subject: Web Content Editor: Big Balls Required Part Iii [print this page] In Web Content Editor: Big Balls Required Parts I & II a number of examples were detailed making the case for an editor to have pretty big balls in order to do their job right. For those who think that editing and advising on the work of others is a breezy desk job, consider these few final points on why it really does take some big cajones to be a web content editor.
7.) Explaining Optimization
Sometimes, a client will submit an excellent piece to a web content editor that requires little to no revisions or changes. Unfortunately, this type of work is often not optimized for the internet. In order to find content on the internet, it must be optimized for the search engines. This is done with the use of keywords and keyphrases that readers, consumers and others would naturally use to find this excellent piece of content. However, if the piece isn't optimized, it's not likely that anyone will find it.
A good web content editor has the tact and courage to be able to say:
"Your work is excellent, but we must change it."
This is a difficult concept for even the most intellectual of writers to accept. For instance, this article is designed to help people find information related to web content editors. You'll notice the use of this term in strategic locations throughout the article. This helps readers find the content, and also helps search engine bots to properly index and categorize it.
8.) Shooting down Bad Traffic Generation Strategies
Some web content editors are also writers in fact, most editors are former writers. Or, as T.S. Elliot once put it:
"Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers."
In cases where an editor will also be doing a significant amount of writing, it may happen that they are presented with a potentially lucrative project, but one doomed to failure because the client's strategy to attract traffic to the content is weak or non-existent.
For example, consider an editor who is presented with the opportunity to work on an LSP or Long Sales Page. Good LSP's are valued in the tens of thousands of dollars. Therefore, the writer/editor is often entitled to a handsome fee. However, part of a good web content editor's job is to ensure that a particular piece will accomplish its intended purpose. This means that if the editor determines that the strategy to "sell" the content will fail, they must either decline the project, or suggest meaningful and perhaps expensive changes to either the piece of content, to the marketing strategy, or both.
This takes serious balls considering that working on a single LSP can net an editor/writer as much as $25,000.
9.) Telling them that No One wants it.
Web content editors, editors at traditional publishing houses and every reviewer and compliance officer have almost certainly been presented with work that, in their opinion, no one would want to read. This is an especially troubling part of being an editor, because even terrible writers often put a great deal of time into their work. Telling them that it's not of interest can be a major blow to their ego and discourage them from trying to improve. It's not pleasant for an editor to have to do this and it takes balls of steel to do it repeatedly when editing is your career path.
However, even exceptional editors have turned away superior work and renowned writers. Most of the classic novels we know today were turned down by editors and publishing houses dozens or even hundreds of times before getting published. So while it might take big balls to be an editor and tell someone their work needs help or reject it altogether, it takes even bigger balls for the writer to keep trying. If you think you're a good writer and you need an editor that's got a pair and knows what they're doing, call the number at the top of your screen right now and take your writing to the next level.
