Every piece of content you create should be proofed. This includes:
- Products.
- Newsletters.
- Blog articles.
- Social media posts.
- Customer service replies.
- Help desk FAQs and documentation.
- Sales letters.
- Web content.
- Advertisements.
- Press releases.
- Guest content.
- Disclaimers/terms of services/rules/agreements.
- Project briefs.
- Interactions/comments/replies on forums, groups and social media.
… And any other business-related communications.
Here are different ways to proof your content:
Do it yourself. This is a good choice for communications that tend to be a little more informal, such as blog commenting, social media commenting, answering customer inquiries, and similar.
Obviously, in all cases like this you want to make a good impression by putting out proofed and polished content. However, it’s simply not feasible to have a third party proof certain pieces of content, like a customer service email that needs to be answered ASAP. So, in those cases, you’ll need to proof it yourself.
Here are tips for when you have to proof your own content:
- Use tools. While a spell checker and grammar checker won’t catch all your errors, it’s a good start. Most word processors and even email clients have spell checkers, so be sure to use them.
- Read it out loud. Reading your content out loud tends to slow your rate of reading down, which helps you catch errors. This method also helps you catch content that’s poorly worded or otherwise doesn’t read smoothly.
- Set it aside. This isn’t always possible due to time constraints. However, if you don’t need to publish the content ASAP, then set it aside for a couple days before you proof it. This lets you look at it with “fresh” eyes, which means you’re more likely to read it the way it’s actually written (errors and all) versus the way you think it’s written. And that means you’ll catch more of your errors.
Generally, proofing your content is the least desirable method, as you’re too close to your work to find all your errors. That’s why you’ll want a third party to look at your content, especially if the content is important.
Here’s the next option…
Ask a trusted friend to proof it. This is a good option if you have a colleague, friend, spouse or family member with a good eye for spelling and grammar. Don’t hand it over to someone who doesn’t have a good grasp of these items, however, as they may make mistakes that can damage your content.
When the content is really important, then you’ll want to turn to a professional…
Hire a professional. This is your best bet for your most important content (such as paid products).
Take note, there are two main types of people you can hire to get your content looking good:
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- A proofreader. This person generally deals with grammar and spelling errors.
- An editor. This person not only deals with grammar and spelling, they’ll also look at your content overall and give you recommendations for better structure. For example, if they’re proofing a book, they might suggest that the content in one chapter be merged with the content for another chapter.
You can pick the type of person that best suits your needs and budget. (Obviously, an editor charges more because they do more.). You can find both proofreaders and editors by searching Google, asking colleagues for recommendations, and/or posting projects on freelancing sites such as upwork.com or freelancer.com.
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