You’ve already built your website structure and navigation, the copy has been written, and you’ve had your website content edited by a professional copy editor. You’re almost ready to hit the “Publish” button and take your website public on the Internet. Are you certain everything is perfect? If not, then a final proofread of your website is the best choice you can make.
It’s clear that you’ve put a lot of thought into what you want your website to say, so you don’t want careless errors causing a distraction and making you look bad. Many people make the mistake of thinking that proofreading is as simple as quickly scanning the page and fixing any errors that jump out at them.
This type of unfocused approach, coupled with the fact that you just spent a lot of time writing and editing this document, can mean you miss errors on the page. Our brains work against us here, as it’s too easy to scan lines of text and make sense of the words regardless of small errors. Website proofreading can help.
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Why website proofreading matters
Think of your website as the digital representation of you, your business, or your organization. Getting your website proofread is the online equivalent of wearing smart clothes, brushing your hair, smiling, and putting your best foot forward. Website proofreading makes sure that your website copy is perfect, and builds trust and confidence with your audience as they read your content.
Why you should have a professional editor proofread your website
Customers might consider spelling, punctuation, or grammar mistakes on your website as a lack of attention to detail. Because there’s so much competition to get noticed online, even the smallest errors can result in your readers looking elsewhere. Correct website content is even more important if you work in a field like education, science, or other areas where accuracy is important.
Issues with your website content and copy might result in lost revenue, less confidence, or damage to your reputation. Fortunately, it’s easy to make sure these problems don’t happen in the first place. A professional website proofreader will go through every line of your content and make changes to ensure it reads perfectly.
If you’re about to launch your website, publish a new page or article, or make changes to your website copy, make sure your website is proofread thoroughly to find and correct mistakes.
What website proofreading does
Here’s what you need to know about website proofreading:
Website proofreading is a final, thorough review of your website content.
It’s normally completed after you’ve had your website content edited and before you publish it.
A website proofreader finds and corrects any spelling, grammar, wording, or punctuation mistakes that might have been overlooked in the writing and editing process.
They will highlight any changes to you, so you can update your website content before you publish.
Website proofreaders will review and correct any pages that you request. This could be your entire online presence, specific pages, or areas like product descriptions or sales copy.
Think of website proofreading as that final check to ensure everything reads perfectly.
You should have your website proofread before it goes live or after you’ve made any major changes to your website copy or content.
How the website proofreading process works
You or your proofreader will copy the content of each webpage into a document.
A website proofreader will carry out a quick, initial read of each page to understand the style, content, and tone of the website copy.
The proofreader will then read through each page in detail, completing a line-by-line edit.
Depending on the proofreader, they will be looking for:
Overall issues with the content, such as its style, tone, meaning, and whether it reads well.
Specific issues with the content, such as mistakes with spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, word choice, subject-verb agreement, etc.
The website proofreader will make changes to the content to ensure it’s correct, error-free, and reads well.
They will then complete a second read to ensure they have checked and corrected for all possible errors.
They will provide the proofread copy back to you.
You can paste the copy into your website content management system and hit publish.
FAQs about website proofreading
Can I use automated tools like software spelling and grammar checkers to proofread my website?
It’s best not to rely solely on the spelling or grammar checkers built into your writing application or website content management system.
Spell checkers can help you catch typos and misspellings as you write, but they have a limited dictionary and may not alert you to mistakes when you’ve used the wrong word, but it’s still spelled correctly. For example, if you type “to” or “too” instead of “two” there’s a chance your spelling software won’t detect that problem, whereas a human proofreader would.
Grammar checkers can be even worse. They work with a set of predefined rules, and the English language has far too many variations, contexts, and idiosyncrasies for grammar software to identify everything correctly. This can result in “false negatives” or “false positives” where the software tells you grammar is incorrect when it isn’t, or it doesn’t identify a problem with grammar when there is a genuine issue.
This is especially true in the case of website copy, which tends to be short, punchy, and to-the-point.
You can use spelling and grammar checking software as a starting point to detect and fix obvious errors with website content, then hire a professional website proofreader to ensure everything is absolutely correct.
What are some tips for proofreading my own website copy?
A good starting point with website proofreading is to check for one type of mistake before moving to another. Each time you read through your website content, look for a specific type of error. For example, the first time through you might look for correct word usage, the second time you could focus on commas, and the third time you’ll check for proper capitalization. This forces you to go through the copy repeatedly, meaning it’s more likely you’ll pick up on mistakes on each read.
Reading your copy out loud is also a powerful way to find mistakes. Reading every word forces you to slow down and look at each sentence individually. Website proofreading relies on a slow, thorough, and accurate reading of every word of your copy. That’s the only way to be sure that you’ve found and fixed all website content errors.
Should I proofread my own website or hire a professional website proofreader?
Because of how our brains work, it can be difficult to see errors in website content that we’ve written ourselves. That’s why it's best if the person who wrote the website content and the person who proofreads the copy are different people. Additionally, website proofreading is a unique skill that requires slightly different training and discipline to website content writing or publishing.
What is the difference between a website copy editor and a website proofreader?
A website copy editor will help your online content flow from point to point, tell a story, connect with your audience, and sell your products or services. They will improve formatting, SEO, clarity, understanding, and cohesiveness and ensure your website content reads well.
A website proofreader has a more focused task and looks for mistakes specific to spelling, word usage, grammar, and punctuation. A website copy editor will often identify and resolve mistakes as they’re editing copy, but they will not be as focused on this as a website proofreader.
How much do professional website proofreading services cost?
Costs will vary based on your choice to hire a freelancer or an agency, and the amount of expertise and experience the proofreader has. On average, you can expect to pay between $30 and $50 to have a thousand words proofread. You may also need to pay more if you want a faster turnaround, or if the website proofreader also provides website copy editing as part of their services, which is something that we do.
What skills do I need to become a website proofreader?
Are you constantly pointing out the errors in spelling and grammar online or in published works? Your friends might roll their eyes at you, but these skills are very useful for developing a career in professional website proofreading.
A degree in English, writing, or communications can also be very helpful. You will also need in-depth knowledge of spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules and usage. Although you’ll need to be very detail oriented, you also need to be great at communicating with clients, meeting deadlines, and providing a friendly and flexible approach.