Summary – Proofreading is often considered a laborious task in the content writing activity. Learn how to apply these 8 tips and make proofreading much faster and much more effective.
Reading time – 4 mins
Who is it for – Content writing agencies, content marketing agencies, digital marketing companies, SEO firms.
Writing clearly and precisely has always been a top-most concern for web content writers. Publishing a write-up with grammatical or spelling errors may make your readers annoyed, ending up increasing the chances of discarded readings. Performing the proofreading process can help you avoid such embarrassments and assist in building a strong reputation in front of your regular visitors. Many a time, writers may not be able to proofread their write-ups just because they are running short of time or have deadline pressures.
If you wish to enhance your proofreading skills, the read the section below to have a good command over your write-ups:
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Be Aware of Your Personal Weaknesses
Most of the writers may spell the same words incorrectly multiple times, increasing the chances of making spelling errors more frequently. Some typing flaws and habit of using incorrect key combinations may end up increasing the chances of making big mistakes in your write-up. If you’re aware of your weaknesses, then keep a check on the same and be extra attentive to proofread your write-ups efficiently.
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Never Proofread Immediately
It is better to proofread a completed draft after a few minutes or hours, instead of proofreading your write-ups immediately. Proofreading long content piece with a fresh mind can assist in detecting errors and flaws at a faster pace. a better option will be to let another person do the proofreading
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Use Language Proficiency Over Spellcheckers
Use your language proficiency and catch spelling mistakes before you publish the content on the web to build a strong reputation as a writer. Always have a fresh and objective look while proofreading to guarantee perfection. This holds true for the dreaded American vs British English dilemma that writers usually face (BTW the image below is a great pin-up for writers juggling various geographies!)
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Keep Your Focus on a Single Line
Never read the whole paragraph at once as it may ruin the entire picture and end up skipping the crucial mistakes. The best solution to avoid the same is – focusing a single line or evaluating each sentence wholly for sentence construction, structure, and punctuation mistakes.
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Refer to Content Rules for Better Results
One of the key factors that can help you identify mistakes easily is the content rule book. Keep a handbook of style handy for immediate reference and make most out of your proofreading sessions. Referring to the universal writing style may consume more time and effort, but it helps in improving the speed and accuracy of writing.
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Stress on Punctuation Mistakes
Being a professional writer, you may write everything clearly and accurately, but sometimes minute punctuation errors might ruin the entire hard work. The best solution to avoid punctuation errors is – take a print out of your written content and circle the punctuation mistakes, including every comma, period, semicolon, colon, and others, to make your write-up fit for accuracy evaluation. Correct the spotted mistakes in the final copy and publish the same.
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Follow a Systematic Approach
It is highly appreciable if you can follow a systematic approach to proofreading your written content. Using the same approach for every write-up may make you efficient to spot spelling and grammar errors with great ease. Additionally, you must identify unclear statements and poor grammar, rework on them, and then proofread the final copy to ensure that only high-quality content gets published for readings.
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Get Engaged in Backward Readings
Sometimes, reading with the flow may make your mind think in a particular direction, disabling you to fill in nonexistent letters, required words, and necessary punctuations. To bring the change, you must read through the text backward and anticipate the rhythm & flow of the writing. Focus on the words, vocabulary, and letters to identify the mistakes and correct them before publishing.
Conclusion
Following the tips mentioned above can assist you to limit your hours of proofing of content to a few minutes. Undoubtedly, the proofreading tasks may appear tiring and frustrating, but following this approach is very important to ensure that your readers get a good impression and always come back to your blog/website for more. Focusing on your weaknesses and discovering the scope of improvements can assist in making your write-ups error-free and leads to greater efficiency in your conversion optimization goals.
