• By John Cunningham
• Published 09/29/2009
• Article Writing

A website is usually composed of just words and images, with the images comprising also of animations and videos. But the most integral part of any web page is the copy or the text that conveys the message of the whole site, and of the business itself, to its target audience. This is why that not only should you, as an online entrepreneur, understand the importance of a good web content copywriter, but also know the vital role that an effective web content editor plays in your business. But why have an editor when you already hired a web content writer? Because the two belong to different species. The web content writer is efficient in writing web copy while the editor is good in finding faults from the former. Well, not really, but that is also a part of the editor’s job. What he actually does is to make sure that web writer’s copy is clean from grammar and spelling errors and that the sentence and the whole article itself makes sense to the readers. Sometimes if the whole website adheres to a certain editorial policy, then the editor makes sure that such policies are met and followed. So what qualities or requirements do you need from an effective web content editor? Here are some you might want to consider: 1. Knows good grammar and correct spelling.

This one’s a given. The editor must know the basics fir

st before he should be allowed to edit and criticize the written works of others. Does it mean the editor must also be a good writer? Well, it helps if he is but sometimes an editor can be great at his job only because he knows what and where to look for the faults in an article. 2. An editor values the importance of deadlines. Especially if he is managing a group of writers, the editor must strictly implement deadlines because otherwise, the articles to be used for web content will all be late and the website will not be regularly updated. He must also be capable and responsible enough to set such deadlines both to his team and to himself as well. 3. An editor is not just a manager, but also a team player. One fault that some editors have is that they think that since they are usually the head or boss of a team of writers, that they should always be above his people. Usually it’s an ego thing, but this is definitely not a good way to manage people. Writers are creative people and they work through their emotions. They are constantly slighted by their boss, they can easily just walk away and find other projects or commissions. It’s worse if the writer is a very good one.

Finding the best web content editor for your team or simply just for your website is not an easy task. The qualities mentioned above is a good start although admittedly, it can take some time before such qualities can be very evident in a person.