Hiring an editor to get your content publish-ready is crucial to gain a competitive edge in the overcrowded content-writing game. However, determining who is the best fit for the job can be difficult. There are several benefits to hiring a professional editor.
They can help in both improving the quality of language and optimizing your blogs for SEO and factual or technical accuracy. In some cases, they may even help in devising strategy and hiring or selecting writers for your content.
So how do you go about hiring an editor?
Hiring the right editor is a matter of understanding what your content strategy is or should be. And coming up with a process and qualification system that allows you to find the person that aligns with these strategic goals. Let's look at the eight steps to hiring a new editor to boost your content strategy and land you on the first page of Google:
Understand your content needs
Create a fail-proof qualifying test
Write an appropriate job ad
Find a platform to post your job ad
Narrow down candidates
Interview candidates
Have a paid trial test
Onboard the successful candidate
In this article, we discuss how content managers and marketers like you can go about hiring an editor, the benefits of hiring an editor, and what to look for in an editor. We focus here on content editing, as opposed to academic editing which is meant for academic writing.
To learn more about such editing meant for theses and other academic documents, check out this article: Dissertation and thesis editing services: A complete guide. Content editing is editing meant for blogs or business content.
1. Understand your content needs before hiring an editor
The first step to hiring a content editor is understanding your content needs. It is not enough to simply hire an editor who can improve the quality of the content. Think about to what end you wish to improve the quality of your content. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself to determine your content needs:
What is the main goal of your content?
Have you carried out the keyword research analysis?
Have you figured out the weaknesses in your content strategy that can be fixed by an editor?
Perhaps you need an editor who can do a better of job of optimizing content for SEO. Or maybe the traffic to your website is fine but conversions are low. This means you might need an editor to help improve the copy to increase the conversion rate. In any event, you should have a clear idea of what it is you want from a professional editor.
2. Create a fool-proof qualifying test
After deciding what you want an editor for, the next step is to create a qualifying test to ensure that only the cream of the crop or the best of the best makes it through the process. It has been said and you have heard it before that this is an employers' market.
This means that there's an army of candidates who are going to flood your call for applications. To make the process as efficient and stress-free as possible, you should create a qualifying test that eliminates all but the best candidates.
This test could include a difficult-to-pass grammar and punctuation test through an electronic multiple-choice form. After all, you are hiring a professional editor. They should be able to know the English language inside out.
This has several advantages:
It significantly reduces the number of qualified candidates
It is ruthlessly meritorious
It saves time and effort
It ensures that only the best of the best get through
It reduces bias against those with ability but less experience
This qualifying test will be even better if it is accompanied by a requirement to show the level of experience in the form of writing excerpts or clips. This means the pool of candidates who passed the initial test can now be compared in terms of the metric of experience.
3. Write an appropriate job ad
Of course, you need to craft a job ad. A job ad should be written to include a proper job description, the required level of experience, and the preferred start date for the job. Here is a list of things to include when writing a job ad:
1. Begin by summarizing your company. Give a brief and concise description of what your company does. You should describe the industry that the company is in. You should also provide a quick description of the achievements of the company. Let prospective employees feel as if working for that company is being part of a winning team.
2. Summarize the benefits of working with the company. You should clearly show what the benefits are working for your company. Is it a remote job? Does it allow a remote work option? How many days off are allowed? And so on. Attractive job benefits also go toward making prospective employers feel that they would be part of a winning team.
3. Describe the job's requirements clearly. You should be very specific about the requirements of the job as an editor. Will the editor simply be focused on editing content? Or will they be required to hire new writers? Is there a daily or weekly word requirement in terms of the number of words that need to be edited?
What level or type of editing is required?
Is it substantive editing?
Is it lighter editing?
Is it editing for SEO?
Is it editing for tone and style?
All this should be made clear in the job description. The last thing you want is to have workers feeling betrayed by the job experience when working conditions and requirements don't meet the job description.
4. Provide a clear call to action. By a clear call to action, I mean how would you like candidates to apply to the job position? This should be made clear. And more than that, it should be sensible. Easy and reasonable methods of applying for the job include:
Providing an email address
Proving a Google Form link
Providing a company-specific form link
Providing application forms via job application platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn
By sensible, I mean you should try your best to avoid chaotic forms of communication. For example, on LinkedIn, there are frequent job posts that simply ask for job candidates to "DM me here on LinkedIn" or "Leave a message in the comments to let me know if you're interested in the position."
However, I would recommend always providing potential candidates with a link to a Google form to direct them to sign up for the application. Asking candidates to apply via DMs and comments is a headache waiting to happen.
4. Choose the best platform to post your ad
Now that your qualifying test is completed, it's time to post your job ad. There are several platforms to choose from to post your ad. It can be as simple as a LinkedIn post. Or you can choose from one of many job-posting websites. These websites include:
ProBlogger Job Board
The ACES Job Board
Guru
WeWorkRemotely
Swipefiles
LinkedIn
Scripted
Contently
Cult of Copy
Your careers page
And there are many others. You can choose the one that suits your needs and budget. LinkedIn in particular is a platform that is popular among writers and creatives. It is one of the few social media platforms dominated by writers, editors, and other such creatives.
LinkedIn is perfect as it offers several options for finding editing candidates. You can:
Pay to post a job ad through LinkedIn's job platform
You can simply post a job ad on the LinkedIn timeline or newsfeed for free
You can use LinkedIn's search function to find people who match what you're looking for
More importantly, LinkedIn is a platform where writers and editors display information such as their experience and portfolio. You can even get an idea of what type of editor or employee someone would be based on their posts, LinkedIn Articles, or LinkedIn Newsletters. So, make the most of the LinkedIn platform.
5. Narrow down candidates based on who passed the test
After posting your job ad, you should take note of the crop of candidates who passed your qualifying tests. If the qualifying test was difficult enough that means you won't have many candidates to choose from.
You should contact these candidates and arrange for an interview. Now, the results of the qualifying tests are not the only thing you should rely on for this process. You should also take into account things like experience, personality, and the quality of samples.
Comparing and contrasting these various benchmarks can help you determine which group of candidates qualify for the interview stage. If necessary, go ahead and further reduce this qualified poll based on experience, scores, and personality.
6. Interview candidates
Interviewing the candidate for the editor roles is a crucial stage. You have seen what the candidate looks like on paper. Now, you get a chance to see what they are like in person. The interview could be in the form of a ZOOM call or other teleconferencing method.
When interviewing candidates look out for the traits that you believe would contribute to your organizational culture or goals. For example, here are a list of things to look out for:
Does the candidate have the tact to provide feedback without being offensive?
Does the candidate have enough knowledge and experience for the role?
Does the candidate display team spirit?
Of course, you should take time out to come up with intelligent questions that can tease out such answers. Also, be careful to read body language to see how the candidate reacts to these questions and how much their answers match their behavior.
7. Carry out a paid test trial
After the interview stage, you would have by then narrowed down the selection to the final few candidates. The best way to decide who to select would be through a paid test trial. Perhaps you plan to hire only one editor. Perhaps you wish to hire a few more than that.
Either way, come up with assignments that satisfy your content needs. Preferably, you would want to create a unique trial for each one of the candidates. The candidates who perform the best in the paid test trial and who deliver on time will be the one most qualified for the position.
8. Onboard successful candidate(s)
After selecting the candidate for the trial, then you begin the process of onboarding your new editor. You introduce them to your content management system, the writers they'll be working with, and the processes and procedures to follow.
Often, in the remote-friendly environment that content writing operates in, there may be no need to physically meet the editor that you hire. The qualifying tests and trial tests should be sufficient to let you know the nature of the person you're hiring, and how they fit in your organization.
Choosing between agencies and freelancers
Content marketers typically have to choose between relying on freelancers or content editing agencies. The steps I outlined earlier describe the process for hiring individual editors. However, there are cases wherre it makes sense to rely on agencies.
The main advantage of freelancers is that they are more flexible and affordable. On the other hand, agencies have higher capacity and can more easily produce large volumes of content when necessary.
Who is more expensive?
Freelancers typically offer more flexible and often lower pricing options than agencies. With freelancers, you may have pricing options such as:
per-word rates
hourly charges
per-project fees
retainer agreements for ongoing work.
This means that you have the leeway to select a payment option that aligns with the budget and scope of your project. However, rates can vary based on several factors. Such factors include the freelancer's experience, the complexity of the content, and the type of editing you require.
On the other hand, agencies usually charge higher rates because of additional overhead costs and for the fact that their services can be more comprehensive. Agencies can complement your business with a wider range of expertise.
Their teams do not just include editing experts. It may also include an entire team of professionals with a diverse range of experience and expertise. This means 1. Specialized editors, 2. Project managers, 3. Account managers, and 3. Quality assurance personnel. This type of approach can result in more impressive final results or content but at a premium price.
Who is more competent?
Now, this is a heavy question. The answer depends on several factors. But first let's begin with you and your organization. Whether or not you would benefit from hiring an editor freelance versus hiring an agency depends on the nature of your organization.
Are you a small company with limited human resources? If your organization's management already includes an in-house managing editor of content or project manager, then maybe you don't need an agency. You would simply be duplicating efforts.
There is also the question of the volume and scope of your content. How ambitious are your content marketing goals? A larger volume of content would favor an agency with the resources to deal with high capacity. There may be remarkable freeelance editors that can take on huge volumes of content. However, it would be too precarious to have so much rest on the shoulders of one or two individuals.
In short, think of hiring individual editors when your content volume is not too high and when your organization has management capacity to conduct project management at the same level or capacity that an agency would. However, if you are going for editing huge volumes of content and your organization is understaffed in terms of project management capacity, think of going with an agency.
Editing rates
How much should you expect to pay to hire an editor for their services? This is a tricky question to answer. Alot depends on teh scope of the work that you are hiring your editor for as well as their skills and experience. But I will try anyway.
To establish the rates yu should expect to pay for professional editing services, I relied on a survey by the EFA or the Editorial Freelancers' Association. The rates they provide are the result of responses provided by their individual members.
The table below provides the various editing rates in various fields of study or disciplines. In short, according to the EFA, you should expect to pay between $0.03 and $0.06 for professional editing.
Type of Editing | Price Per Word |
Academic | $0.03–$0.06 |
Business | $0.03–$0.05 |
Medical | $0.049–$0.05 |
Legal | $0.04–$0.14 |
A look at the table shows that the editing rates for the academia and business are nearly the same, with the upper range for academia being slightly higher. The medical profession has a slightly more expensive lower range. However, the legal profession shows much greater variance with the upper range of rates being as high as $0.14.
How does all this compare to the rates that you can get at EminentEdit? Read on to find out.
Editing AI-generated content
One of the relatively new challenges that you may encounter when hiring an editor is related to AI content. AI-generated content has taken the world of content writing by storm. Everyone and their pet are using AI to generate loads of content. In fact, it was even pronounced that human writers are no longer needed because of AI.
However, the initial enthusiasm has died down. People now realize that AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude actually require human editing. These tools are no longer seen as game changers. Instead, they are now viewed as tools that may increase the efficiency of your content marketing if used properly.
This means after using AI to generate content, you have to review and edit it. This raises all sorts of questions. For example, does it even make sense to use AI if the amount of time, energy, and money you spent on editors is the same or equal to having the content written by humans to begin with?
So, what are the issues of AI-generated content that require such content to be edited by humans? Well, the main problem is tone of voice or ToV. Alot of ChatGPT and other AI content comes out like badly written academic essays.
This is a problem. As a content marketer who produces content for business blogs, your audience is unlikely to appreciate the unnatural and robotic tone of AI-generated content. It degrades trust. The customer will likely ask themselves, 'Why should I buy from a business that can even talk like a human?"
Therefore, as a content manager or content marketer, you should ensure that the editing services or editor that you hire understands the importance of fixing ToV issues when editing content.
AI-generated copy comes with several benefits. It's fast. It's cheap, and it's easy to produce. On top of that, it allows you to scale content relatively quickly. However, it comes with several cons. These cons are mainly due to the fact that the technology is still at the early stages of development. These setbacks include:
Hallucinations
Thin content
Lack of originality
Robotic tone of voice
Hallucinations means that AI-generated software makes things up. Lack of originality means that it simply spins already-existing content and rearranges it. It creates nothing original.
This is also related to the issue of Thin content. With generative AI, you usually end up with a pale version of the original stuff that they sum up. This means you may end up with 300 words when you ask for one thousand.
Lastly, ChatGPT remains a machine. Its tone of voice simply isn't human. People know when they are communicating with a machine. Your potential customers will naturally be turned off by that.
How do all these things factor when it comes to setting editing rates for AI-generated content? Editors who work with AI-generated content should be paid to fix the problems that come with AI-generated copy. This would mean:
Expanding thin content
Fixing ToV issues
Fact-checking to remove hallucinations
Your rates will depend on the expectations you have of your editor. For example, expanding content would be less editing and more like content writing. This means you would likely pay more for it.
Get in touch for assistance in proofreading and editing your content |
EminentEdit as your content editing partner
EminentEdit provides high-quality copyediting services to ensure that your content or document is of the highest writing standard. This means, as a content manager, your blog articles can be published in the proper tone of voice and are optimized for search engines like Google.
We're a small group of professional editors with extensive experience in editing copy for modern search engines. EminentEdit is unique in that we are equally proficient in editing academic documents as we are in reviewing and correcting content for your blog.
This includes editing for tone and style to maximize the chances that readers who visit your site will convert. We also edit for SEO to maximize the likelihood of these visitors landing on your site to even begin with. In short, we aim to make sure you end up with content that both Google and readers love. And it's all done at a reasonable price.
Check out our pricing to see how we match low cost with high value. Our regular editing prices start quote low at $0.03/word:
Type of Editing | Description | Price Per Word ($) |
Regular Copyediting | Line-by-line editing to improve tone and sentence structure. | $0.03 |
AI Editing | Editing to improve tone and fact-checking. | $0.05 |
AI Editing Without Fact-Checking | Editing to improve tone and to humanify. | $0.02 |
Regular Proofreading | Editing to uncover and fix minor grammar, punctuation, and style errors. | $0.02 |
SEO Editing | Editing to improve search engine performance and keyword usage. | $0.1 |
Our editing services don't begin with correcting the final copy. It begins from the very start of your project. Our editing services include:
Proofreading and editing for completed articles
Consulting on content briefs
Reviewing and correcting long-form blog copy
Reviewing and correcting short-form copy
Reviewing and correcting AI-generated content
Get in touch with one of our representatives: CONTACT US AT EMINENT EDIT.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, April 21). How to Hire an Editor In 2025. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/how-to-hire-an-editor |
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