019t always to bulk it up (despite the seemingly infinite [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-content-marketing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Research Proves Itself To Be A Grammatical Bully | Advice Local<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many content writers find themselves padding content with adjectives. 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