10 tips for proofreading marketing content
“If proofreading saved you time, money and your reputation, wouldn’t you find time to do it?”
So, first question – why proofread? Discovering a typo on your website is an irritant, and even an embarrassment if spotted by a customer. It also costs you time and money to put right – especially if it’s in a piece of printed literature. I’ve known people decline to see a potential supplier as a result of simple, and seemingly minor, typos.
Human error
Even if your copywriter has produced a word-perfect piece of content, someone else might be responsible for getting it onto your website or out to print. On top of that, someone else might be checking it for you. This is where the errors occur. We all make mistakes.
We’ve probably all seen ‘typo-creep’. As copy goes from one person to another their idiosyncrasies are added. In my experience, even if the whole process is undertaken by one person, most of us seem less effective at checking our own work than having someone else look at it.
There are some really simple things we can do to avoid embarrassment, and by planning in a bit of extra time at the end of your production process, costly mistakes can be spotted before they happen.
10 top tips to catch typos
- Block-out time in your diary – take proofreading seriously.
- Print it out – things never look the same on screen.
- Read it away from your desk – somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed.
- Mark-up errors clearly – a pen in a different colour helps because comments or ‘mark-ups’ can be seen easily. (Another tip if you are making amendments to a document that someone else has marked-up – tick them off in yet another colour as you go).
- Have a dictionary and thesaurus on hand – don’t rely on computer spell-checks. Even better, use agreed spelling conventions as used by your organisation (e.g. do you say ‘e-mail’, ‘email’ or ‘electronic mail’?).
- Look out for American spellings/dictionaries – not everyone is aware of their computer language settings.
- Ask an independent person to look at it – a fresh pair of eyes will see things that you just won’t.
- Read it with a second person – four eyes are better than two. One person looks at the latest output, the other reads the approved copy sheet out loud (including announcing where the punctuation, spaces and capital letters appear).
- Read it backwards in order for you to avoid ‘filling in the next word yourself’. Try it – it’s funny how mistakes jump out at you.
- Read it more than once – check all drafts and versions, and read them more than once. Keep reading them until your sheet has no comments or mark-ups.
What’s the difference between ‘copy’ and ‘artwork’?
A ‘copy document’ is different to a piece of laid out print-ready artwork, or a web page. I believe each should be approached slightly differently:
Copy document: Arguably, this is a piece of raw text, probably written using some form of word processing software like Microsoft Word. Potentially, this will not be published in the layout or format in which it is originally produced. It is more likely to be re-styled/laid-out into a design layout, or piece of artwork as described below.
Artwork: A layout that has been produced by a professional marketing supplier (like a graphic designer, desk top publisher, printer or web developer/designer). It will then be ‘published’, or ‘printed’ somehow.
More than just spelling:
- It’s not just about spelling – check for grammar too.
- Check for Brand Guidelines (as well as typefaces and colours, check for tone of voice and spelling conventions).
- Check for factual accuracy – if you have quoted facts, are they true, proven and/or credited to a source?
- Check for legalities – are you qualified to make the claims that you do, and are they legally acceptable?
- Check for layout – if you are proof reading a piece of artwork, is it laid out correctly? Are there any stray widows or orphans for example (words left on their own at the beginning or end of a line)?
- Check any contact details – call telephone numbers and visit URLs from a fresh browser.
It’s worth noting that if you are paying someone else to write copy for you, you need to ensure that you understand how many stages are included in the price of developing that copy to an approved draft. Then, also agree what constitutes a chargeable amendment thereafter. Always bear in mind, and be clear with your supplier, that you shouldn’t be expected pay to correct mistakes that they have made.
And finally, a mark-up isn’t necessarily a mistake – it could simply mean a suggested change. Careful proofreading saves time and money in unseen errors and increases the likelihood of a consistently high quality impression of your business. Make sure it forms part of your marketing skill-set and has been allowed for in your content delivery plan.
Oh, and are we immune to typos? Nobody is. We’re sure a few will have slipped through the net on this site… we’re busy proofing our clients’ work. You know… cobbler’s children and all that. So, if you do spot any errors, please let us know. We appreciate a fresh pair of eyes.
By Cheryl Crichton | Associate Clear Thinker | Clear Thought Consulting Ltd | @cherylcrichton | www.clear-thought.co.uk
Some useful links:
- Link to a typesetter’s glossary: http://my.execpc.com/~bosshard/printing/glossary.html
- Link to proofreading marks: http://www.ngomedia.org.uk/proofmarks.pdf
Clear Thought Consulting works with small businesses, equipping them with the marketing strategies, suppliers, skills and set-up that they need to become bigger businesses. We do this by planning and delivering 12-month marketing transformation programmes – supporting a small business through a step-by-step process to making marketing pay. We firmly believe that when you can’t out-spend your competition, you have to out-think them.
Published on 29 March 2010
