How to manage editorial content with ease
Writing a blog or journal on your website is one of the simplest ways to create content marketing as you already have a platform in the form of your brand’s website. It’s also a good way to keep your website fresh, while building your reputation as a thought leader.
At Edify, a lot of our work centres around editorial or technical writing, and we work with a range of freelance and in-house writers. Today I’m going to share one of the methods that allows us to manage content creation easily and effectively, no matter how many projects and writers we are juggling.
Whether you commission a freelance writer, work with a colleague or even write the copy yourself, the key to success is all in the brief.
It’s all about the brief
A clear and concise brief sets the writer (even if that’s you) on the correct path, so you avoid time-consuming edits as the deadline approaches. Copywriters appreciate a good brief – it saves everyone time, so the more detail you supply, the better.
Let’s assume you’re planning to publish 12 blog articles, one a month. They are noted in your content plan and you have probably noted most or all of the following details for each article:
what you’re going to produce
where it will be published (your website in this instance)
date of publication
a sentence summarising the piece
keywords for each article (read about using keywords)
Using a copy brief
We recommend using a template to create every piece of content; you can even set up the actual documents you want the copywriter to work on. These are the main points you’ll find in a typical Edify Content Studio brief.
Headings. We recommend requesting H1 and H2 headings. Read more about the importance of headings.
A working title. A reminder of the overall point of the piece helps the writer stay on track.
Article summary or a few brief bullets detailing what you want to cover. You can also mention anything you do not want covered in this particular piece, for example if you’re covering it in another blog.
Section headings. We recommend including section headings as they help readers navigate the text. Ask the writer to include some if you want to use section headings.
Word count. Articles do not have to be of identical length. Writing short and punchy articles mixed with longer pieces is a good approach.
Image notes. Do you want the writer to source images? How many? Will there be space for image credits below each image, or should these be included at the bottom?
Meta description. This is the text that summarises the blog. It will be displayed as a snippet on the search engine results page (AKA the SERP) and should indicate what the blog is about. The recommended length is between 50 and 160 characters (Yes, you must be brief!). Ask the writer to supply one.
Title tag. Like the meta description, this is read as part of the search snippet; it’s the clickable headline that readers will decide to click on or not. It should be accurate and succinct. Keep it at 60 characters or fewer to avoid the title being cut off. As with the meta description, you can ask the writer to supply one.
Social media posts. You may want your writer to supply some social media posts about the article. It’s straightforward for the writer to do and saves you time.
Your brand may have a style guide for ensuring consistency in spellings and formats of, for example, dates, design terms, product names and materials. If your brand has one, include a copy when you send over the briefs.
Why it’s good to plan
Taking a few hours to prepare 12 documents for your writer is time well spent. With good briefs, they can start bringing your creative ideas to life. Agree how they will return the 12 completed articles, for example monthly or in batches, so you know when to expect them and can plan in time to review.
The approach we’ve outlined above ensures both parties are clear about the process, so you can focus on other work while your writer can concentrate on producing quality, engaging copy. Plus, you’ll receive a consistent set of blogs in the right format. Once reviewed and approved, you can set them to go live according to your schedule and look forward to providing something useful to your audience.