Article marketing can be one of the most user-friendly, reliable and cost-effective methods to boost your site’s SEO and overall traffic. But it does require some work. Every article you submit or distribute should be high quality, free of any spelling and grammatical errors and the misuse of any words. In general, something that you would be proud to see representing your company or brand.

In addition to the eyeballs that will be reading your article – and judging the company or author that created it – publishers also have guidelines, sometimes very strict, about what they will and will not accept. That’s why proofreading your articles is so important. Here are a few tips:

Give Your Article a Cool Off Period

After you’ve finished writing, step away from your article for a few hours before reading back over it. When you’ve been looking over a block of copy for an extended period of time, it becomes more difficult to see glaring errors, the kind you would instantly notice in other situations. Your mind may start to automatically fill in what you expect to see, not what is actually there on the page.

Read Your Article Backwards

This is a technique I have often used. Have you ever read an article so many times that you can almost recite it without looking? The more familiar you are with a piece of writing, the harder it becomes to proofread. So read the last sentence of your article, and then the second to last sentence, third to last, etc. Reading out of sequence takes away any familiarity and can help you to see grammar and spelling errors.

Print Your Article, Stand Up, and Read Your Article Out Loud

Hearing an article spoken aloud can be extremely effective at highlighting grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. Your ears can sometimes be more perceptive than your eyes. For maximum effectiveness, combine tips 2 and 3, and stand up and read your article aloud AND backwards.

Find a Friend with Excellent Editing Skills

If you have someone close to you with great grammar and spelling skills, see if you can enlist his or her help in looking over your article. A second set of eyes can be very helpful!

Make Sure Spell Checker Is On, And Grammar Checker Too

Spell checker has pointed out countless routine errors and typos from my documents, and though I find grammar checker to be a bit less useful, it doesn’t hurt to keep it on. But these are never substitutes for proofreading of course, since spell checker won’t find words misspelled that are still actual words (“Come to my part tonight” instead of “Come to my party tonight”) or words used incorrectly (“affect” instead of “effect”).

Remember that proofreading is important.  It pays to take the extra time up front before publishing a blog post, e-marketing piece, uploading website copy or submitting an article or press release. This ensures that your online content represents your company in the best possible way,  and puts the spotlight on your expertise and professionalism to all who you interact with online.

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Need Help With Your Next Writing Project?

Contact me directly at: jhaynes@hattrickassociates.com or visit our Contact page and fill out the brief form.

Jim