A lot of people get bogged down in the writing part of creating copy. However, the real magic happens during the editing process. When you finish the writing part, the work has just begun. Now it’s time to make good copy great during editing. Let’s look at the process in full, so you can better understand what makes revising and editing so magical.
Check Your Facts
You’ll need to look at all your source material to ensure that you have the facts right in your copy. Plus, you’ll want to ensure that you’re using the right format, spelling, and style based on your style guide.
Read Through First
Before editing or revising one thing, read through the entire piece first. Sometimes reading out loud can help you ensure it makes sense to the average reader. If you trip up on anything, you may want to highlight those portions for revision later.
Correct Basic Errors
Go ahead and correct any basic errors in grammar (although this is subjective because sometimes good copywriting uses “poor” grammar), spelling errors, subject-verb disagreement, verb tense, inconsistencies, and word usage. For example, if you use words that can be mixed up, like effect and affect, ensure that they’re right. Remember that software may not catch these errors.
Check Your Punctuation
Sometimes with copywriting, you may need to be creative with these things so don’t stick to everything if it doesn’t work. However, when you break the rules, you should have a reason for doing so.
Define Jargon
If you used jargon or abbreviations in the text, you’d want to spell out what these are the first time they’re used to explain to the audience their meaning and importance. The only time you might keep it is if you are marketing to an audience who prefers to use those words and are expert in their meaning.
Fix Passive Voice Issues
Often when you use passive voice in copy, it can be confusing. It might cause ambiguity. Therefore, as you edit, go through and try to fix anything that is not completely clear in its meaning.
Ensure Details Match
It’s important that you are so clear in your copy that you don’t accidentally mess up the details. If you said on one page that soy is bad for you but on another that soy is good for you, it would be very confusing to your audience. Problems will be more subtle than that but fix anything that doesn’t match up.
Check Your Math
If you did use math or stats in your copy, you’d want to ensure that it’s correct and clear. If you wrote it, you might want to ask someone knowledgeable about the topic to ensure that it’s right.
Check Tone & Word Usage
Everything you say must match what your audience wants you to say. You are writing only for them. You cannot care about what others say about your content; instead, you need to check the tone and word usage to ensure it will delight your ideal audience.
Editing is so important because it’s going to ensure that your copy performs the way you want it to. Plus, if you do everything in steps, it’ll be much easier because you want writing to flow and not be held up by editing at the same time.
Thank you for joining me! For more free lessons in this series simply click the “Next Post” button below.
