Brands and businesses rely on proofreading to ensure any content they create, from advertising copywriting to scripted videos, is clear and error free. If you develop content of any kind, including social media posts, academic papers, or blogs, you can benefit from proofreading. By having a knowledgeable expert give your content one last look before you share it with the wider world, you can avoid mistakes that might otherwise create confusion or promote an unprofessional image.

What does proofreading entail and who is qualified to do it? This article tells you everything you need to know, including:

• What is proofreading?
• Proofreading vs. editing
• Why is proofreading important?
• Proofreading main tasks
• Proofreading must-have skills and characteristics

What is proofreading?‍

Proofreading is the job of reviewing a written text for mistakes that could interfere with its comprehension, including punctuation, grammar, spelling, and stylistic consistency.

The term “proofreading” finds its roots in the traditional publishing industry, when so-called “proofs” (pages) of a printed medium—like a book or newspaper—were reviewed one last time for errors before they were printed. Today, the proofreading meaning has a much broader application, as it’s used to check everything from digital advertising copywriting to online blogs, social media posts, video scripts, and more.

Proofreading involves reviewing written content for issues that could interfere with ability to understand that content. Those issues could be related to style, spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Such mistakes can interfere with comprehension and jeopardize a content piece’s efforts to accurately and effectively convey the desired message.

Proofreading vs. editing

People often confuse proofreading and editing, assuming these services are one and the same. While both tasks involve checking a text for overall accuracy, these are distinct tasks that come at different points in the writing process—and both are necessary if you want to turn out clear, top-quality content that makes an impact.

The copy editing process or line editing process is the first line of defense. Editors often take a big-picture view—working to enhance the language and improve the quality of writing. After a piece of writing has been reviewed and revised by a line editor or copy editor, it can proceed to the proofreading stage.

Unlike professional editors, proofreaders focus on nitty-gritty issues, like punctuation, grammar, and spelling. The proofreader is like the test run for your target audience. They offer one last look at the content before it’s published, viewing it as your audience would to ensure clarity.

Why is proofreading important?

Proofreading is the final stage of the review process before your content—whether it’s a blog post, website copy, social media caption, or something else—is published. By catching issues like misspellings or formatting errors, this last step helps ensure your content is clear, comprehensible, and compelling.

Without this final check, you risk putting out content that lacks clarity and creates confusion. Your business’s core messages will then fail to make the desired impact. Even worse, content that’s obviously riddled with errors like typos can create an unprofessional impression. This kind of sloppiness can be a turnoff to consumers and may hurt your overall reputation.

You might think that it’s possible to simply do your own proofreading work—or to rely on word processing tools like Microsoft spell checker to catch spelling errors. Think again. First, the proofreading process encompasses more than simple issues like spelling mistakes, as it also focuses on overall readability and presentation.

Further, proofreaders have unique skills—which we’ll detail below—that make them uniquely suited for ensuring a document’s readability. Finally, people are less likely to catch errors in their own work. It’s best to allow a third party with fresh eyes to take a last look at your content before it goes live.

Proofreading main tasks‍

The proofreading process doesn’t involve rewriting a text. It’s simply about proofreading for errors and leaving proof editing marks to flag them. Here are the six main problems the typical proofreading job will focus on.

Incorrect spelling

A single incorrectly spelled word in a sentence can make it difficult to grasp the phrase’s meaning, leaving the reader to play a game of Mad Libs as they try to fill in the blank. If they can’t figure out what the misspelled term is supposed to be, they may simply skip the phrase—or ditch the text altogether.

Proofreaders can help prevent this outcome by catching spelling issues. They can also identify errors according to geolocation. For instance, British versus American English spelling differs for terms like “colour”/”color,” “organise”/”organize,” and “travelled”/”traveled.” If you have an English language ad copy, you’d want to have it proofread for each market.‍

Incorrect word choices

The wrong word choice is another issue that can impede a person’s understanding of a text. Words that look similar but have distinct meanings—called homonyms—exemplify how word choice can impact legibility. An example might be: “palette” (for paints) versus “pallet” (a small mattress) versus “palate” (for tasting). A more commonly seen example is “there” versus “their.”

Grammatical problems

Common grammar mistakes include mixed-up possessives and plurals, comma splices, mistaken apostrophe usage, misplaced modifiers, sentence fragments, and subject-verb disagreement. A proofreader will also be adept at catching the wide array of possible grammar problems that could interfere with a text’s readability.

Take a phrase like “One of my friends like to swim.” It can be confusing: You might think that “like” without an “s” is correct since “friends” is plural (“friends like”). However, the subject in the sentence is actually the word “one,” which is singular, making the correct phrase (“one likes”): “One of my friends likes to cook.”

Wrong or misplaced punctuation

Punctuation helps to create clarity, allowing people to easily recognize where a thought begins and ends. For example, a run-on sentence with no punctuation is hard to read. A proofreader will make sure commas, periods, colons, semicolons, em dashes, en dashes, and other punctuation marks are used appropriately.

Formatting issues

Clear and consistent formatting also ensures that the text is clear. For example, when writing a video script, a new line is used for each distinct speaker. Meanwhile, in a book, indents and paragraphs help separate chunks of text. In other types of content, headers and subheaders help improve readability by providing a clear formatting structure.

Stylistic inconsistency or typographical errors

Typographical errors (typos) occur when mistakes are made in the production or printing process (which was more prevalent in the past). A typo doesn’t result from a lack of understanding (e.g., between “there” versus “their”). Rather, it results from missteps in the text’s production. For example, an editor may need to delete an extra line in a paragraph but may also accidentally delete the last words of the previous line in the process.

Proofreaders can also help ensure stylistic consistency. For instance, a style guide may dictate that an abbreviation be introduced in full on the first mention, followed by a parenthetical abbreviation. A first mention might look like this: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).” From this point on, the text would simply use the “CDC” abbreviation.

Proofreading must-have skills and characteristics

Proofreaders have unique talents that make them particularly well suited for reviewing and preparing the final draft of a content piece. These are the core proofreading skills needed to excel in this job.

Master grammar and punctuation rules

Proofreaders have a deeply ingrained knowledge of grammar and punctuation rules, allowing them to review a text and catch errors rapidly. With extensive experience, they no longer have to look up individual rules but will know what’s wrong at first sight. This allows them to work efficiently while taking a holistic view of the text.

Knowledge of styles

Different style guides have different rules for how they treat details like punctuation. For example, some style guides call for an Oxford comma, while others don’t. Proofreaders are knowledgeable about and adept at working in different style guides, like The Associated Press Stylebook (AP Stylebook) or Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). There are also industry-specific style guides, like the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide.

Attention to detail

Proofreaders need to have a keen eye for detail. As they provide the final review of a piece of writing before it’s published, they must be able to catch issues that others might not. From comma placement to minute formatting mistakes—like an extra space after a word—proofreaders can spy these problems.

Broad vocabulary

Having a broad vocabulary allows proofreaders to easily tackle issues like word confusion. For instance, knowing the difference in homonyms as described above (pallet, palette, palate) is a useful skill. They can also make suggestions for improved word choice, further improving the clarity and readability of a text.

Confidence with technology

Proofreaders need to be adept at using a variety of word processing tools. They may also need to use technologies like social media automation technology to review text. Being able to adapt to different clients’ needs in terms of the tools they use is a valuable asset for proofreaders.

Formatting rules knowledge

Best practices for formatting types of content differ. The way you format a transcript differs from the way you might format a short blog post, a video script, or a speech. Knowing how to format according to the type of content and the given style guide is another important characteristic for proofreaders.

Focused for long periods

Proofreading requires extended attention to detail for the duration of the project. Often, proofreaders need to work under deadline pressure. Being able to concentrate and complete a proofreading task without interruption in these instances is invaluable.

Hiring an independent proofreader

You don’t want sloppy or unclear content to interfere with your business’s ability to effectively convey a message—or, worse, mar your professional image. Proofreading services can help ensure that you’re turning out top-quality content that’s error free, clear, and resonates with your audience.

Find the professional proofreader you need via Ndiwano.com. From academic report proofreading to web copy proofreading, there are experts for various niches. You can browse from a global pool of talent, finding English language experts and professionals working in other languages. Find the expert you need now.