carry out a research synonym

Synonyms of carry out

• as in to fulfil
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Thesaurus Definition of carry out

Synonyms & Similar Words

• put through
• follow through (with)
• bring about
• engage (in)
• reduplicate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples of carry out in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'carry out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Thesaurus Entries Near carry out

carry the day

Cite this Entry

“Carry out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carry%20out. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on carry out

Nglish: Translation of carry out for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of carry out for Arabic Speakers

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• carried out

adjective as in enforced

Strongest matches

Strong matches

• constrained
• established

Weak matches

• forced upon

adjective as in executed

• accomplished

adjective as in fulfilled

• consummated
• effectuated
• brought about
• brought to a close
• put into effect

adjective as in gratified

adjective as in rendered

Example Sentences

But most of this gap, say the researchers who carried out the study, is due to discrimination.

A few weeks later, the militants carried out a series of raids on border posts, killing five Iranian policemen.

These addresses were used by whoever carried out the attack to control the malware and can be found in the malware code itself.

The main effort in the attack was carried out by the infamous Waffen SS 6th Panzer Army.

More than a dozen attacks have been carried out by women—with some attacks claiming up to 78 victims.

I was expecting this suggestion to be carried out; but they did nothing of the kind.

Messrs. Spick and Span's representative was wounded in his tenderest point, but his firm carried out the order to the letter.

These directions carried out never fail to make a pupil perfect in remembering proper names.

Although Aubrey Herbert is excessively unorthodox he quite sees that confabs with enemies must be carried out according to Cocker.

There is no need to discuss the particular way in which this policy can best be carried out.

Related Words

Words related to carried out are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word carried out . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

adjective as in in force

adjective as in performed

adjective as in completed

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of carry something out in English

Carry something out.

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• The study will be carried out over a six-month period .
• The plot was discovered before it was carried out.
• The police carried out a thorough search of the premises , but failed to find any drugs .
• More research on the subject needs to be carried out.
• According to witnesses , the robbery was carried out by two teenage boys .
• get through
• get to/reach first base idiom
• go far idiom
• go from strength to strength idiom
• go into orbit idiom
• scale the heights idiom
• scrape through (something)
• sew something up
• smash it idiom

carry out something | American Dictionary

Carry out something, translations of carry something out.

Get a quick, free translation!

Word of the Day

be on the side of the angels

to be doing something good or kind

Trial, judge, and jury: talking about what happens when a criminal is caught

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Sentence examples for carry out research from inspiring English sources

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Center scientists also carry out research projects.

Large scientific balloons are used to carry out research in the upper atmosphere.

Scientists worldwide carry out research into the interaction between medical and psychiatric disorders.

Campbell said he continues to carry out research on sheep, but funding holds him back.

Social ventures allow academics to carry out research with clear, practical outcomes to benefit society.

Mollison's job was to treat civilian casualties and to carry out research into making transfusion safer.

A Commons spokeswoman added, "We are not going to restrict parliamentarians' ability to carry out research " .

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• English Only

do/conduct/undertake/carry out research

• Thread starter tigerduck
• Start date Dec 13, 2010

Senior Member

• Dec 13, 2010

Hello I'm always interested in learning collocations. In my understanding, the following expressions have more or less the same meaning. Is this correct? do research conduct research undertake research carry out research Can you think of particular contexts, where a certain collocation would be preferred to another?  

JulianStuart

The only suggestion I can give you would be that "do" is (only) conversational while the others are written or formal (like introducing someone at a symposium). I hear conduct and carry out more frequently than "undertake. I would expect "undertake" to refer more to future endeavours. "I undertake research on XYZ" sounds a little odd, while "We will undertake research..." sounds very formal but not quite as "odd". So it's formality rather than collocation that seems to drive the choice.  

classydingo

I agree with JulianStuart. "Do" is very informal and would only be used in friendly conversation. Conduct and carry out are more formal and are those used in professional settings like in an interview, on a resume, or introducing a speaker. I think conduct is slightly more common, especially in the past tense. While it's not incorrect to say "carried out research," it just doesn't sound quite as clean as conducted research. Likewise, undertake research is grammatically correct and would be understood, but I don't think I have ever actually heard it. Keep in mind, it is very common for people to just use the verb, "to research," especially in informal settings. Dr. Smith does research on marine mammals = Dr. Smith researches marine mammals  

• Jun 6, 2019

Hi everyone. Could it be said "to develop a research"? Thanks in advance.  

Watch CBS News

Hackers may have stolen your Social Security number in a massive breach. Here's what to know.

By Aimee Picchi

Edited By Anne Marie Lee

Updated on: August 19, 2024 / 9:51 AM EDT / CBS News

A new lawsuit is claiming hackers have gained access to the personal information of "billions of individuals," including their Social Security numbers, current and past addresses and the names of siblings and parents — personal data that could allow fraudsters to infiltrate financial accounts or take out loans in their names. 

The allegation arose in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by Christopher Hofmann, a California resident who claims his identity theft protection service alerted him that his personal information had been leaked to the dark web by the "nationalpublicdata.com" breach. The lawsuit was earlier reported by Bloomberg Law.

The breach allegedly occurred around April 2024, with a hacker group called USDoD exfiltrating the unencrypted personal information of billions of individuals from a company called National Public Data (NPD), a background check company, according to the lawsuit. Earlier this month, a hacker leaked a version of the stolen NPD data for free on a hacking forum, tech site Bleeping Computer reported . 

That hacker claimed the stolen files include 2.7 billion records, with each listing a person's full name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and phone number, Bleeping Computer said. While it's unclear how many people that includes, it's likely "that everyone with a Social Security number was impacted," said Cliff Steinhauer, director of information security and engagement at The National Cybersecurity Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes online safety.

"It's a reminder of the importance of protecting yourself, because clearly companies and the government aren't doing it for us," Steinhauer told CBS MoneyWatch.

In a statement posted to its website, NPD said the breach involved a "third-party bad actor that was trying to hack into data in late December 2023, with potential leaks of certain data in April 2024 and summer 2024."

The company added that it is working with law enforcement and government investigators. NPD said it "will try to notify you if there are further significant developments applicable to you."

Here's what to know about the alleged hack. 

What is National Public Data? 

National Public Data is a data company based in Coral Springs, Florida, that provides background checks for employers, investigators and other businesses that want to check people's backgrounds. Its searches include criminal records, vital records, SSN traces and more information, its website says.

There are many similar companies that scrape public data to create files on consumers, which they then sell to other businesses, Steinhauer said.

"They are data brokers that collect and sell data about people, sometimes for background check purposes," he said. "It's because there's no national privacy law in the U.S. — there is no law against them collecting this data against our consent."

What happened with the USDoD hack?

According to the new lawsuit, USDoD on April 8 posted a database called "National Public Data" on the dark web, claiming to have records for about 2.9 billion individuals. It was asking for a purchase price of $3.5 million, the lawsuit claims. 

However, Bleeping Computer reported that the file was later leaked for free on a hacker forum, as noted above. 

How many people have been impacted?

The number of people impacted by the breach is unclear. Although the lawsuit claims "billions of individuals" had their data stolen, the total population of the U.S. stands at about 330 million. The lawsuit also alleges that the data includes personal information of deceased individuals.

Bleeping Computer reports that the hacked data involves 2.7 billion records, with individuals having multiple records in the database. In other words, one individual could have separate records for each address where they've lived, which means the number of impacted people may be far lower than the lawsuit claims, the site noted.

The data may reach back at least three decades, according to law firm Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe, which said on Monday it is investigating the breach.

Did NPD alert individuals about the hack? 

It's unclear, although the lawsuit claims that NPD "has still not provided any notice or warning" to Hoffman or other people affected by the breach. 

"In fact, upon information and belief, the vast majority of Class Members were unaware that their sensitive [personal information] had been compromised, and that they were, and continue to be, at significant risk of identity theft and various other forms of personal, social, and financial harm," the lawsuit claims. 

Information security company McAfee reported that it hasn't found any filings with state attorneys general. Some states require companies that have experienced data breaches to file reports with their AG offices. 

However, NPD posted an alert about the breach on its website, stating that it believes the information breached includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and mailing addresses.

Can you find out if your data was part of the hack?

There are tools available that will monitor what information about you is available on the dark web, noted Michael Blair, managing director of cybersecurity firm NukuDo. Commonly breached data includes your personal addresses, passwords and email, he added.

One such service is how Hofmann, who filed the lawsuit, found out that his information has been leaked as part of NPD breach.

"Make sure to use reputable companies to look that up," Blair said. 

What should I do to protect my information?

Security experts recommend that consumers put freezes on their credit files at the three big credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Freezing your credit is free, and will stop bad actors from taking out loans or opening credit cards in your name. 

"The biggest thing is to freeze your credit report, so it can't be used to open new accounts in your name and commit other fraud in your name," Steinhauer said. 

In its statement, NPD also urged people to put free fraud alerts on their accounts, which "tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts," it said. You'll have to contact just one of the three credit bureaus to create a fraud alert, and that agency will alert the others.

Steinhauer recommends consumers take several additional steps to protect their data and finances:

• Make sure your passwords are at least 16 characters in length, and are complex. 
• Use a password manager to save those long, complex passwords.
• Enable multifactor authentication, which Steinhauer calls "critical," because simply using a single password to access your accounts isn't enough protection against hackers. 
• Be on alert for phishing and other scams. One red flag is that the scammers will try to create a sense of urgency to manipulate their victims.
• Keep your security software updated on your computer and other devices. For instance, make sure you download the latest security updates from Microsoft or Apple onto your apps and devices. 

You can also get a tracking service that will alert you if your data appears on the dark web. 

"You should assume you have been compromised and act accordingly," Steinhauer said. 

• Data Breach
• Social Security

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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Hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of every American. Here’s how to protect yourself

• Copy Link URL Copied!

About four months after a notorious hacking group claimed to have stolen an extraordinary amount of sensitive personal information from a major data broker, a member of the group has reportedly released most of it for free on an online marketplace for stolen personal data.

The breach, which includes Social Security numbers and other sensitive data, could power a raft of identity theft, fraud and other crimes, said Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

For the record:

2:39 p.m. Aug. 15, 2024 A previous version of this article identified Teresa Murray as the consumer watchdog director for the U.S. Public Information Research Group. She works for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

“If this in fact is pretty much the whole dossier on all of us, it certainly is much more concerning” than prior breaches, Murray said in an interview. “And if people weren’t taking precautions in the past, which they should have been doing, this should be a five-alarm wake-up call for them.”

According to a class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the hacking group USDoD claimed in April to have stolen personal records of 2.9 billion people from National Public Data, which offers personal information to employers, private investigators, staffing agencies and others doing background checks. The group offered in a forum for hackers to sell the data, which included records from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, for $3.5 million , a cybersecurity expert said in a post on X.

The lawsuit was reported by Bloomberg Law .

Last week, a purported member of USDoD identified only as Felice told the hacking forum that they were offering “ the full NPD database ,” according to a screenshot taken by BleepingComputer. The information consists of about 2.7 billion records, each of which includes a person’s full name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and phone number, along with alternate names and birth dates, Felice claimed.

Data of nearly all AT&T customers downloaded in security breach

Information on nearly all customers of the telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded to a third-party platform in a 2022 security breach.

July 12, 2024

National Public Data didn’t respond to a request for comment, nor has it formally notified people about the alleged breach. It has, however, been telling people who contacted it via email that “we are aware of certain third-party claims about consumer data and are investigating these issues.”

In that email, the company also said that it had “purged the entire database, as a whole, of any and all entries, essentially opting everyone out.” As a result, it said, it has deleted any “non-public personal information” about people, although it added, “We may be required to retain certain records to comply with legal obligations.”

Several news outlets that focus on cybersecurity have looked at portions of the data Felice offered and said they appear to be real people’s actual information. If the leaked material is what it’s claimed to be, here are some of the risks posed and the steps you can take to protect yourself.

The threat of ID theft

The leak purports to provide much of the information that banks, insurance companies and service providers seek when creating accounts — and when granting a request to change the password on an existing account.

A few key pieces appeared to be missing from the hackers’ haul. One is email addresses, which many people use to log on to services. Another is driver’s license or passport photos, which some governmental agencies rely on to verify identities.

Still, Murray of PIRG said that bad actors could do “all kinds of things” with the leaked information, the most worrisome probably being to try to take over someone’s accounts — including those associated with their bank, investments, insurance policies and email. With your name, Social Security number, date of birth and mailing address, a fraudster could create fake accounts in your name or try to talk someone into resetting the password on one of your existing accounts.

“For somebody who’s really suave at it,” Murray said, “the possibilities are really endless.”

It’s also possible that criminals could use information from previous data breaches to add email addresses to the data from the reported National Public Data leak. Armed with all that, Murray said, “you can cause all kinds of chaos, commit all kinds of crimes, steal all kinds of money.”

Phishing attack hits L.A. County public health agency, jeopardizing 200,000-plus residents’ personal info

The personal information of more than 200,000 people in Los Angeles County was potentially exposed after a hacker used a phishing email to steal login credentials.

June 14, 2024

How to protect yourself

Data breaches have been so common over the years, some security experts say sensitive information about you is almost certainly available in the dark corners of the internet. And there are a lot of people capable of finding it; VPNRanks, a website that rates virtual private network services, estimates that 5 million people a day will access the dark web through the anonymizing TOR browser, although only a portion of them will be up to no good.

If you suspect that your Social Security number or other important identifying information about you has been leaked, experts say you should put a freeze on your credit files at the three major credit bureaus, Experian , Equifax and TransUnion . You can do so for free, and it will prevent criminals from taking out loans, signing up for credit cards and opening financial accounts under your name. The catch is that you’ll need to remember to lift the freeze temporarily if you are obtaining or applying for something that requires a credit check.

Technology and the Internet

Are you the victim of identity theft? Here’s what to do

If you’re a victim of identity thieves or a data hack, you need to act quickly. Here’s what to do to protect yourself.

Oct. 26, 2022

Placing a freeze can be done online or by phone, working with each credit bureau individually. PIRG cautions never to do so in response to an unsolicited email or text purporting to be from one of the credit agencies — such a message is probably the work of a scammer trying to dupe you into revealing sensitive personal information.

For more details, check out PIRG’s step-by-step guide to credit freezes .

You can also sign up for a service that monitors your accounts and the dark web to guard against identity theft, typically for a fee. If your data is exposed in a breach, the company whose network was breached will often provide one of these services for free for a year or more.

If you want to know whether you have something to worry about, multiple websites and service providers such as Google and Experian can scan the dark web for your information to see whether it’s out there. But those aren’t specific to the reported National Public Data breach. For that information, try a free tool from the cybersecurity company Pentester that offers to search for your information in the breached National Public Data files . Along with the search results, Pentester displays links to the sites where you can freeze your credit reports.

Atlas Privacy, a company that helps people remove their personal information from data brokers, also offers a way to check whether your info was breached in the National Public Data hack.

As important as these steps are to stop people from opening new accounts in your name, they aren’t much help protecting your existing accounts. Oddly enough, those accounts are especially vulnerable to identity thieves if you haven’t signed up for online access to them, Murray said — that’s because it’s easier for thieves to create a login and password while pretending to be you than it is for them to crack your existing login and password.

World & Nation

Trump campaign says its emails were hacked

Former President Trump’s campaign says it has been hacked and is blaming Iranian actors, saying they stole and distributed sensitive internal documents.

Aug. 10, 2024

Of course, having strong passwords that are different for every service and changed periodically helps. Password manager apps offer a simple way to create and keep track of passwords by storing them in the cloud, essentially requiring you to remember one master password instead of dozens of long and unpronounceable ones. These are available both for free (such as Apple’s iCloud Keychain) and for a fee .

Beyond that, experts say it’s extremely important to sign up for two-factor authentication. That adds another layer of security on top of your login and password. The second factor is usually something sent or linked to your phone, such as a text message; a more secure approach is to use an authenticator app, which will keep you secure even if your phone number is hijacked by scammers .

Yes, scammers can hijack your phone number through techniques called SIM swaps and port-out fraud , causing more identity-theft nightmares. To protect you on that front, AT&T allows you to create a passcode restricting access to your account; T-Mobile offers optional protection against your phone number being switched to a new device, and Verizon automatically blocks SIM swaps by shutting down both the new device and the existing one until the account holder weighs in with the existing device.

Your worst enemy may be you

As much or more than hacked data, scammers also rely on people to reveal sensitive information about themselves. One common tactic is to pose as your bank, employer, phone company or other service provider with whom you’ve done business and then try to hook you with a text or email message.

Banks, for example, routinely tell customers that they will not ask for their account information by phone. Nevertheless, scammers have coaxed victims into providing their account numbers, logins and passwords by posing as bank security officers trying to stop an unauthorized withdrawal or some other supposedly urgent threat.

People may even get an official-looking email purportedly from National Public Data, offering to help them deal with the reported leak, Murray said. “It’s not going to be NPD trying to help. It’s going to be some bad guy overseas” trying to con them out of sensitive information, she said.

It’s a good rule of thumb never to click on a link or call a phone number in an unsolicited text or email. If the message warns about fraud on your account and you don’t want to simply ignore it, look up the phone number for that company’s fraud department (it’s on the back of your debit and credit cards) and call for guidance.

“These bad guys, this is what they do for a living,” Murray said. They might send out tens of thousands of queries and get only one response, but that response could net them $10,000 from an unwitting victim. “Ten thousand dollars in one day for having one hit with one victim, that’s a pretty good return on investment,” she said. “That’s what motivates them.”

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Aug. 19, 2024

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31 Great Content Writing Examples, Tips, and Tools

• by Ann Gynn
• | Published: August 21, 2024
• | Content Creation

Great content writing must be powerful and effective to captivate your audience.

But accomplishing that with your content writing isn’t an easy task. Whether you craft words for B2B or B2C audiences, the challenges can be many.

To help, I’ve compiled web writing examples, tips, tools, and resources. The goal is to give you some insights and new tools to help address or minimize the creation stumbling blocks web and content writers face.

Let’s get to it.

1. Go for the surprise

When you write something that’s unexpected, your audience will likely stop scrolling and take a moment to learn more. In the worst cases, this approach to content writing falls under the nefarious clickbait category. But in the best cases, it can delight and engage the viewer.

Nike is always a go-to source for the best content examples. The summer of 2024 didn’t disappoint with its Winning Isn’t for Everyone campaign.

With a debut in time for the global games, Nike featured the world’s greatest athletes (well, all the great Nike-sponsored athletes) talking about they are motivated by victory and that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to win. Writing those four words — winning isn’t for everyone — fosters a strong reaction. After all, there are far more people who don’t win than do. But audiences are also likely to watch more of the videos to learn what Nike is really talking about.

As you watch the video, note the repetition of the same question (“Am I a bad person?”) followed by short, staccato-paced statements. This approach creates a lyrical story. And it paid off, earning over 2.2 million views in two weeks.

2. Don’t forget text has a starring role in video

Words appear in blog posts or descriptions of product features and benefits. But writers can also shine in  video scripts, along with set designers, actors, and filmmakers. Writers can take any topic and help make it captivating.

J.P. Morgan used animation and strong scripts to explain finance-related concepts in its Unpacked series, a finalist in the Content Marketing Awards for best video. This 4.5-minute episode covers how private companies go public:

3. Tap into trends with simple writing prompts

I’m always a fan of Dove’s #KeepBeautyReal campaigns. Most recently, it created an example of powerful writing in this simple question, “ What kind of beauty do we want AI to learn?”

Capitalizing on the AI trend and interest, Dove illustrates the difference between AI-created images for prompts about “beautiful women” and “beautiful women according to Dove’s Real Beauty ads.” In the first three months of its debut, the video with few words has earned over 100K views on Dove’s YouTube channel and garnered mainstream and industry media attention.

4. Let your audience create great writing and video examples

Creativity can emerge in many ways. Sometimes, it’s a simple starting point that reflects the times, as Dove did in its content example.

It also may lead a brand to contribute to its own pop culture trend as The Stanley did with its Quencher Cup social media campaign in 2024 . Its influencer campaign prompted these fun user-generated examples of web writing and illustration in the form of memes and TikTok videos promoting the brand’s popular drinking vessel.

Hilarious Scales created this sample that’s been seen by over 10 million viewers:

@hilarious_scaless How yall be lookin with them Stanley Cups 🤣 #fypシ #fyp #stanleycup #stanleytumbler ♬ original sound – Hilarious_scales

Fans of hockey (that sport with the other Stanley Cup) also got into the action as Instagram account Daily Facebook shared this example:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DailyFaceoff (@dailyfaceoff)

5. Nail down your headlines

I’ve said it often: Headlines are the powerhouse of your content writing. After all, if the headline isn’t a success, the content behind it will never be read.

A 2024 study published in Science Advance conducted over 30,000 field experiments with The Washington Post and Upworthy headlines. It found that readers prefer simpler headlines (more common words and more readable writing) over complex ones. They also paid more attention to and more deeply processed the simpler headlines.

The e-book headline in this example from OptinMonster is straightforward: 50 Smart Ways to Segment Your Email List. It uses a numeral (50), a helpful adjective (smart), and a second-person pronoun (your) to speak directly to the audience, all of which elevates the article’s value in the reader’s mind.

Image source

6. Analyze the potential impact of your content headlines

Size up headlines with the Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer , which reveals an emotional marketing value score.

This headline example — 14 Ways Marketing Automation Helps B2B Companies Succeed — earns an emotional marketing value (EMV) of 37.5%. Most professional copywriters’ headlines typically have a 30% to 40% EMV score.

The same headline in a similar tool, CoSchedule Blog Post Headline Analyzer , earns a score of 77 out of 100. This analysis looks at word balance, headline type, sentiment, reading grade level, clarity, and skimmability. It also identifies areas for improvement, such as the use of uncommon, emotional, and power words.

7. Adjust title formats with this content writing tool

Speed your formatting tasks with TitleCase . The tool converts your title into various circumstances — all caps, hyphen, etc., so you don’t have to rekey or reformat.

8. Write headlines with words that resonate

BuzzSumo research consistently identifies “how-to” or guidance-focused headlines that resonate far better with audiences than any other type.

It makes sense. Audiences are seeking information that will help them in their lives, and they have a lot of content from which to choose. By writing phrases like “how to” in a headline, you tell them clearly what they’re going to get.

Get more tips from CMI’s article How To Create Headlines That Are Good for Readers and Business .

9. Focus on clarity for web content

Explaining your product or service can get cumbersome, but it shouldn’t if you want the audience to quickly understand how your company can help solve their pain points.

In this example, Zendesk succinctly highlights three results gained by the enterprise clients of its customer service platform:

• Drive better conversations
• Maximize agent efficiency
• Adapt faster to change

The three- and four-word headlines are followed by short explanations (two sentences) and a link to the product’s relevant features for that category.

10. Write to win over readers

How does your content inspire readers or get them to care?

Some suggestions include:

• Focus on actionable content they could use right away.
• Establish instant credibility and expertise so they understand why you’re the go-to resource.
• Add value they wouldn’t see or find elsewhere.

This ad for the Content Marketing Institute newsletter works well as a sample of website content writing. It illustrates how to motivate the audience to see that the content is relevant for them. Its headline “Looking for Fresh Content Inspiration?” speaks directly to the reader. Its follow-up sentence explains in detail what the reader will get — expert advice, standout examples, and creative ideas.

11. Choose words that motivate actions

Sometimes, it’s a simple word or phrase that prompts someone to take the next step. Buffer offers a list of more than 150 words . These 19 words and phrases are examples of how to gain the audience’s trust:

• Bestselling
• Endorsed by
• Money-back guarantee
• No obligation
• No questions asked
• Recommended
• Transparent
• Try for free

In this web page example, OptinMonster opts for one of those words in its headline — How To Create a Fail-Proof Digital Marketing Plan in 5 Steps .

12. Keep it brief but convey a lot

Given your audience reads on screens, your web writing usually appears in a small space. Yet, it still must reflect a strong message.

For example, this American Express Business web copy uses five words to indicate that it gets the reader’s problem — “Don’t stress over seasonal surges.” Then, it uses another five words to indicate that it has a solution — “Help you keep your business thriving.” On the right, it shows the product name that will do all that (American Express business line of credit.)

13. Create compelling content with better words

Choosing a single word to convey the perfect sentiment makes the most of your available content space. To help, Jon Morrow of Smart Blogger offers a collection of words that can make a difference in your writing: 801+ Power Words That Make You Sound Smart . Here are 15 of them:

• Frightening

In this headline — Firefox Hacks for Everyone: From Cozy Gamers to Minimalists and Beyond — the Mozilla blog opted for one of the power words, “hack.”

 I’ll issue a caveat on this option: Power words can quickly become overused. “Hack” is coming close to saturation.

14. Length isn’t everything

I like to know content length rules and preferences. They give me guideposts for my web writing.

Google makes 30 characters available in its ad headlines, and it’s hard to go shorter than that. This simple sample — Best Enterprise CRM Platform — is 28 characters.

On social media, though, the character parameters are greater, and you could improve engagement by falling short of the upper limits.

Instagram is a perfect example of where writing content short of the 2,200-character maximum caption is a better decision. In fact, experts say the ideal length is 125 characters, which takes up the space visible before the viewer must click to read more.

Still, sometimes writing fewer than 125 characters can work well and draw attention in a crowded feed, as this sample from Grammarly shows. Its caption — “Learn actionable strategies for leveraging Gen AI to elevate your team’s productivity.” — totals just 88 characters.

Of course, exceptions exist. If your content’s primary goal is search engine optimization, longer content is almost always best. As a website ages, it may be able to get by with shorter pieces because it’s already established authority and has more pages, inbound links , etc. However, extended content often helps generate high rankings for targeted keyword phrases and similar words.

15. Choose short words for your web writing

You don’t need to use a lot of words to get your point across. Short ones can work in your favor. Consider these common examples of better choices:

• “Show,” not “indicate”
• “Get rid of,” not “eliminate”
• “Use,” not “utilize”
• “To,” not “in order to”
• “Help,” not “facilitate”
• “Get,” not “obtain”

16. Use a tool to keep track of word counts

Meet your word count goals and improve your word choice with the WordCounter tool. It also helps identify keywords and their appropriate frequency of use.

17. Recognize common writing mistakes

Grammar Girl , created by Mignon Fogarty, founder of Quick and Dirty Tips, outlines some common mistakes, such as this example on the use of that vs. which in writing.

“The simple rule is to use ‘that’ with a restrictive element and ‘which’ with a non-restrictive element … The cupcakes that have sprinkles are still in the fridge. The words “that have sprinkles” restrict the kind of cupcake we’re talking about. Without those words, the meaning of the sentence would change. Without them, we’d be saying that all the cupcakes are still in the fridge, not just the ones with sprinkles.”

18. Use parallel construction

Parallel construction organizes the text and relieves your readers of expending mental energy to piece together the thoughts.

• For example, this mish-mash list is not parallel because the sentence structures vary:
• It could be time to look over your business software contract.
• Consider the best products.
• If you want the product to benefit your company, include others’ points of view.

The list is parallel because every sentence starts the same way – with a verb .

• Review your business software contract.
• Shop for the best products based on features, costs, and support options.
• Ask key members of your team for their perspectives, including productivity barriers.

19. Know when to break the infinitive rule

Avoid splitting infinitives. However, sometimes you might need to bypass grammatically correct in favor of unawkward content.

Pro Writing Aid explains that split infinitives are nothing new — their use dates back to the 1300s. However, there is a time and place for them, as shown in this example from Northern Illinois University’s Effective Writing Practices Tutorial :

• Split infinitive but easily understood: It’s hard to completely follow his reasoning.
• No split infinitive, but awkwardly written: It’s hard to follow completely his reasoning.

20. Be conscious of pronouns

A conversational approach typically works best when you’re creating web content. Writing in the first or second person can accomplish this.

Embracing inclusivity also fosters a conversational atmosphere.

When you’re using pronouns, make sure it’s clear to what the pronoun refers. Given some people use they/them pronouns, ensuring pronoun clarity is especially important.

In those cases where the reader may be confused, explain the person’s use of the plural non-gendered pronoun in the text, for example, “Alex Alumino, who uses they/them pronouns …” Even better, just repeat their name in the sentence so there’s no need to explain and no misunderstanding.

21. Don’t overuse words

Redundancy bores. To figure out if you’re committing this sin, paste your text into the Word It Out tool. The word cloud reveals those used most often in your text.

We input a recent CMI article about user stories to create a word cloud for that content sample. It is no surprise that “user” shows up front and center, but it’s also an indicator for us to review the article to see if “user” is overused. “Katie” also shows up prominently in the word cloud as it’s the first name of the source for the article, and CMI uses first, instead of last names, on second and subsequent references. A review of the article could reveal it unnecessarily references the source too many times.

Similarly, WordCounter detects whether you’re using the same words too often. Use Thesaurus.com to find alternatives.

22. Try this content writing tool to replace jargon-like words

You need to speak your audience’s language, but that doesn’t mean you need to adopt the industry’s jargon. De-Jargonizer is designed to help analyze the jargon in scholarly articles, but the tool works just as well with your content writing.

In this example from a CMI article about building a social media plan , De-Jargonizer identifies four “rare” words — ebbs, inhospitable, clarifies, and actionable.

You can upload a file or paste your text to discover those rare words, aka potential jargon, in your content writing. Then, you can find more reader-friendly replacements.

23. Check your readability score

Even if readers can understand the jargon and complex sentences, they still don’t want to work hard to understand your content. To help understand if your writing is on the easier side, use a tool like Web FX’s Readability Test . It scores your content’s average reading ease and targeted readership age.

In this example, it evaluates the Fedex.com website and concludes it has a reading ease of 27.8 out of 100 and is targeted at 14- and 15-year-olds.

You can scroll down to see other readability scores, including Flesch Kincaid reading ease, Flesch Kincaid grade level, Gunning Fog, Smog Index, Coleman Liau, and Automated Readability Index.

The bottom of the evaluation includes the statistics about the evaluated text, including:

• Total sentences
• Total words
• Complex words
• Percent of complex words
• Average words per sentence
• Average syllables per word

Adjust your writing to meet the preferred readership level of your audience.

24. Evaluate sentence structure with the Hemingway App

Want more help to write content that’s easy to read? Consider tools like the Hemingway app, which provides immediate and detailed feedback on content structure, including sentence formatting. With the website version, you can replace the default text with your own.

The Hemingway app identifies potentially unnecessary adverbs, warns about passive voice, and triggers alerts to dull, complicated words.

In this web writing example from its home page, Hemingway App highlights one of the 13 sentences as very hard to read, one as hard to read, two weakener phrases, and one word with a simpler alternative.

25. Get web writing right with good grammar

Proper grammar is a necessity; you want to get everything correct to satisfy readers (and bosses). Try Grammarly .

Improve your writing with this cloud-based, AI editor. Grammarly automates grammar, spelling, and punctuation checks, often giving better, cleaner content options. The tool also alerts writers to passive voice, suggests opportunities to be concise, and assesses overall tone.

You also can save time and energy with ProWritingAid . It eliminates the need to reread to polish your content. This AI editing software offers more than grammar checks. It checks for vague wording, sentence length variation, and overuse of adverbs and passive voice. The tool also identifies complicated or run-on sentences. (“Content Writing Examples, Tips, and Resources”)

26. Read your web content in scanning mode

Here’s some sad news for content writers: Readers won’t consume every word in your content. They skip and scan a lot to see if the content is a good fit for them, and then they hope they can glean the relevant information without having to consume all the content.

As you write, think about how the text will look visually. Make it easy for readers to scan your content by including:

• Short paragraphs
• Bulleted lists
• Bolded text
• Words in color

27. Read aloud

If your content doesn’t flow as you speak it, it may not work for the reader . Pay attention to when you take too many pauses or pause in places where no comma exists. Adjust your text — add a comma or break the sentence into two.

Microsoft Word offers a read-aloud feature through its immersive reader tools, while Google Docs can use a Chrome extension to give a voice to the content .

28. Use plagiarism checkers

In recent years, advancements in artificial intelligence have prompted growth in automated plagiarism checkers. Microsoft Word embeds the feature option in its software as does Grammarly. You also can use tools dedicated to ensuring that the content writing isn’t a copycat (or being copycatted), including:

• Unicheck – Verify the originality of work with plagiarism detection. You can spot outright copying and minor text modifications in unscrupulous submissions.
• Copyscape – Protect your content and your reputation. Copyscape uncovers plagiarism in purchased content and detects plagiarism by others of your original work.

Of course, no plagiarism checker is 100% accurate, so before you accuse a content writer of plagiarism, triple-check the results (and add a human touch whenever appropriate).

29. Use a topic tool for writing inspiration

HubSpot’s Ideas Generator works well to get your creative content writing juices flowing. Just fill in the fields with three nouns to get some ideas.

For example, if you input the words car, truck, and SUV, HubSpot delivers these ideas along with the targeted keywords for the topic:

• Keyword: Top truck accessories
• Keyword: Comparing SUV models
• Keyword: Truck bed organization ideas

HubSpot’s topic generator also allows users to pick a title and have an outline created for that article.

You also could perform a similar exercise by writing the prompts in other generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Gemini .

NOTE: Always review the titles and accompanying data to ensure accuracy. In the HubSpot sample, the generator included a headline — Discover the Best SUVs for Families in 2021. Yet, it’s 2024.

30. Know SEO responsibilities in web writing

Sometimes writers create content with multiple purposes. They have the burden of blending SEO into the content . I frame it as a burden because it’s one more variable to deal with. If you have a knack for SEO and goals you can measure, it’s not a burden.

Unfortunately, you sometimes don’t know what realistic keywords to pursue. Aim too low and you use rarely searched keywords. Aspire for something too competitive, and the content won’t rank.

How are you evaluating keywords? Learn how to find your sweet spot with keyword selection (and how to appear on the first page of Google). Identify potential keywords by using tools like:

• Moz Keyword Explorer
• Google’s Keyword Planner
• Keyword Tool
• AnswerThePublic
• Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest

31. Monitor relevant topics to get ideas for your content

With Feedly , you can stay informed about what matters most and avoid information overload. This AI assistant learns your preferences, then culls and curates content from the internet that you want and need.

Share your favorite writing tricks

What content creation and copywriting productivity tools do you favor? What do you do each day to make your writing tasks just a little easier? Please tag CMI on social media using #CMWorld.

All tools mentioned in this article were suggested by the author. If you’d like to suggest a tool, share the article on social media with a comment.

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