10 Smart Content Proofreading Hacks to Catch More Avoidable Errors
Generally, content proofreading and editing are two different tasks, and that’s the way we like to treat both activities.
Nevertheless, the creative advantages of a steady content proofreading process outdo the typical definition of proofreading.
Present-day writers can cash in on proofreading to keep away from the common extremes of being too little or too much concerned about your content.
The problem with being too little concerned about your content is quite self-evident, but being too much concerned about your content is equally big a problem.
This trouble happens when the writers are either having second thoughts about their capabilities, obsessing over their content drafts, or postponing publishing their content until it is “perfect.”
Proofreading helps make sure that you have carefully reviewed your content from top to bottom and eliminated all goofs so that you can freely release it to the world with full confidence.
This blog discusses ten smart content proofreading hacks that will help you quickly catch more avoidable errors and confidently publish your content.
- Proofread Your Content Backwards
This hack is a real time-saver. Writers should proofread their content, starting from the last sentence to the first.
The reason it is our favorite is that we won’t always have an entire day to let our draft sit before we proofread and edit it. We are living in a high-speed content publishing environment, so this great advice is no longer realistic.
Therefore, when you proofread your content backward, it helps you view it with fresh eyes without having to put your writing aside for a day.
Besides catching the actual mistakes, you will also most probably discover:
- Terms you are overusing
- Sentences that you can simplify further
- Paragraphs that you can clarify
So, next time you have to polish a new draft before publishing, try out this hack.
- Pause at Every Punctuation Mark
Proofreading is all about checking out every little detail that helps your readers grasp your message seamlessly.
Stop at every comma, apostrophe, full stop, talking marks, and other punctuation marks to ensure that you have used them appropriately within your content.
This hack is particularly beneficial to spot the common “it/it’s/its” or “their/there/they’re” errors.
- Check the First Word of Each Paragraph
Diversifying your terminology and phrasing promotes your writing to a more sophisticated degree.
If several paragraphs in your content start with the same word, your writing will not be as dynamic as you could make it.
Take advantage of this opportunity to push your creativity further.
- Double-Check the Spellings of Names of People
Google is every proofreader’s best buddy.
Whenever proofreading your writing, keep a Google search tab open and search for the correct spelling of each and every name that appears in your content.
It is crucial to do so because surely you’d also like it better if your name is spelled correctly.
- Double-Check the Spellings of Company Names
When the names of proper nouns are spelled correctly in content, it is taken for granted.
But when an intelligent reader finds a spelling or letter case mistake, it makes your content look clumsy.
For example, it could be “Mcdonald’s” or “mcdonald’s” instead of the right spelling “McDonald’s.”
Or it could be “Luis Vuitton” instead of “Louis Vuitton.”
A misspelling of a name is not a typo; it is an error.
Therefore, it is crucial to run a final spell-check. It forms a massive part of the proofreading process, which is why among the ten hacks, we have dedicated numerous of them to vital components that proofreaders need to double-check in every content before.
- Double-Check Spellings of Product Names
Another crucial component to verify.
The responsibilities of modern content marketers also involve researching, checking facts, proofreading, and copy editing.
When trying to sway your boss or clients, you shouldn’t depend on somebody else to scan your content for accuracy. Take control of your writing in your hands.
- Double-Check Your Titles’ Spellings
Proofreaders usually spot subtle goofs in the titles of blog posts or books, like missing or extra words.
They’re ‘almost’ right, but technically wrong.
So, as a writer, you should make it a habit to write these correctly in your content first, keeping in mind that you’d also want other writers to write the correct spellings of your books, blogs, or videos.
- Double-Check Days, Dates, and Times of Events
This is super easy to do.
If you are announcing an event or webinar in your content, first be sure to verify that the day of the week mentioned in your writing matches the date before publishing it.
After that, verify the start time and time zone.
- Inspect Hyperlinked Text
Ensuring that your hyperlinks are working is also an essential part of your proofreading process, where you should thoroughly review all the hyperlinked text within your content.
A hyperlink text will have a different color (typically blue by default) than the rest of your content, which is also somehow the reason that makes it easy to neglect.
But you should avoid falling into that trap and carefully scrutinize those texts too.
- Pinpoint Repeated Information
Although you will condense the paragraphs and sentences while editing your content, proofreading is still a great way to detect the information repeatedly appearing in your writing.
You should aim to communicate your message as briefly as possible.
This will show your readers that you value their time, which they appreciate a lot.
Wrap Up
Concluding this post, we would like to give our fellow writers a friendly reminder that this year will be ending very soon. And by that, we are not referring to celebrations.
Every year, proofreaders come across “year errors” in content for at least three initial months of the new year. This primarily occurs when you are announcing a webinar, podcast, video, or event in your writing.
Make sure you don’t make this mistake this new year—just a bonus tip for you all.
With the right information at your disposal, it becomes easier for content writers to instantly up their game, and that’s what we are motivated to do – help the writers achieve their desired results.
Next time you have to proofread a draft, keep these ten smart and easy hacks in mind to polish your content effortlessly.