A lot of small businesses don’t realise how essential the job of a copy editor is. In fact, almost everyone believes they know how to write engaging copy, especially when it relates their own industry or product. You know that you do! Of course you do, so who could write about it better?
A professional, that’s who. And a content editor knows their industry. Think about it, are you even totally sure what the job of a content editor entails?
What does a content editor do?
Content editors are pretty multitalented people. As the title suggests, they do edit content, but they also create and manage content, and come up with content plans and strategies. Content editors come from a variety of backgrounds, with the option of writing, editing or even marketing experience as a basis for their position. A content editor has to be comfortable working in pretty much any kind of company, and with various market places and customer profiles.
Why do You need a content editor:
1. Strong content editors make good writers even better!
Not all content editors do the writing themselves, many come up with plans for what should be written, and edit it afterwards. This ranges from big-picture editing to grammar corrections. So, if you already have someone on your team who writes well, imagine how much better they would be with the added direction and correction of an expert!
2. They have important skills that Marketing and business people often don’t have or don’t have the time to develop.
It’s the combination of several skill sets that make a good content editor. They need a good head for marketing, sure, and also a strong knowledge of business, but this is all in combination with an excellent ear for language and an analytical editor’s eye. I’m sure you, or someone on your current team, could work towards all of these skills, but that would cost valuable time and money and mean that they were distracted from their job. Hire a content editor, and utilising all of those skills to the advantage of the company is their job!
3. When involved earlier in the content writing decisions, can help to focus new content decisions in the direction of company’s overall online strategy.
Get a content editor involved as soon as you can! As well as writing and editing, content editors also strategise. That means they think about the overall online presence of your company, the makeup of your desired audience, and what your competitors are doing, and they react accordingly. If you want your content to lead to business, get a content editor in on the ground floor.
4. Even if you write copy, you can’t edit your own work
Sure, you know the difference between affect and effect (you do, right?) but when reading through your own work you’re way less likely to spot these little mistakes. It’s science, so it’s not your fault! Once you’ve read something a few times (and even more so if you’ve also written it) your brain wants to save you time and energy, so it fills in the blanks and you see what you expect – perfect grammar! A fresh set of eyes could save you embarrassment, and a well-trained set of eyes (say, the eyes of a content editor) could massively improve your writing and therefore the effectiveness of your copy.
5. They have insight into your audience – they can maintain a bigger picture strategy, keeping the writer on target.
This is where the marketing part of content editing comes in. Not many writers are exactly marketing minded… the power of the word is more important than meer sales. Not so for the content editor! They’re always thinking about audience and, ultimately, about the success of your business. So, whether they’re writing themselves or directing your writers, a content editor is essential to keeping content writing on track towards a wider marketing strategy.
6. They probably have a strong handle on SEO
Search engine optimisation, or SEO, might seem simple but like many things it’s easy enough to learn the basics but a hard thing to master. There are a lot of mistakes that can be made, for example keyword stuffing (which looks unprofessional and spammy), a lack of focus on dwell time, or no internal linking. And that really is the tip of the iceberg. A good content editor
7. A good content editor can make your company more money, faster
A content editor can look at a business’s online content overall, and focus prose towards a particular strategy. This will separate the company from competition and help improve search engine rankings, as well as encouraging visitors to spend more time on a website and utilise the company’s services more often.
8. They’re versatile!
Write for yourself and you have access to only one ‘voice’. A good content editor can write in various registers, and across all your social media platforms. Hiring a content editor is almost like adding several part-time staff members to your team! And if you use a third-party contractor you often have access to several content editors and writers, all of whom bring their specific set of skills to the table.
9. They do your research for you, and keep up with trends within your industry.
Face it, as your business grows you’re only getting busier. You don’t have time to research the industry and your competition as well as making sure your business is running smoothly day to day, dealing with staff issues, making plans for the future of the company, and then of course there’s your personal life… A content manager will do the research for you, and they’ll be quick and efficient because research skills are part of their job. They will also deliver their findings for you, within whatever the write or strategise for your company, and it will be digestible to both your team and, if necessary, your customers.
10. Pretty much every business needs one! Trust us, because your competitors do.
Content editors are, as we’ve demonstrated with this article, pretty much essential. They’re employed by a huge number of companies, across the whole spectrum of industries, so it stands to reason that you should have And that’s where we come in, our team of professional writers, editors and researchers can handle all your content editing needs. And you’ll get access to our whole team, paying only per project for all those highly trained points of view.
Conclusion:
As you can see, a content editor does a lot more than… well… edit content. And with content creation companies like Ninja available to you, you can get all the perks of a content editor without taking on a new member of staff. We’ll match you with someone we know will work for you, and you’re welcome to stick with the same content editor for the long term or to work with a variety of our employees to suit your varying needs project to project. Whatever you want from your content, we’ve got you covered!