Exclusive Interview With Alex Lindley, Managing Editor of Semrush

Q1. How do you give constructive feedback to writers?

A1. Alex usually adapts to two ways when it comes to giving feedback,

1. Putting comments in google doc

2. Recording a quick video using Loom

He also elaborates on the role of giving positive feedback to the writer without making a judgement. Adapting to different tone and style can be challenging for writers at times. Hence, meaningful feedback should top the list as an editor.

Q2.Explain your approach to editing an article.

Here is the three step approach to editing an article beautifully,

1. Looking for what customers want. What narrows down at the end is the search intent of the end customer. Hence, organising the overall structure on what target audience wants to read is important.

2. Giving out the useful information in the first few paragraphs is important. We need to be respectful of the time of the reader. Coming straight to the point and providing value immediately is the key.

3. Removing fluff in every section is important and ignoring the flowery language is equally important.

Q3. How would you approach editing a 2,000-word article with a deadline of 15 minutes?

1. - Look for typos and grammatical errors.
2. - Look for search intent of the keyword
3. -Improve headers and introductions
4. Q4. What advice would you give to newbie writers?

- Dont ignore AI. Learn to use it to make your writing effective and efficient.

-Think of what value you can bring to table and make your content better.

- Search for an angle to improve without ignoring SERP.

- Look at your strengths and see how you can add your perspective on a given topic.