One of the biggest benefits of writing for the Web is the ease of publishing – you can write and publish almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, this instant gratification can lead to publishing in haste, errors unchecked.

Therefore, when writing for the Web, it’s essential that you pay a bit of extra attention to proofreading – especially with client projects. Here are a few tips that won’t take terribly long, but will help you catch errors that you might otherwise miss:

1. Read it aloud. – Whether writing an SEO article, a sales page, or a blog post, try reading it aloud before either delivering it to your client or publishing the piece to your site or blog. When you read it to yourself silently, you’ll see what you expect to be there rather than what’s actually been typed (because you know what you meant to say). This is especially true when the piece is fresh in your mind. Reading aloud can help you catch subtle errors or things that simply don’t sound right (like a run-on sentence).
2. Take a break. – Don’t publish or deliver the writing until you’ve waited at least a few hours after its completion. This helps to counteract what I just mentioned – you won’t have what you were trying to say fresh on your mind, so you may catch errors you would miss if proofing it directly after writing.
3. Get a second opinion. – While this is extremely important if you’re not writing in your native language, getting another opinion from an unbiased source can be beneficial to any Web writer. Another reader can be especially helpful by letting you know whether or not you’re conveying your points (you may know what you’re talking about, but does your writing really help the reader understand it?).

These tips may be simple, but they go a long way towards improving your writing for the Web.

About the Author: Jennifer Mattern

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Jenn is a professional blogger and freelance business writer. She has worked as a freelance writer since 1999, and has been an active business and niche blogger since 2004. She owns All Freelance Writing as well as several other sites and blogs covering PR, small business, and related topic areas. She is also currently writing a nonfiction book for freelance writers called The Query-Free Freelancer, and is the author of the Web Writer's Guide e-book series. Subscribe to my posts (only posts from this author).

1. Anne Wayman says:

   March 2, 2009 at 3:30 pm

   Took me awhile to get used to the sound of my own voice, but reading out loud solves many writing problems. Good post.

   Reply
2. Theresa Alleman says:

   July 21, 2009 at 4:29 pm

   Terrific post! Getting an outside set of eyes or a Professional grammar editor to proofread your work is the surest way to get all the misspelled words and awkward phrases corrected.

   Reply
3. Mark Walusimbi says:

   July 21, 2009 at 4:32 pm

   This is a wonderful post. My advise is not to count on MS Word spell checker or any software. Just get someone else to look at your work.

   Reply