Editorial principles are the backbone of your content program
How do you describe good content created by expert authors that truly deserves to rank?
Expertise, authority, and trust is the way we measure or check off the elements that we know we need to include. It’s what ties SEO to editorial.
But we also need to know:
How to instruct our writers to construct sentences that exude EAT.
How to align our entire body of work to our values to grow our brand entity on and offline.
How to ensure our content is well-researched, offers unique insights, provides real value to the audience, and is crafted with clarity and credibility in mind.
Principles get us there. Think of principles like the rules of good writing for your specific audience and topic area, plus when to ignore those rules in favor of the reader. Editorial guidelines show us the details of how to write – like in active voice, for example – and principles help us with what messages to convey and the meaning to achieve – like sentiment, advice, and transparency for example.
Editorial principles example list
Try to keep your list of principles close to 5 and definitely no more than 10. The purpose of principles is to give a north star, a set of expectations, or guardrails, so that your content team can make good decisions without handholding and can learn to solve problems and innovate.
All of our content is directly related to our business and relevant to our audience. Everything we make has a purpose, and we aim to do triple duty whenever possible to get impact in multiple places like: Traffic, leads, links, shares, social, newsletter, video.
We write true, useful, helpful, content that adds value to our readers’ lives or helps our readers make an informed decision.
We infuse our brand’s voice, tone, and context into our content.
Our content meets intent faster and more comprehensively than our competitors.
We only build what we can maintain, and commit to updating our content on a regular basis so readers can trust that it is accurate and reliable.
Some editorial guideline examples:
We meet intent immediately, providing the answer to the main query at the top of the page and immediately following each section header.
We aim to only use active voice and avoid fluff by saying as much as possible in as few words as possible.
We follow AP style with the exception of the Oxford comma (use it!).
Write in 1st and 2nd person, both, whenever possible. Speaking from experience shows authority and expertise, and speaking directly to the reader using “you” (2nd) shows trust.
Editorial best practices
When writing, here’s what I keep in mind.
Keep intros short, ideally below 2 sentences.
Short intros grab your reader's attention right away and get to the point quickly. If you keep your intro brief, you respect their time and make it easier for them to stay engaged. Plus, it sets a clear tone and purpose for what’s coming next without making them work to figure it out.
When an intro is the definition of the thing, use the H1 as the header.
An H1 tag is the main title of your webpage. Think of it as the headline that tells visitors and search engines what your page is all about. It helps organize your content, giving your headings a clear structure and making it easier for readers to know what’s coming next. If the page is a definition page or requires a quick definition to clarify for the reader, make it the intro without labelling it.
Intros should meet intent
When intros meet intent, they immediately show readers that they’re in the right place. People usually come to a page because they’re looking for something specific - whether it’s an answer, a guide, or a product. If your intro doesn’t align with what they’re expecting, they might click away faster than you can say "bounce rate."
A well-crafted intro also sets the stage for the rest of the content, building trust and encouraging readers to keep reading. Meeting intent isn’t just about P0s – it’s about making sure your content delivers real value right from the start.
Avoid using crutch phrases or asking open-ended rhetorical questions
Crutch phrases like "Whether you're this or that" or asking an open-ended rhetorical question like "Isn't accounting frustrating?” alienate the reader.
Crutch phrases might seem harmless, but they can water down your message and make it feel less engaging. Instead of drawing the reader in, they can come across as filler that distracts from the point you’re trying to make. Plus, they can come across like you grabbed it right from AI.
The goal is to connect with your audience, and avoiding these phrases helps keep your writing clear, direct, and relatable.
Editorial voice and tone affects SEO!
Editorial is the base of all SEO, which means voice and tone overlap with SEO and vice versa.
All Google metrics come from one base: reader behavior. Speed is measured on their phone, page value is measured by whether they read it and click into your solution or not. Words make this happen or not.
There are ways to harmoniously reference both in both worlds. Talking to your audience in a way that feels personal and engaging can do wonders for your SEO. When your readers feel like you’re speaking directly to them, they’re more likely to stick around and interact with your content.
But it's not just about the words you use, it's also about how you structure your content. Using headings, subheadings, and bullet points can make your content easier to read and digest, which can improve its SEO ranking. Additionally, incorporating keywords naturally throughout your writing can also positively impact your SEO efforts.
Editors should be editing with feedback explained, not suggesting
In an ideal world: Writer submits to Editor, Editor edits, leaving explanations on their changes to the writer. Writer acknowledges feedback, but the piece moves on to the next step rather than going back to the writer for more edits.
If the writer doesn't incorporate that feedback into future pieces, it's called out again. This way, future pieces slowly eliminate entire types of feedback over time, but the feedback loop does not inhibit the publishing loop.
Over time, we can turn these learnings into training materials and even build an onboarding guide tailored to different roles. It’s a simple way to grow skills and set everyone up for success.
Avoid sentences that say nothing
These always include some kind of generic statement with a "be" verb: "it is important to," "doing X is key" "there are many ways to."
Unfortunately, these sentences don't convey any new information to the reader. In show-don't-tell format, instead, explain WHY doing X is key, without saying "because."
Example 1:
NO: Closing the books every month is key because it keeps your accounting on track.
YES: Closing the books every month gives you a chance to see exactly how your business is running and address issues you find in the monthly numbers before they snowball into bigger problems. Plus at the end of the year, you only have to close one more month and you can move on to your annual reporting.
Examples 2:
NO: There are many accounting software platforms to choose from on the market today.
YES: Last time we checked, there are over 267 different accounting platforms to choose from. We did the research on all of them to help you narrow down which one is right for your company's needs.
Example 3:
NO: It is important to remember that cash and accrual are two different things.
YES: Mixing up cash and accrual is a lot like putting diesel gasoline in an unleaded engine; one error will affect all the other numbers in your report.
It's OK to use formats to help you write faster
I’m a firm believer that what is good for the reader is good for SEO. And so in circumstances where you’ve reliably found a format that works well for your audience, it’s perfectly acceptable to use that format again in similar situations (as long as the content is unique, of course).
Pros and Cons
Always use two H2s, not H2 and two H3s.
Using two H2s for pros and cons keeps things clean and easy for both readers and search engines. It creates a clear structure that makes it simple to scan and digest the content, which is great for readability. On the SEO side, search engines prefer organized headings, and using H2s ensures your content is indexed accurately.
“How to” sections
For "How to" sections that are a process in chronological order, always use a <ol> numbered list.
For articles where the main topic is the process, you may use headers as the steps as that is the process, but consider repeating it in a shortened format (and use as your TOC to avoid redundancies) at the top.
Vs. sections (comparing products using "vs.")
If you’re comparing two similar products, try using "vs." instead of "versus" in your headings. It’s a simple trick that makes things feel more engaging and reader-friendly.
Use a clear layout, like a table or bullet points, to compare key features side-by-side. This makes it easier for readers to scan and understand the differences quickly.
Keep it short and sweet, focus on the most important details. Stay neutral and stick to facts unless you’re sharing an opinion. The goal is to help readers make an informed decision without feeling overwhelmed.
Who it’s best for, Price, Benefits
Thousands of user tests confirm that readers on Product Reviews want to know: Is this right for me? How much does it cost? What do I get? And in that order.
Make sure to highlight the key benefits and unique selling points of the product or service. This will help readers understand why they might need this particular product and how it can benefit them.
Keep it human, keep it helpful
Be accurate, be useful, and always keep the reader’s needs front and center.
The goal is to guide readers, not sell to them. Stay clear, stay honest, and stick to what truly matters – their needs.
When in doubt, ask yourself, Does this help someone make a choice they’ll feel good about? If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track.
