1 min read

Human Editors vs. Tools: Finding common ground

Human Editors vs. Tools: Finding common ground

You finish writing the content your audience needs. All that's left to do is run a quick check with your automated editing tool and your document is ready to publish--or is it?

Consider the positive EFFECT on your content when you combine the Benefits of automated tools and human editors.

Automated editing tools are good for basic editing needs: grammatical errors, spell checks, sentence length, and synonyms. They can even identify repetitive text and help you to improve your fundamental writing skills. Automation saves time and money. Unfortunately, complete reliance on automated editing tools can compromise your content quality. Why not use automation to reduce the amount of time editors need to spend with a document?

Human Editors catch the errors that tools can’t.

Talented and experienced human editors analyze the content first ─ both from your point of view and from the user's ─ and then move on to edits.

Human editors work with content writers to determine context and to ensure the logical flow of information and usability. Editors can help to improve the following content elements:

  • Content and structure: Human editors can understand the information that you need to convey. They can help to create content that's appropriate and useful for the intended audience.
  • Sentence structure and procedures: Human editors notice connections between seemingly unrelated ideas. They can also provide guidance when a procedure doesn't seem to flow well. For now, tool editors only look at content at face value.
  • Word usage: Tool editors can check spelling errors, but they're not infallible. They miss opportunities to improve word usage and correct typos-- “manger” should be “manager” or if “file” is incorrectly written as “pile”, for example.
  • Voice and tone: Human editors allow passive voice where it's appropriate. They can also guide word choice to keep content professional, inclusive, and less formal. Even the most customizable tool can't match the experienced discernment of a human editor.
  • Punctuation: Human editors can help you identify and introduce various controls and emphasis, such as a pause or quotes in your content.

Strong messages, strong brand.

Human editors are great resources and ideally, they're an integral part of your content development team. Their feedback raises the bar for content quality and helps organizations to develop their brands.

Editing tools help boost the efficiency and speed of the content editing process. They're unlikely to replace people in helping to develop content that’s exactly what your audience wants: easy-to-follow, concise, and precise.

Gone in (less than) 60 Seconds

Gone in (less than) 60 Seconds

How long do we stay on a website looking for answers? According to the Nielsen Norman Group, less than 59 seconds. The number one reason for leaving...

Read More
Buyer's Persona Explained

Buyer's Persona Explained

Consider that you are writing a user guide for the latest smart phone that is launched in the market. You know that billions of people across the...

Read More
How to Benefit from Working with Technical Subject Matter Experts

How to Benefit from Working with Technical Subject Matter Experts

Technical SMEs, pronounced ‘smees’ stands for Subject Matter Experts. Many of our projects require these valuable members on our team to help fill in...

Read More