Proven Editing Tips and Tricks from the Scribly Team: Up Your Content Game Today

As writers, we all want our work to be the best it can be, but sometimes it's difficult to know where to begin when it comes to editing. It can be challenging to identify your own mistakes and understand what you need to improve, especially if you've been staring at the same piece of writing for hours or even days. 

That's where the Scribly team comes in. With years of experience crafting high-ranking content and a passion for helping writers improve their craft, we've compiled a list of editing tips and tricks we use daily. 

These tips will help you identify and fix common mistakes, improve the flow of your writing, and make your work stand out.

The Scribly Team’s top editing tips to improve your writing

We could talk about writing and editing all day long — and sometimes we do! But we’ve pulled together just a few of our very best editing tips here. 

Know your audience

Knowing your audience helps you tailor your writing to their needs, interests, and level of understanding. It also helps you use the right tone and language throughout your piece. 

For example, if your audience consists of technical professionals, you'll want to use more industry-specific, technical terms. But if your audience is the general public, you'll want to avoid using too much jargon. 

Knowing your audience will also help you decide on the appropriate level of detail for your piece. You can go into more depth if your readers are experts in a particular field. Or if you’re trying to reach everyone, finding ways to summarise complex concepts simply will be much more important.

Check for consistency

Consistency is vital when it comes to editing. Double-check that you use the same pronouns, tenses, and verb forms throughout your work. This will make your writing easier to understand and more professional-looking. 

For example, if you’re addressing your audience as “you” in one part of your piece, make sure you don’t switch to “they” halfway through. And if you choose a specific format for headings or subheadings, make sure you use that format consistently throughout.

Use the right keywords

Keywords are crucial for SEO, but balancing good keyword density and a natural-sounding narrative is important. When editing, check that you've used your target keywords throughout your article and that they fit well with the rest of your content.

This will help search engines understand your article and make it more likely to appear in search results. However, be aware of keyword stuffing, which can cause search engines to penalise your site.

To use keywords effectively, follow these steps:

• Research keywords: Before you start writing, research keywords relevant to your topic and find out what people are searching for. Various tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can help you find the right keywords.
• Include keywords in your content: Once you have a list of keywords, incorporate them into your content naturally. Use them in your headings, subheadings, and the body of your text.
• Use long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are less competitive and a bit more specific than short-tail keywords. They are also easier to rank for and tend to convert better.
• Check your keyword density: Be aware of keyword density, which is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page in relation to the total number of words on the page. Generally, a keyword density of 2-4% is considered optimal for SEO.
• Use keyword variations: Instead of using the same keyword repeatedly, use variations, for example, "Search engine optimisation" instead of "SEO" alone.

Finesse your formatting

Research shows that people read in an F-shaped pattern and tend to scan across and down web pages. This makes your formatting essential. 

Use headings, subheadings, bullet points, and other formatting to make your writing easier to read and more visually appealing. Proper formatting also helps break up large blocks of text, making it easier for readers to scan and digest information.

Try these formatting tips:

• Use headings and subheadings: Good headings and subheadings organise your content and make it easier to read. They stand out on the page and help visually separate your sections.
• Use bullet points: Bullet points are a great way to break up long lists or complex information, making it easier for readers to scan through a piece quickly.
• Use visuals: Images and other visual elements can help break up text and make your piece more visually appealing. They can also help make your writing more engaging and help you explain complex concepts.
• Use white space: For writers, a blank white page can be intimidating. But for readers, white space can make your text easier to understand. Make sure you’re breaking up longer sections and giving each thought enough breathing room on the page.
• Use font and colour wisely: Some fonts and colour combinations are harder to read. And some combinations are less accessible than others. Keep things simple with clean, modern fonts and contrasting colours. And avoid using too many different fonts and colours to keep your writing from looking cluttered.

Proofread

Proofreading should be your final step before publishing or submitting your work. To effectively proofread your work, you can use a combination of methods, including:

• Reading backwards: Read your piece backwards, starting with the last sentence and working your way to the first. This helps you focus on each word individually and makes it easier to catch any errors.
• Using proofreading software: Technology can be super helpful when proofing your work. Tools like Grammarly, Hemingway, and ProWritingAid can help you identify and fix grammar, style, and punctuation errors. These tools can also help you improve your writing by identifying repetitive words, instances of passive voice, misspellings between US and UK English, and a lot more. The Scribly team swears by Grammarly to help us edit all our work!
• Reading out loud: This is a big one — read your work out loud to see how it sounds. You’ll be able to hear if any sections are too long, if you’re using certain phrases too often, or if your word choices sound too formal. If you find issues when you read everything aloud, go back through and see where you can make changes. 

Build editing into your writing routine

Arthur Plotnik, author of The Elements of Editing said: 

“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you, and we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.”

No matter what you’re writing, good writing relies on good editing. And taking the time to edit your own work can make the difference between getting lost in the smoke and exposing the crisp flame. 

We hope these tips will help you tackle editing your own writing. If you liked this post, check out the Scribly knowledge hub for more of our writing and editing advice.