Choosing an Editor: Top Four Things to Look For

In today’s Information Age, when prospective clients come to your website, they come with a limited yet very valuable commodity: their attention.

The longer you can hold their attention, the more interest is generated for you/your product/your service, and the more likely you are to convert that Attention Capital to Monetary Capital.

The sad truth is, a lot of riveting, relevant, and valuable messages get interrupted or drowned out by static noise: from pop-up ads, to phone notifications, to social media alerts, there are a lot of actors competing for your client’s attention and mercilessly trying to interrupt your transmission.

Think about it: if you turned on the radio (remember radios?) and you could barely hear what was playing underneath the “SKRRRRR”-s and “CRUNCH”-es of interference, you would lose interest and tune into a different station, right? Even if your favourite song was playing, you’d change channels to hear something clear and entertaining rather than strain to hear through the static!

Your business’ success depends on your marketing and your marketing success depends on your content. No one is going to go out of their way to decipher unclear or tedious content. You want to broadcast a message that is clear and that catches your audience’s attention.

A clear and captivating message will make people want to take action, share the information with friends, and find out more. This type of message leads to growth and success.

Broadcast Loud, Broadcast Clear

If you’ve been struggling to write impactful copy and content for your website, you owe it to yourself to look for an editorial team that can help with the writing, editing, and content strategy.

An effective editorial team puts in the time and effort necessary to create content for your target audience that is easy to find and effortless to read. This team doesn’t need to be an expert in what you do; instead, they are experts at taking your message and making it accessible, attractive, effective, and shareable.

When you delegate the task of curating relevant and riveting website content to an external editorial team, you are giving yourself more time to create and maintain the standout products and services your customers need!

Now that you know having an editorial team is key to your success, how do you find the right one? For the remainder of this article, we’ll go through the top four things to look for when selecting an external editing team for your website.

Finding “The One”

Not to get weird about it, but looking for the right editor is kind of like looking for the perfect partner. You wouldn’t marry just anyone that walked by – so don’t enter a business relationship with the first editor you come across, either!

From our years of success as an external editorial team at Creative Campbellville, we’ve compiled a list of green flags that can point you towards your editorial team soulmate.

1. Experience and Expertise:

The first thing you want to do when you come across a dashing editorial team is creep them; try to learn everything about them with what is available online. See, it IS very similar to the world of dating!

Check out their About Us Page, their social media sites, and any other platform they post on. Look for their academic and industry experience. Do they have a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in English, teaching, or other writing-heavy subjects? What about business, marketing, and SEO? Do they have published work you can read? Do they have editorial experience with any companies you are familiar with or admire?

Equally as important, pay attention to the website itself. Does their website demonstrate ability to write and present impactful copy and content? That is: can they talk the talk and walk the walk?

If the editorial team demonstrates a high level of academic and industry experience, and their website is easy to find and navigate, and the copy and content is accessible, attractive, clear, and compelling – then this is a great start!

2. An Actual Editorial TEAM

Two heads are better than one and four eyes (or more) are better than two. Although it’s not impossible for one person to be a writer, editor, and content strategist on their own, this sort of set up leaves more room for error.

Look for an editing service where every written piece of work will pass before at least two sets of eyes. The last thing you want is copy full of grammatical or spelling errors muddling up your message! Working with an editorial team – rather than a sole editor – is extremely valuable for quality assurance.

3. Can you feel the passion?

Look for signs that the editorial team is made up of a group of people who would describe themselves as, “WRITERS!” , not “writers *shrug*”.

People who are passionate about writing express that by writing A LOT and being active in the writing community. If the team of writers and editors appear to be prolific, are pursuing continuing education, or are actively involved in panels and outreach, this is a telling sign that their craft is something they take seriously and are passionate about.

Again, not to make it weird, it’s like dating: a relationship between two people that lacks passion is going to be dull and boring. If your writer lacks passion, your content will be dull and boring, too!

4. Great Writer, Awesome Editor, Better Listener

If you go on a first date with someone and they do all the talking and refuse to listen a word you say, it is a huge turn off. You’ll begin to think they’re not at all interested in getting to know you, your likes, dislikes, hopes, and dreams.

The same sentiment applies when you speak to your writing and editorial team. One of the strongest indications that an editorial team is your copy and content soulmate is that they listen to your story, and  ask meaningful questions to uncover your needs, concerns, and goals.

If an editorial team asks you: who is your audience, what is your mission, what are your core business values, how would you describe your voice, what is your intention behind this piece of copy/content, or questions along those lines, you may have just found a winner.

Happily Ever After

Finding the right editorial team that will help you broadcast your message loud and clear takes work, but it is completely worth the effort! Effective copy and content will increase traffic to your site, grow your conversion rates, and allow your businesses to thrive.

If you are interested in learning more about Creative Campbellville and how we apply all these strategies to our work, please contact us! We’d love to provide you with the writing, editing, and content strategy services that will make your business live happily ever after!

Victoria Schembri – Victoria is a Writer and Editor by day, and a Radio Host and Creative Entrepreneur by night: her creative limits know no bounds: she writes & edits copy & content full-time for a fitness equipment company; hosts a weekly radio show with Thunder Bay’s LU Radio; and runs a hilarious fibre art business on Instagram (@Gaudy Grandma). Get in touch!