Act as a senior copy editor for a page that must help a real reader and meet a defined search intent. Edit the draft below without adding unsupported facts, statistics, customer results, quotations, legal claims, or product capabilities. Draft: [DRAFT COPY] Primary keyword: [PRIMARY KEYWORD] Search intent and reader question: [SEARCH INTENT] Audience and desired action: [AUDIENCE AND CTA] Brand voice and non-negotiable wording: [VOICE RULES] Verified source material or claims that must remain accurate: [FACT CHECK NOTES] First, determine whether the draft serves informational, commercial-investigation, transactional, or navigational intent. Keep the primary keyword in the title or opening, one relevant subheading where natural, and language that accurately names the subject. Do not force exact-match repetition or change a qualified claim into an absolute claim. Return these four sections: 1. Edited copy, preserving the original format and approximate length unless a section is redundant. Use active sentences, concrete nouns, and reader-relevant detail. 2. Edit log with 5–10 material changes. For each, state the issue and why the revision helps clarity, credibility, intent match, scannability, or conversion. 3. SEO and reader audit: search-intent fit, title and heading issues, keyword use, missing decision information, unsupported claims, and internal-link opportunities marked as [INTERNAL LINK: topic]. 4. Fact-risk list: every statement that needs verification against [FACT CHECK NOTES], plus claims you removed because they could not be supported. Preserve technical terms that the audience needs; define them on first use if the draft does not. Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a required input is missing. Before answering, self-check that the edited copy does not introduce new factual claims and that each keyword use reads naturally to a human reader.
Fill in
| Placeholder | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| [DRAFT COPY] | Paste the complete draft, including title, headings, calls to action, and captions if relevant. | Title: Payroll software for small teams. Running payroll is hard. Our platform makes payroll easy and saves you time. Start today. |
| [PRIMARY KEYWORD] | Enter the main phrase the page should target in search. | payroll software for small businesses |
| [SEARCH INTENT] | Describe what the searcher wants to know, compare, decide, or do after searching. | Owners of 5–30 person U.S. businesses comparing payroll tools want to understand setup, tax filing, employee access, and pricing before a demo. |
| [AUDIENCE AND CTA] | Describe the intended reader and the single action the page should encourage. | Operations managers at small service companies; primary action is request a product demo. |
| [VOICE RULES] | State tone requirements, prohibited wording, approved terminology, and wording that must not change. | Plain, calm, no “effortless,” no claims that payroll becomes automatic. Keep the product name LedgerLane unchanged. |
| [FACT CHECK NOTES] | Provide approved facts, source links, caveats, and claims that require verification. | LedgerLane supports W-2 payroll in 38 states; contractor payments are available nationwide. Pricing is custom. Do not claim tax filing in states not listed. |
How to use
- Paste the entire draft so the editor can see whether the title, opening, headings, and CTA agree.
- State the searcher’s decision clearly; a keyword alone does not tell the editor what evidence the reader needs.
- Check every item in the fact-risk list against your source material before publishing.
- Follow up with: “Now cut the edited copy to [WORD COUNT] words without removing the decision criteria a [AUDIENCE] needs.”
Variations
Landing page edit
Use for a product or service page designed to earn a demo, trial, or purchase.
Edit this landing page for conversion without inventing proof: [LANDING PAGE], [AUDIENCE], [PRIMARY ACTION], [APPROVED PROOF], and [VOICE RULES]. Return revised copy in the same section order, then a table covering headline clarity, problem framing, feature-to-outcome links, objections, CTA friction, and unsupported claims. Keep claims qualified exactly as the approved proof supports. Ask up to 3 questions only if required material is missing. Check that every promised outcome has evidence or has been softened.
Article line edit
Use for an informational article that needs cleaner writing without a structural rewrite.
Line-edit [ARTICLE DRAFT] for readers searching [QUERY] with this intended takeaway: [TAKEAWAY]. Follow [STYLE GUIDE] and protect the facts in [SOURCES OR NOTES]. Return a clean edited draft followed by a short list of unclear terms, repeated points, missing transitions, and factual assertions needing a citation. Keep the author’s point of view. Ask up to 3 questions only if a required input is missing. Check that no statistic, quote, or attribution was invented.
Metadata rewrite
Use when a page needs a search-ready title and description after the copy is approved.
Create metadata for [PAGE SUMMARY] targeting [PRIMARY KEYWORD] for [SEARCH INTENT], using [BRAND VOICE]. Provide five title tags of 45–60 characters and five meta descriptions of 120–155 characters. Each must accurately reflect the page, distinguish its angle, and avoid promises unsupported by [APPROVED CLAIMS]. Flag any missing fact that prevents an accurate description. Ask up to 3 questions if needed, then check character counts and remove duplicate wording.
Tips
- Edit for the decision the searcher is making, not for raw keyword frequency; comparison pages need criteria, while how-to pages need usable steps.
- Keep qualifiers such as “may,” “in supported states,” or “for eligible plans” when the evidence depends on them.
- Ask for source notes before polishing testimonial-like or performance language, because smooth unsupported copy is still a liability.
- Read headings alone after editing; they should form a useful outline without repeating the same promise in every section.
FAQ
Will copy editing improve rankings by itself?
It can improve intent match, clarity, and useful structure, but it cannot guarantee rankings. Search performance also depends on competition, authority, technical indexing, and the page’s underlying usefulness.
Should the primary keyword appear in every section?
No. Use it where it accurately names the topic, then use natural related terms. Repetition that adds no meaning weakens the page.
Can AI fact-check the draft?
It can flag claims to verify and compare them with sources you provide. It should not be treated as proof that an external fact is current or correct.