Helping a busy content agency provide better quality articles to their clients

Service type: Development and line editing (blogs and web content)

Location: Eastern Europe, US English

Project length: 1+ years (ongoing)

Tools and programs: Google Docs

Background

The client is an agency that creates blog and web content for tech startups and outsourcing companies. Most of the content is written by non-natives with a high standard of English. The agency was looking for an editor to polish their articles before delivery. This work involves

• checking that each piece of content meets the established client brief,
• providing feedback to writers regarding article quality, flow, and brief coverage, and
• line editing articles to give them a more native English feel.

As a freelancer, I work with a team of in-house editors.

Specific challenges

Brand voice and style

I work on content for over 10 different agency clients. Many companies have no formal style guide, so I record and apply conventions to ensure content consistency and a professional tone for each client.

Writer experience

The agency works with a team of writers, some of whom are beginners in the field. Part of my work involves writer training: making general suggestions as to how they could craft better introductions or conclusions, or make an article more engaging or reader-friendly. I also track writer submissions to get a better feel for a writer's strong and weak points over time.

Audience focus

Most articles cover popular SEO topics, which means writers can sometimes slip from focused writing to topic generalities. I help ensure that each piece is tailored to the client and meets the target audience at their level, without dumbing down or using unnecessarily complex or irrelevant material.

Workflow