Summary

This blog discusses how inclusive copy editing improves brand perception, business performance, website accessibility, customer satisfaction, and market size, enhancing ROI.

Inclusive copy editing can bring a transformational impact on the lives of millions of people and make your business products/services more successful for a higher audience reach. Data also suggests that over 50% of people are more likely to recommend a product or service if its campaigns or advertisements are inclusive, diverse, and representative.

Yet inclusivity in copy editing is rarely given the due attention it deserves. From offering a platform for diverse and inclusive voices to donating to social movements, there are several ways to improve your content diversity and inclusiveness.

To help you manage these concerns effectively, we will discuss below some of the top benefits of inclusive copy editing and how it can help businesses and their audience in the long run.

Table of Contents:

What is Inclusive Copy Editing?

Inclusive copy editing is the process of creating content that caters to or is written for all kinds of readers. Put simply, inclusiveness in copyediting represents all forms of diversity, including age, disability, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and more.

From a business perspective, inclusivity also includes an organization’s brand and internal structure, along with its external advertising campaigns. This considers a range of factors, including race, gender, ethnicity, physical ability, and sexual orientation.

Put simply, inclusive proofreading and copy editing do not make any assumptions about the audience to which you’re speaking. On the contrary, it aims to include and acknowledge everyone.

Below are some of the best practices for inclusive copy editing:

  • Leveraging various methods of inclusive copy editing, such as diverse sourcing, self-identification, and deconstructing defaults
  • Identifying the most commonly used descriptions that can cause negative impact in categories such as age, gender, race, and ethnicity
  • Recognizing nuances in various ways the same content is presented

Also Read: A Production Manager’s Handbook to Avoid Typesetting Errors

How to Use Inclusive Language for Businesses and Websites

One of the most important aspects of making your copy editing more inclusive is using inclusive language and tone to avoid any kind of words or expressions that may sound insensitive, offensive, or discriminatory to your audience. Here are some tips you can use here in this regard:

Tip 1: Use gender-neutral terms, especially if you don’t know the specific gender identity of the user.

Tip 2: Minimize the use of difficult words such as acronyms, jargon, and technical terms. Replace such terms with simpler terms.

Tip 3: Always include respectful and accurate terms for different cultures, religions, sexualities, ethnicities, and abilities.

Tip 4: Do not use negative or patronizing language. Instead, focus on positive, active, and direct language to keep the essence of writing intact.

Benefits of Inclusive Copy Editing for Businesses and Audiences

Inclusive copy editing services are an equally beneficial concept for both businesses and audiences. Here are some of the main benefits of making copy editing inclusive:

1. Improves Brand Perception

One of the most obvious advantages of inclusive copy editing is improved brand perception. By being inclusive in content, a business can significantly increase relatability.

If the audience can better identify with the brand because they feel represented, credibility increases manifolds. Businesses that successfully navigate the nuances of inclusive copy editing enjoy better opportunities for growth, engagement, and customer loyalty.

2. Better Business Performance

Diversity and inclusion are long-term competitive differentiators for businesses. Statistics also show that companies with significantly more racial and ethnic inclusion and diversity in their marketing and campaigns are 35% more likely to outperform their competitors, which, in turn, leads to much higher performance.

3. Enhanced Website Accessibility

Another reason why we need to include inclusivity in different types of copy editing services is because it can help significantly to improve the overall accessibility of a website or social media account.

When a company or a brand ensures that its content is inclusive, it is much more likely to be accessible to users with different disabilities, such as users suffering from blindness or low vision.

This means inclusive copy editing ensures higher accessibility of content, and also help brands to ensure that all users, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, and abilities, can easily access and engage with the content.

4. Higher Customer Satisfaction

Inclusive copy editing services are not simply about accommodating users with various disabilities. It also enhances the overall user experience for all customers.

The idea of taking into consideration the diverse needs and preferences of users from various groups from the beginning allows businesses to create intuitive and user-friendly content and designs that are much easier and enjoyable to use.

5. Increased Market Size

One of the other key benefits of inclusiveness in copy editing is the expansion of the market size for businesses and brands. By ensuring inclusivity in copy editing and in the description of products and services that cater to a diverse range of users, businesses can tap into previously untapped markets and increase their customer base significantly.

6. Competitive Edge and Improved ROI

Investing in professional copy editing services can be great for businesses with a significant return on investment (ROI). This is simply because refined, polished, and error-free content not only enhances the brand image and credibility but also improves conversion rates and reader engagement manifolds.

In addition, well-written, error-free, and engaging content can improve search engine optimization (SEO) rankings significantly. This drives driving more organic traffic to your website or other online platforms.

Also Read: Enhancing Print Consistency: Best Practices for Prepress Success

In Conclusion

Copy editing is an essential aspect of any business with a range of advantages, including improved SEO and enhanced reputation. This, in turn, can help businesses build consistency of operations and strong brand credibility in the long run.

Whether you’re writing an educational eBook, a research paper, or a fictional novel, copy editing is key to ensuring your book gets the print run it deserves.

Redefine content creation with Dictera by Hurix Digital. Apart from offering comprehensive copy editing services, the Dictera question generator tool also automates intelligent assessment creation and helps you collaborate seamlessly in real-time to be able to build better content with minimal effort.

Contact us today to learn more about Hurix Digital’s solutions for the best copy editing services.