Proofreading for Websites

Apr 26, 2018
3 min read

You can’t always apply the same proofreading guidelines to different kinds of documents. Academic proofreading, for instance, is very different to proofreading web copy. This is one reason why proofreaders haven’t yet been replaced by robots.

Importantly, reading on screen is different to reading a printed page. And this may mean you need to approach web copy differently to do a good job. In this post, then, we’re looking at a few things you should keep in mind when proofreading for websites.

Short Paragraphs

You’ll notice that we use fairly short paragraphs in this blog.

In fact, sometimes, we’ll present a single sentence as a standalone paragraph.

This is because large, dense paragraphs are less suitable for most web copy. They’re harder to read on screen and likely to put readers off. If your client is using lots of dense text, you may thus want to advise them to break it into smaller, digestible chunks.

Appropriate Language

Most web content for a general audience will be fairly informal. Of course, this depends on the purpose of the site, but even relatively ‘formal’ businesses often use contractions and the first person to give their copy a friendly tone. Applying formal grammar rules to this kind of copy would be excessive. However, this doesn’t mean that outright errors should be overlooked! And it’s always best to check the tone that your client wants to convey.

Minimal Jargon

Another mistake that clients make is filling their content with industry jargon that a layperson may find difficult to understand. This can be very off-putting or confusing, so you should look at how to express your clients ideas as clearly as possible.

Thus, if copy is intended for a general audience and it seems overly technical, you should leave a comment for the client noting the problem. Ideally, if you know the subject area well enough, you should also suggest a simpler phrasing or term to use in its place.

A Note on SEO

SEO stands for ‘search engine optimisation’, which means adjusting content to improve search engine rankings. This is not typically part of a proofreader’s remit, as it may involve making substantial changes to content. Typically, then, it is a separate service.

However, if you are working with web copy, you may need to consider SEO when making edits. Two key factors in this respect are:

Checking that keywords are used correctly.
Not changing or removing keywords unless strictly necessary, and noting if this happens.

This will ensure that your client ends up with high-quality, SEO-friendly content.

Becoming A Proofreader

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