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How to Edit Copy: The Ultimate Guide to Copy Editing for Beginners (Improve Your Copywriting FAST)

Edit writing
 

This may shock you…

Writing is only a small chunk of copywriting.

The 3 main phases of copywriting include:

  1. Research
  2. Writing
  3. Editing

All steps are essential to writing knockout copy that boosts results for your clients.

In this post, I’m going to cover the editing phase.

After reading, you’ll know exactly how to copy edit after writing your 1st draft.

I’m going to share my own personal process of editing copy and give you 5 quick editing tips to improve your writing FAST.

Let’s get to it!

 

What is Copy Editing?

Street signs say "final draft"

Copy editing is the last step in the copywriting process.

Before submitting work to clients, you’ll need to edit your writing.

To turn your clunky draft into a clear, concise and persuasive sales message.

The overall goal is to write the most persuasive message, using the least number of words.

Every word serves a purpose.

If it doesn’t?

Remove it.

You’ll want to copy edit for grammar, “flow” and ensure it is as persuasive as possible to your target audience and related to what you’re selling.

 

Why is Copy Editing Important to Your Success?

holding trophy

Without editing, your writing would be unreadable gibberish.

Often, my first draft is GARBAGE.

This is a good thing though…

When writing your first draft, you just want to just let errr rip.

Let all your ideas, thoughts and feelings flow out of your head, onto your paper.

Do not edit.

But then…

After you’ve done this…

You want to edit your writing.

Joseph Sugarman explained how his first few drafts are often unreadable trash.

But after editing?

He creates copywriting masterpieces that destroy competition and sell millions worth of products.

The real magic happens after you revise your copy, several times.

By spending the time to edit your copy, you will create a very persuasive message, that is clear concise and easy to read for your target audience.

Which will boost results for you and your clients.


The Best Way to Edit Your Copywriting (How to Copy Edit & Improve Your Writing TODAY)

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I’ve got something very special for you.

I’m going to break down the copy editing process and share the exact technique I use to edit my copy before submitting it to clients.

I learned this copy editing technique from Ben Settle.

I have refined it and added my own “spin.”

Here it is:

After my first draft…

I read my writing 10 times, out loud.

Every time I trip over bumps (long-winded sentences, misspellings, unclear language… anything that slows the reading process), I smooth them out.

Also…

In between readthroughs (every other readthrough), I’ll review my market research notes.

Why?

To make sure that I’ve included every main selling point: emotional triggers, benefits, handle objections, etc.

Remember:

The main goal of copy editing is to convey your sales message in the most powerful way, using the least number of words.

After reading aloud 10x, your copy will read as smooth as a baby’s head.

It’s amazing how much of a difference the 1st draft and last draft are.

After I’ve read through my copy 10 times, I’ll copy and paste everything into Grammarly.com.

Grammarly is an easy-to-use app for editing grammar.

I only edit the obvious misspellings (underlined in red).

However, I do NOT pay attention to any other suggestions it provides.

Why?

Because Grammarly gives terrible advice for copywriters.

Their advice is not helpful for writing persuasive, conversational copy.

I strongly advise you do NOT follow it’s advice… only use it to edit major spelling errors.

Also…

Sometimes, I’ll copy and paste everything into the Hemingway App.

I only use the grade level feature (strive to have writing readable at a 5th grade level).

Good copy should be readable at a 5th grade level. If not, it’s too complicated and may confuse readers.

This app gives tips to help you achieve the 5th grade level.

 

5 Copy Editing Tips to Edit Faster

Fast typer

1. Put Your Copy Under The “So what?” Microscope

Your readers only care about what’s in it for them.

So, to keep them reading your copy, put your copy under the “So what?” microscope.

As you read your claims, benefits, features… ask yourself - “so what?"

Do this for every sentence you write.

If you edit this way, you will create VERY persuasive copy.

 

2. Easy to Understand

If you want to persuade your readers to act, you gotta make your message super easy to understand.

Your writing should be readable at a 5th grade level.

3 tips to make your writing easy to understand:

  • Use short sentences, paragraphs and words
  • Use everyday language – do not use jargon or try to sound sophisticated
  • Break up your copy – vary your sentence/paragraph length. I.E. one-word sentence. Then 11-word sentence. A few 3-5 sentence paragraphs, followed by a 3-word paragraph, etc.

The easier it is for readers to grasp your message (at a glance), the easier it is for you to persuade them.

 

3. Talk As You Write

You do this tip when writing. However, it’ll make the editing process MUCH easier.

The fastest way to write conversational copy is to talk out loud as you write.

Whenever I write, I talk out loud as I type.

This has several benefits:

  • Increases writing speed – it’s much faster to write when you’re talking. The words just flow right off your tongue.
  • Eliminates 80% of the editing process – when you talk as you write, you will naturally have MUCH less gibberish to edit.
  • Reads like a 1:1 conversation – because you are talking, instead of “writing.”

 

4. Use Contractions 

An extremely easy way to trim your copy is to use contractions.

Use contractions like "I'm," "you're," and "we're" to make your writing sound more conversational and reduce unnecessary words.

 

5. The Sole Purpose of Your First Sentence

The only purpose of each sentence is to get your readers to read the FOLLOWING SENTENCE.

That’s it.

By keeping this in mind while editing, you will make every word and be able to trim fat fast.

 

Conclusion

Follow this “how to copy edit” guide (and the copy editing 5 tips) the next time you edit your writing.

The more time you spend trimming, refining and simplifying your message, the more effective it’ll be at driving results.

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GET PAID LIKE A KING TO WRITE FOR BRANDS YOU LOVE - TODAY!

The "King of Copy" is Giving Away Tips for Becoming a Top Paid Copywriter Right Now

Enter your email below to open Jeremy's daily email tips and a FREE audio training straight out of his exclusive paid membership – Copy Kings

GET PAID LIKE A KING TO WRITE FOR BRANDS YOU LOVE - TODAY!

The "King of Copy" is Giving Away Tips for Becoming a Top Paid Copywriter Right Now

Enter your email below to open Jeremy's daily email tips and a FREE audio training straight out of his exclusive paid membership – Copy Kings