The road to hell is famously paved with good intentions. Similarly, the road to lame marketing content is paved with keyword density and SEO optimization.

What often starts as a noble endeavor to create engaging marketing materials gets run through management and sales committees until it is a shell of its former self, hustling phrases like 'actionable insights' and 'synergy' that sound great but are devoid of meaning. In reality, most content teams greatly overcomplicate the writing process and mistake word count for expertise.

Despite their titles, your readers are human and prefer to read concise materials rather than wade through dense paragraphs of jargon. This helps easily explain a concept and demonstrates true expertise; experts are identified by their ability simplify hard concepts rather than confuse with complex terminology. The less thought that goes into deciphering a paragraph, the more an audience can engage with the material.

Simplicity is the key to quality content and more effective at driving engagement than optimizing for keywords or attempting to game search algorithms. After all, the audience is human.