It is important for the content on your website to be free of grammatical errors so that it can look professional and credible - and there are some great proofreaders out there. But do you need one?
Here are a few simple things to ask yourself to help you figure out if your website needs proofreading.
Do you find errors when running an automated spellchecker on your site?
If you own Microsoft Word or another text editor with a spellchecker, try copy-and-pasting the content of your website's homepage into it. Then click "SpellCheck" (or hit F7 on your keyboard in MS Word) to run a spellcheck on your content. Turn on the option which checks grammar as well. It is common for a spellchecker to find a few false positives - meaning it will say that words like "blogger" or "iPhone" are misspelled when they are simply new-age words which have yet to be added to the dictionary. Ignoring these, however, is it cropping up with real misspellings? Are you mixing up "their" and "there" in certain places? Are there typos in your work? If so, you should probably have your website proofread.
Do you not have time to check your work?
This is one of the biggest sources of spelling errors - simple typos. Even if you have a perfect grasp on the English language, everyone makes typos every now and then.. and they can be detrimental to your site. If your site has a lot of content, maybe you have not had the chance to look over all of it to check for spelling, grammar, and phrasing. But it is important that you do. If you do not have the time to proofread it yourself, or if you are not comfortable doing so, outsource it to a proofreader.
Are you not completely comfortable with the English language?
Is English your second language? Even those who have been speaking English for years still have trouble with certain word spellings. The old "'I' before 'E' except after 'C'" rule only goes so far when you run into words like "weird" or "science". If English is your second language and you are not completely confident in your English grammar and spelling abilities, have a proofreader look over your site.
Is grammar not your strong point?
Maybe English is your first language, but grammar and structure have never been your strong suits. Do you get confused between "your" and "you're"? Do "who" and "whom" look the same to you? This is perfectly fine, but it probably means you need to have your website looked over for grammar and spelling mistakes.
Here are a few simple things to ask yourself to help you figure out if your website needs proofreading.
Do you find errors when running an automated spellchecker on your site?
If you own Microsoft Word or another text editor with a spellchecker, try copy-and-pasting the content of your website's homepage into it. Then click "SpellCheck" (or hit F7 on your keyboard in MS Word) to run a spellcheck on your content. Turn on the option which checks grammar as well. It is common for a spellchecker to find a few false positives - meaning it will say that words like "blogger" or "iPhone" are misspelled when they are simply new-age words which have yet to be added to the dictionary. Ignoring these, however, is it cropping up with real misspellings? Are you mixing up "their" and "there" in certain places? Are there typos in your work? If so, you should probably have your website proofread.
Do you not have time to check your work?
This is one of the biggest sources of spelling errors - simple typos. Even if you have a perfect grasp on the English language, everyone makes typos every now and then.. and they can be detrimental to your site. If your site has a lot of content, maybe you have not had the chance to look over all of it to check for spelling, grammar, and phrasing. But it is important that you do. If you do not have the time to proofread it yourself, or if you are not comfortable doing so, outsource it to a proofreader.
Are you not completely comfortable with the English language?
Is English your second language? Even those who have been speaking English for years still have trouble with certain word spellings. The old "'I' before 'E' except after 'C'" rule only goes so far when you run into words like "weird" or "science". If English is your second language and you are not completely confident in your English grammar and spelling abilities, have a proofreader look over your site.
Is grammar not your strong point?
Maybe English is your first language, but grammar and structure have never been your strong suits. Do you get confused between "your" and "you're"? Do "who" and "whom" look the same to you? This is perfectly fine, but it probably means you need to have your website looked over for grammar and spelling mistakes.
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