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Okay, You Have In-House Writers. You Still Need an Editor

With everything going on in the world, you may be wondering if people care about grammar and spelling on your website and social media channels. Here’s the thing—people now have more time to notice errors in online content. Smashed Media estimates that “grammatical mistakes on websites can reduce sales by up to 50%.” Quality Logo Products reports that 42.5% of over 1,000 social media users who were surveyed about spelling mistakes would not purchase goods on websites that had misspellings. It’s not as though your audience comprises of language experts and schoolteachers, but consumers want to see that your brand cares about the details, even the seemingly unimportant details like grammar and spelling in digital content. To support your busy team of in-house writers, consider hiring an experienced SEO copywriter who can play the role of a content editor.   

Editors Do More than Redline Copy

Editors are part of the writing team to help your writers produce high-quality content. Editors aren’t teachers who mark up the copy for errors. Certainly, they help with grammar and spelling to polish content. More than that, an editor can give you a new perspective on your content. Maybe you know your industry inside and out, but your audience may not. An editor can point out problems in understanding and make improvements to your copy.

Content Editors Help Maintain Consistency

Content writers create many pieces of content each day. An editor ensures that every piece meets high quality standards and maintains a consistent brand identity. Style guidelines can be very detailed. It’s easy for writers to get caught up in tunnel vision. The editor is the bridge between the two. They bring a different aspect to content creation that helps writers create relevant and engaging content.

Constructive Criticism Pushes You to Produce Better Work 

Writing is personal, even when you’re writing content for a brand. No writer likes to have their work tweaked, but every piece of content can be revised and trimmed to make it stronger. Feedback is difficult to receive. A writer may have poured their heart into a written piece. Some writers think of their work like pieces of art. Having an editor redline it for errors is heartbreaking. Still, every artist wants to put their best work forward. Bottom line, the content belongs to the brand, not the writer or editor. All that matters is that the brand appears its best.

Resources to Polish Your Content

Small businesses may think that there’s no budget for hiring an editor. Here are some tips for producing high quality content without errors:

  • Use spell check and other online tools to help proofread your work. Hemingway Editor or Grammarly are two efficient tools that can help you improve your writing.
  • Put your work away for a couple of hours to bring fresh eyes to it later.
  • Have a peer read it.
  • Read your content out loud.
  • Edit your work in reverse. Start at the bottom and work up.
  • Work with a content marketing agency to have another set of eyes review your work.

No one is perfect. Making mistakes is just part of life. But in publishing, a mistake makes your brand appear sloppy. Copy that doesn’t make sense won’t attract your audience. Using an editor as part of your process ensures that you’re producing high quality content. The brand matters more than a writer’s ego.

Contact MintCopy for editing and content services that help you meet your marketing goals. We have a dedicated team of SEO writers and content creators that can help free your time and polish your work. Put your best content forward to gain an audience.

Use our online form to get in touch. You can also follow us on FacebookLinkedIn, and Twitter to stay up-to-date with the latest content marketing trends.

Resources:

https://blogs.oracle.com/marketingcloud/content-creators-work-with-editors

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