Nobody Understands Your Industry Terms But You
by Dave Maloney
And if no one understands your industry terms, then no one is using them to search for you either!
Sure, you want to come across as professional and an expert in your field. You want to leave a great impression and dazzle everyone with your brilliant account of industry terminology, but what if the only one being wowed is you?
It's a concept that's so simple that it's easy to overlook. Your website is a tool to attract customers, so it needs to be written for your customers. You shouldn't assume that potential customers are familiar with and understand your industry terms. Just because you and your business associates use them everyday, your audience probably doesn't. You're not trying to sell to yourself or your business associates, so you might want to think about making some adjustments.
So who are you selling to? Who is your ideal client? It would definitely help to figure that out before you try writing content to appeal to them. You're not impressing anyone if you're writing at a doctorate level when your audience is a level or two beneath that. You're probably doing more harm than good, pushing them away rather than reeling them in.
That's if they find you at all! You may rank number one for one of your industry terms, the "Googooboo 62x-23B Superflinger 3000", but it doesn't do you any good if your potential customers aren't searching on that term. If the rest of the world calls it a fan belt, then maybe you should mention the phrase "fan belt" if you'd ever like your site to be found.
You live, eat and breathe your business, and it's easy to forget that the rest of the world isn't as "up" on your industry terminology as you. Consider having a family member or someone else outside your industry read through your content to point out terms or wording that a potential client may not understand. Replacing some of these uncommon terms with more familiar explanations will not only increase your website's chances of showing up in search engines, but will increase interest on your pages, ultimately leading to more sales.
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