The six retired patterns

These patterns are common enough in machine-written marketing copy that a reader's ear picks them up within a paragraph. Each has a test, a fix, and a note on when it is acceptable. Treat them as firm rules when editing; the fixes keep the meaning and change only the construction.

1. The fragment with a tag

What it is. A noun phrase with no verb, followed by a comma and a trailing participle, a second noun phrase or a colon list. It reads as a slogan where a sentence should be.

Test. Remove the punctuation and ask who does what. If there is no subject doing something, it is a fragment.

• Retire: "Four layers, built in order." / "A rhythm your team can hold: long pieces on your own site, short posts, and nurture." / "The claim only you can make, drawn from your closed deals."
• Fix: "The stack has four layers, and each one rests on the layer beneath it." / "Publishing compounds when your team can sustain it, which in practice means a long piece on your own site, short posts and nurture email." / "Position is the claim only you can make, and it comes from your closed deals."

Short labels of one to three words (a layer name on a card) are the only exception. The same family covers N nouns, N nouns pairings ("Two teams, one goal") and "X, not Y" contrasts.

2. The "so" splice

What it is. A clause, then "so" and a second clause, with or without the comma. This includes ", so that" and the bare form "put in place so the team can act".

Test. Does "so" join two full clauses? If so, rewrite.

• Retire: "Definition pages that explain the category properly, so the first thing a buyer reads is yours."
• Fix with the effect as the main verb: "Definition pages that explain the category properly make yours the first thing a buyer reads."
• Fix with the condition first: "When one-pagers, decks and follow-ups draw on the same argument, a conversation picks up where the reading stopped."
• Fix with "because" when a reason is meant: "Large deals involve several people who rarely want the same thing, because each is measured on something different."
• Fix with an infinitive for purpose: "to give the whole buying group one consistent story".

"So" as an intensifier ("so many") is fine. "So" as a sentence opener is not.

3. "Worth" as an editorial nudge

What it is. Phrases that point at importance without showing any: "worth knowing", "worth noting", "worth considering", "worth watching", "worth a look", "worth acting on". Relatives include "it is important to note", "it bears mentioning", "keep in mind", "here's the thing", "the truth is", "the reality is" and "interestingly".

Test. Delete the phrase. If the sentence still stands, the phrase was filler. If it falls over, the sentence never made its point.

• Retire: "The part worth internalising is that buyers no longer start from a blank page."
• Fix: "Buyers no longer start from a blank page, which changes what content is for."

A literal money value is fine ("an estimated $78 billion", "worth $5 million").

4. "Long before" and "long after"

What it is. "long before", "long after", "long since", "well before", "well after". They gesture at a span of time without giving it.

Test. Can you name the interval or the event? Say it.

• Retire: "Your market knows what you stand for long before it speaks to your sales team."
• Fix: "Your market knows what you stand for months before anyone books a call." Or with evidence: "Between 80 and 90 percent of buyers had a shortlist before formal research began."

5. The "none of it" closer

What it is. A sweeping negative tacked onto a list or claim: "none of it", "none of them", "none of that", "none of those".

Test. What is the actual positive fact behind the negative? State that.

• Retire: "None of that makes the decision less human."
• Fix with the positive: "The decision is still made by people, each with their own worries and their own career at stake."
• Fix with a precise negative: "No individual in the group can say yes alone."

"None of the three" is fine when it answers a question of choice. Legal copy may keep "none of" where exact wording matters.

6. The sentence that announces its point

What it is. A sentence built to name its subject before saying anything about it, usually with a noun phrase such as "the part", "the thing", "the key", "the first job" or "the difference" followed by "is" and a gerund. The family includes "What matters is", "What separates X from Y is" and the debunking opener "Most of what gets called X is Y".

Test. Does the first half say anything the reader could not have guessed? If not, delete the frame and start with the claim.

• Retire: "The part that compounds is deciding what you are willing to say that your competitors are not."
• Fix with the actor doing the thing: "Content compounds when a company decides what it is willing to say that its competitors are not."
• Retire: "Most of what gets called SEO today still means chasing a ranking."
• Fix: "SEO today still often means chasing a ranking."

A plain noun phrase as a subject is fine when it names something concrete ("Dependence is the main risk"). The related contrast "is not X, it is Y" belongs to the contrast family in house-style-options.md.

When two fixes collide

Fixing one pattern often creates another. A "so" splice rewritten as ", which" three times in a paragraph is its own tell, and a fragment glued to the next sentence with a colon is still a fragment. Vary the repair (effect verb, condition first, "because", an infinitive) and reread the whole paragraph once the fixes are in.