When you’ve checked your content for acronyms, jargon and the other usual tech-suspects, it can seem like it’s ready to go.
However, there are other, more subtle ways your content can be too technical. Here are my top five to check.
It explains how before it explains why.
You might have seen this: content that dives straight into frameworks, integrations, or architecture diagrams before explaining the problem it solves.
It might look helpful because it gives a wealth of information about aspects of your technology. However, if readers have to wade through half a page before discovering why it matters, the detail isn’t helping; it’s hiding the point.
Start with the business context: what changes, what improves, and what risk is reduced. The “how” makes more sense once readers know the “why.”
It assumes shared knowledge.
Internal teams read content and nod: “Of course, they’ll know what XDR or ELT means.” But does your business audience know what they mean?
This is the ‘Curse of Knowledge’, meaning that you know your topic so well that it’s difficult to explain it to others, who don’t know as much as you do. There’s nothing wrong with this; you’ve built up that knowledge over a long period of time.
One way around this is to add a sentence that turns technical shorthand into a straightforward explanation: “XDR brings together data from across systems, so threats are spotted faster.”
Your prospect now knows what XDR means and how it can solve a problem.
It treats every detail as equally important.
When everything is important, nothing stands out.
Business readers don’t need the whole implementation story; they need to see what matters to them and their company. What are the most important details your prospects need to help them make a decision? Put these first, and then use the rest to explain how it works.
It reads like documentation, even when it’s not.
Documentation language tends to creep into business content more often than you’d think. Phrases like ‘the solution leverages advanced capabilities to…’ sound professional but say nothing.
The fix is to replace abstract words like ‘capabilities’ with what they do. Instead of ‘leverages automation,’ try ‘automates routine tasks so teams can focus on high-value work.’
It forgets the reader’s role.
You can get so caught up in making the case for your technology that you forget your audience. It’s easier to do this than you might think.
You get on a roll with what you’re writing about, and you get so into the topic that the readers get left behind somewhere along the way.
One way to spot if this has happened is to read your content back. If it only describes what the system does, rather than what the reader gains, it’s not about what matters to your reader.
You don’t need to do a complete rewrite; you can change certain wording. If you say that your “platform provides”, try changing it to: “teams gain.” Now you’re talking to the reader again.
Final idea
Technical content isn’t “wrong”, it’s just written for a different audience with different needs. If you’re worried about losing that technical depth, it can still be there. It just needs to be reshaped to work for your reader.
That’s when technical content becomes business clarity, and your content works for the most important person, your reader.
I’m Sara Edlington, a B2B technology case study writer.
With twenty years in tech journalism behind me (The Times, The Independent, StrategicRISK Europe), now I help B2B technology companies turn customer success into stories that prospects recognise themselves in. If your customers have a story worth telling, either get in touch or find out how I can help you.