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Online, content is king — but clarity is what gets you read. Is your content easy to skim, understand, and trust? Digital marketing and social content writing aren’t just about sharing information; they’re about delivering it in a way that feels direct and human. That’s where active voice shines: it keeps sentences cleaner and more engaging, and in 2026, that readability can support SEO by improving on-page engagement while making your meaning easier for search engines to interpret.
So, what is an active voice in writing? We’ve got a healthy list of writing tips and examples to help you get started.
What Is an Active Voice?
Active voice is when the subject does the action (subject → verb → object), while passive voice is when the subject receives the action (object → verb → “by” + doer, or the doer is omitted).
Active: The company launched a new app.
Passive: A new app was launched.
Active: Our team increased conversions by 18%.
Passive: Conversions were increased by 18%.
Why Writing in Active Voice Matters
Active voice makes your writing feel clear, confident, and easy to follow, which is exactly what online readers (and busy buyers) want. Because the subject is doing the action, sentences land faster, read cleaner, and leave less room for confusion. It also tends to be shorter, which helps with skimmability — think punchier headings, tighter CTAs, and less fluff between a reader and the point.
In 2026, that clarity can support SEO indirectly by improving engagement signals like time on page and scroll depth, while making key ideas easier to interpret at a glance. This matters even more when you’re writing blogs, where readers skim fast and clarity decides whether they stay or bounce.
Here’s what active voice does especially well in business and marketing content:
- Improves readability: Readers immediately know who did what, so they don’t have to re-read.
- Strengthens credibility: Direct sentences sound more decisive and trustworthy.
- Boosts momentum: Active voice keeps copy moving—ideal for landing pages, emails, and social posts.
- Sharpens conversions: Clear actions make CTAs and value props hit harder (and faster).
Active vs. Passive Voice
Active voice puts the doer up front, so the sentence tells you who is doing what right away. Passive voice flips that focus so the action happens to the subject, often pushing the doer into a “by…” phrase or leaving it out entirely, so passive sentences are indirect and can feel less clear.
Active: The marketing team launched the email campaign.
Passive: The email campaign was launched (by the marketing team).
How to Write in an Active Voice
A quick overview of sentence structure can answer the questions, “What is passive voice?” and “What is active voice?”
Active voice sentence structure: Subject + verb + object
In the active voice sentence, “The dog chased the squirrel,” the breakdown is:
- Subject: the dog
- Verb: chased
- Object: the squirrel
Passive voice sentence structure: Object + verb + subject
In the passive voice sentence, “The squirrel was chased by the dog,” the breakdown is:
- Object: the squirrel
- Verb: was chased by
- Subject: the dog
Verb tense can also give you an idea of whether a sentence is active or passive. Passive verbs often need extra words to convey meaning, such as “was chased by” while active verbs are simpler: “chased.”
Examples of Converting to an Active Voice
In order for the differences to become intuitive, it can help to look at examples of active voice and passive voice.
Active voice: The marketing strategy bothered Sarah, who wanted to focus on a different demographic.
Passive voice: Sarah was bothered by the marketing strategy, as she wanted to focus on a different demographic.
Active voice: The kindergartener’s teachers and parents praised her kindness to her classmates.
Passive voice: The kindergartener’s kindness to her classmates was praised by her teachers and parents.
Active voice: The injury victim sued the negligent driver.
Passive voice: The negligent driver was sued by the injury victim.
Active voice: Jag watched the parade with interest as it went past his home.
Passive voice: The parade was watched with interest by Jag as it went past his home.
Active voice: The doctor refilled Anika’s prescription over the phone.
Passive voice: Anika’s prescription was refilled over the phone by the doctor.
The Role of Using an Active Voice in Content Creation
Online content lives or dies by how quickly it clicks with a skimming reader. Active voice helps because it follows a straightforward “who did what” pattern, which makes sentences easier to process at speed — and easier to keep reading. When copy feels effortless, readers stick around longer, bounce less, and move further down the page. That clarity also tends to improve readability tool scores, which often correlates with stronger engagement and better performance across blog posts, landing pages, emails, and product pages.
Active voice can also make your content more shareable: punchy, direct lines are simpler to quote in newsletters, social posts, and Slack threads—plus they communicate value fast. Compare “We improved onboarding in two steps” to “Onboarding was improved in two steps.” The first is clearer, more confident, and more likely to get repeated (and linked). And while readability scores themselves aren’t a confirmed ranking factor, search experts note that readability influences user experience and link-earning—both of which matter for SEO. Active voice helps you optimize for better rankings by improving readability and keeping people on the page longer.
There are times passive voice makes sense (think legal or highly technical documentation where the action matters more than who did it). But for business and marketing content — where you want momentum and conversions — active voice is usually the better default.
Active voice also supports E-E-A-T by making expertise and accountability easier to see. Google’s own guidance emphasizes rewarding helpful content and notes that its systems look for signals of experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T), even though E-E-A-T itself isn’t a single, standalone ranking factor. Pair that with a good page experience, and readability becomes part of how you demonstrate “this is useful, credible, and made for humans.”
8 Tips for Writing in Active Voice
If you want to write a good article, active voice is one of the simplest ways to make every sentence clearer and more engaging. It might be some time since you’ve attended a high school English class, so the nitty-gritty of how to write in active voice might not be at the front of your mind. Fortunately, there’s no need for an English teacher, just a few basic tips on how to change passive voice to active voice.
1. Identify the Action and Subject
Find the verb first — that’s the action. Then ask: Who is doing it? That noun is your subject.
Example: “Jackie watched the swim meet.”
- Action (verb): watched
- Subject (doer): Jackie
- Object (receiver): the swim meet
Quick test: If you remove a noun and the sentence still works, it’s often the object.
- Complete sentence: “Jackie watched.”
- Incomplete sentence: “Watched the swim meet.”
2. Use Verbs That Convey the Action
Passive verb construction makes the action indirect. Choose verbs that feel like something is happening, not just being.
- Passive: “The swim meet was being watched by Jackie.”
- Active: “Jackie watched the swim meet.”
- Gut check: If the sentence feels like a “status update” instead of a clear action, rewrite it so the subject does the verb.
3. Keep Sentences Concise
Active voice is usually shorter. If your verb phrase is getting long, look for passive voice.
- Passive: “Connor is helped by Shelby.”
- Active: “Shelby helps Connor.”
- Editing move: Cut helper words like was, were, is, been, being when they’re padding the verb.
4. Focus on the Main Action
In longer sentences, pick the main verb that drives the meaning—and make the doer the subject.
Example: “Jackie watched her sister compete in the swim meet.”
- Main action: "watched" (what Jackie is doing)
- Object: "her sister compete in the swim meet" (what she watched)
Ask, What’s the sentence really about? Lead with that action.
5. Avoid Overusing the Verb “To Be”
Forms of to be (am/is/are/was/were/been/being) often signal passive voice—especially when paired with a past participle.
- Passive: “Most of the jackfruit was eaten by Daniel.”
- Active: “Daniel ate most of the jackfruit.”
- Note: “To be” isn’t always wrong (“We are here.”), but watch for was + verb combos that bury the doer.
6. Place the Active Subject at the Beginning of the Sentence
Start sentences with the person/team/thing doing the work. It naturally leads you into the active voice.
- Active structure: Subject + Verb + Object
- Example: “The team updated the pricing page.”
- If your sentence starts with the object (“The pricing page was updated…”), consider flipping it.
7. Make It Conversational
Write the way you’d explain it out loud—clear, direct, and reader-friendly.
- Use simple phrasing: “We changed the headline.” (not “The headline was changed.”)
- Try an imperative when appropriate: “Read on to spot passive constructions.”
8. Read Aloud to Spot Unclear Phrasings
If a sentence sounds awkward or unclear when spoken, it probably needs tightening—or an active rewrite.
- Listen for: long verb phrases, “by” clauses, and vague doers (“It was decided…” by who?)
- Fix by naming the doer: “The product team decided…”
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