Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned writer, it’s unlikely that you can write a perfect copy on your first try. That’s why copy editing is an essential step to ensure that your copy is well-written, persuasive, and in-line with your goals. Here are 7 easy copy editing tips that you can use to help you ensure that your copy is error-free and easy to read.
1. Keep it simple
Being clear is better than being clever. Some people make the mistake of using complex words or technical jargon that no one understands. If the goal of your writing is to communicate with your audience, why do you want to confuse them with complex words? Use clear and simple language that will get your message across.
Complex: Katniss is responsible for effectively articulating the value of our products to our customers
Simple: Katniss is responsible for promoting the value of our products to our customers
2. Make it concise
People’s attention spans are getting shorter, so why are your sentences getting longer? Long sentences usually contain several ideas, so you can easily lose the reader’s focus along the way. Focus on one idea at a time and keep your sentences concise — it will make your copy clearer and easier to understand.
3. Use active voice
Our brains can easily understand sentences written in an active voice because it has a more logical progression. So, use an active voice to convince and convert your audience into customers of your brand.
Passive voice: Dinner is being cooked by Monica
Active voice: Monica is cooking dinner
4. Be positive
Rather than describing what something isn’t, describe something as it is. Aside from making the sentence more direct, you can avoid confusing your audience by stating your message clearly.
Negative: Don’t write long sentences
Positive: Keep your sentences short
5. Bye filler words
Remove filler words and phrases that don’t contribute anything to your message. Stuffing your sentences with filler words will weaken your writing and dilute your idea. Create powerful copy by keeping your sentences concise.
With filler: Ross decided that she’s going to be a chef in order to impress Rachel
Without filler: Ross decided to be a chef to impress Rachel
6. Use bullet points
Using bullet points is a great way to organize complex ideas. So instead of writing long sentences and paragraphs that will scare the readers away, break down your sentences into several bullet points.
Before: First, you need to cut up some bananas and put it in your blender. And then, add 2 spoons of peanut butter and 1 spoon of protein powder. Blend everything together and pour your smoothie into a cup, enjoy!
After:
- Cut 1 banana into small pieces and put it in your blender
- Add 2 spoons of peanut butter
- Add 1 spoon of protein powder
- Blend everything together
- Pour into your cup
Enjoy your smoothie!
7. Use tools
It’s impossible to catch everything by yourself. That’s why you should run your drafts through online proofreading tools like Grammarly, Prowriting or Hemingway for basic strength, grammatical and spelling mistakes.
Pro Tip: Read your copy out loud
There’s just something about reading your copy out loud that can help you spot weak points in your writing, such as awkward phrasing or breaks in your flow. So be sure to read your copy out loud before you post or submit anything!
There you have it — 7 effective copy editing tips that you can try. We hope that all of you will use these tips to make your writing more powerful and easy to understand.
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