If I wasn’t involved in Internet Marketing, and hadn’t spent some time teaching English as a Foreign Language, I probably wouldn’t think twice about the way we use the English language. But I do! I often find myself asking why someone uses a certain phrase or why used specific words. I often get frustrated when the BBC’s Radio 4 presenters, when interviewing foreign nationals, pepper their questions with words like “pass out”, “speak up” and “make up” – these “phrasal verbs” mean something to a ‘native’ English speaker but to someone who uses English as a second or third language, it is quite difficult to ‘work out’ what their meaning is.
This morning, as I travelled by train from West Wales, the intercom informed me that I should take all luggage that had been stowed on the train with me and that when alighting from the train I should mind the gap. I tell you what – thank God I’m a native speaker!
As an Internet Marketer – whose clients use Google AdWords, SEO, Blogging, PR, email Marketing and Web 2.0 tools – I always try and question the logic of using certain keywords. I often play devil’s advocate with clients to try and identify the most appropriate language for their target audience. As I always say, it is not just about the words and phrases your colleagues, employees and directors use but more importantly about the keywords that your customers use. Identify them and they can be filtered through to your SEO work, your blog articles, email marketing communications and Google AdWords campaigns.
There is a famous quote from Dale Carnegie which says:
"Talk in terms of the other man’s interest"
Very true!
0 Comments