Content Writing Made Easy Series — Number Five
Hot Tip Number Five: Edit, edit and edit!
As a small biz owner juggling a gazillion different things, content writing for your business can be a challenge.
Not only finding the time to create compelling content, but the energy and know-how too!
To help busy boss mums and small biz owners I am publishing a mini-series of 5 hot tips “Content Writing Made Easy”.
And this is the final tip 🥳.
What have we covered so far?
And now here is the 5th (and final) tip.
Side note: these were originally social media posts but I have recycled them here on Medium.
Top hint: if you don’t repurpose your content what the heck are you doing? It is one of the BEST time and energy saving tools like, EVER!
Edit, edit and edit some more!
This one is more for blog posts and other long forms of writing, because I totally believe that mistakes in Social Media posts just makes us more human and relatable.
Perhaps the same came be said for long forms of content, but if you are going to take the time to write a blog post or story, why not take the time to edit and make sure it reads clearly?
Why you should edit your work
Many of your readers will simply scan through your post, rather then poring over every word. So make it easy for them! Edit your blog so that it flows smoothly.
Make sure your grammar and sentence structure is correct and easy to read. I love Yoast, Hemingway App and Grammarly to help with this.
Another part of editing is cutting out words.
Yes. You need to cull!
Sometimes you might find you have gone off on a tangent. Or maybe a particular sub-heading has taken over your whole post. Either way, you need to cut those out to pull your blog post back into line.
But don’t just delete those sections. Save them into another document and use them for a blog post, email or Medium story of their own!
Quick editing tips:
- Read your work aloud. This helps check the flow and readability of it.
- Keep your paragraphs short.
- Use sentences of various lengths to avoid sound monotonous.
- Avoid repetition.
- CULL anything that doesn’t align with your topic.
- Cut out FLUFF words.
- Run your work through a spell checker, Hemingway App, Grammarly and Yoast.
- Let it rest for a day, then come back to it with fresh eyes!
The 5 hot tips of the “Content Writing Made Easy” series:
- Tip 1: Write killer headlines!
- Tip 2: Keep it simple.
- Tip 3: Format for readability.
- Tip 4: Make your content actionable.
- Tip 5: Edit, edit, edit. (The one you are currently reading)!
5 tips to create compelling content
Want all these tips in one handy eBook? Head here to sign up and grab the FREE “5 Tips To Compelling Content” eBook.
Rachel Maree is a content specialist helping small biz owners master their content marketing strategies, content writing and more! You can learn more or hire her here.
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