Corrected 41 typos
Yesterday I posted a Letter from a Proofreader, written and published with intentional typos.
Today I put this same letter into a direct response marketing format, and created a PDF where I marked up the errors.
If you are curious, download this PDF marked up with edits. Not all revisions were typos — a few were style preferences and some were edits.
As I mentioned in the Letter from a Proofreader post, as a proofreader I can relax when I’m blogging. A typo or two is not the end of the world.
Errors are harder to catch when you’re reading off your computer screen. Try this experiment some time. Proof your blog post and then print it out and proof it again. See if you find more errors this way.
Proofreading for bloggers
Although publishing blog posts without typos is not as important to some bloggers, there are some useful quality checks that can still be done.
This is a condensed version of the list I came up with for yesterday’s post.
1. Ensure correct spelling for SEO keywords.
2. Use Google Adwords: Keyword Tool to search for commonly misspelled words that you may choose to add to your permalink.
3. Consider variations of hyphenated words. As of today, U-Haul receives about one million searches for “Uhaul” and 450,000 searches for “U haul”.
4. Canadian and American spelling. Consider the word colour — (Canadian) and color (American). Using both will increase Google search results.
5. If you are linking to a blogger, make sure the spelling of their name and their blog is correct.
6. Ensure correct spelling for SEO keyword phrases when linking to another blogger or information source.
7. Check hyperlinks to make sure they are working properly.
Do you have any other suggestions?
Feel free to share in the comment section.
Jannie Funster has a series on her blog called Jannie’s Funny Typos that you might want to check out for a good laugh. So far there are six posts guaranteed to put a smile on your face. We can laugh at our mistakes after all!
I just noticed that Jannie has changed her blog tagline too — “Misspelling Everything Since September 2008.” What a rebel eh?
Photo Credit: Markus Nielsen
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Patricia
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vered
{ 15 comments }
Hi Davina – I didn’t realise that Canadian’s used different spelling to American’s. In the UK we spell “colour” the same way you do. I wonder if folk in Canada use the same spelling we do for most words?
I try to use a mixture of UK and American spelling for the reasons you mentioned.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Quit Bragging About Your Booming Business
Thanks for this helpful post, Davina!
Jocelyn at I TAKE OFF THE MASK’s last blog post..How Do You Treat a Bad Person?
I’m a bad proofreader. After spending time writing a post, I usually just skim it for errors, often times depending on the spell check to catch them. This is one area I definitely need to improve in.
I do double check my links and especially make sure I’ve spelled links correctly.
Thanks for the ideas, and I’ll definitely try to spend more time on proofreading……………..:)
LisaNewton’s last blog post..Travelin’ Local visits the City of Brotherly Love
“Errors are harder to catch when you’re reading off your computer screen. Try this experiment some time. Proof your blog post and then print it out and proof it again. See if you find more errors this way.”
Interesting tip. I’ll try it out.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Fear of Rape
BTW, I looked at the PDF document. I caught most of them yesterday, but definitely not all!
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Fear of Rape
It’s scary how many errors I find just by setting a piece down and coming back to it later. I do what I can in the time I have but more than that is too much. If a reader wants perfect they definitely should not be reading my blog.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Work’s last blog post..Choose the Right Tool
I know that it’s easier to find errors by printing the text. I can’t guess why, but it is so.
Something I do, is to write it today and publish it tomorrow. Reading your post again, with fresh eyes, helps at finding much more typos.
And the best tip of them all it’s to write in Spanish. Spelling is so much easier and makes much more sense in that language! ;)
Miguel de Luis’s last blog post..(Writer’s) Author’s Report: I love it tough
Davina, its incredible how different versions of one language crop up. Due to globalisation, speaking and writing now naturally merge words together to the point where speakers and writers are not always aware of the multinational nature of their own speech. Awareness fades and then these things are brought to one’s attention and awareness is raised again:)
During the final stages of my book, Self-Disclosure, I hired an editor who is knowledgable about different versions of English (Australian, British, Canadian, US, UK, and others). This editor indicates what is acceptable to the greater public and writing industries more generally, has changed enormously. Fewer people distinguish as much as they used to. That is, it is less noticable to mix up international versions of a language and can also be more acceptable and make for easier-reading. Some publishers do have their own grammar rules but others do not. A polished final draft of a letter or manuscript ultimately matters most. The audience is meant to be happy.
Liara Covert’s last blog post..What brings you back?
Hi Cath.
That’s good that you’re already doing this. It’s important if a person is blogging actively to monetize their blog to do as much as they can to attract more traffic.
I think Canadian spelling is comparative to British spelling. In item #4 in the list above I’ve included a link that shows the difference between Canadian, British and American spelling.
Hi Jocelyn.
You’re welcome.
Hi Lisa.
You’re welcome. That spell-checker has caused a lot of problems in my past because typos are taken seriously in the advertising business. An agency’s reputation is on the line to deliver quality work to their clients… and that doesn’t include typos.
Checking the links is important. That is one thing I will email a blogger about if they have a broken link.
Hi Vered.
Let me know what you find if you try this. One thing I know from my experience is that it is easier on the eyes to proofread off the screen. That’s great that you caught so many errors. You see, I cheated really, cause I made them in the first place, so I knew where they were :-)
Hi Tom.
In blogging, there’s more to perfect than just correct spelling. It makes more of a difference if a client is paying you for your writing services. Then you definitely don’t want to miss any typos.
Hi Miguel.
You are so right. It makes all the difference in the world to read a post the next day with fresh eyes. It is amazing how much you can find after a good night’s rest. Spelling is easier in Spanish? Is that so? :-)
Hi Liara.
The rules are becoming more relaxed. I’ve seen that happening more and more. It really is a personal preference in a lot of cases now, and it’s good that people have the freedom to make this choice. I think the rules tend to be more lax in publishing, depending on the publisher. Whereas in advertising, the client is more demanding — the competition is fierce.
You are so funny! And I do have anohter 10 ready to publish. But kinda thinking I’ll wait until 20. What do ya think? Do a double whammy?
And wow, so cool to have the link here, thanks, feeling all farm and wuzzy now.
Warm and Fizzy, that is!
My suggestion is to keep posts warm and fizzy when possible.
:) Sorry, I need sleep, am a bit giddy.
Jannie Funster’s last blog post..I Found My Thrill… on Aventine Hill
Nice post and great information sharing. When I was typing on my lap with my muscle problem in full swing I noticed that my typos increased substantially – I often make errors, run on sentences and fragments to make a point in my writing. I work on making most posts as close to how I speak as possible – as though we are having a conversation.
When I do the book, I will certainly need to tighten up the ship and hold on
patricia’s last blog post..Mending Fences
Hi Jannie.
You’re welcome! :-) Warm and fizzy posts – heh, heh.
As for your typo posts, how bout posting the 10 you have ready? Then, in a couple of weeks you should have collected 10 more and you can do another post… or keep it as a handy standby draft.
Hi Patricia.
Thank you. I enjoy the conversational style of your blog. That muscle problem was a major distraction for you wasn’t it? I hope you are well past that discomfort now. I have every confidence that you will do an excellent job with that book.
Hi Davina – I didn’t take the time to hunt for all of the typos in your previous post, but some were glaring at me.
I’ve need to try your “printing the post out” tip. I often find I’ll use the same word back to back, like and and. It’s not a spelling error so I can only catch it by rereading.
I’ve also heard reading an article backwards is a great way to proofread, but it sounds like so much work, I’ve never tried it.
P.S. I agree. Jannie’s posts on misspellings are awfully cute.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Reaching Out To Help Others
Hi Davina – it really annoys me we sort of need to use some American spelling, and that our browsers try to correct us if we don’t – it’s a pet peeve of mine. Mommy, mom and mommy blogger are the ones I find most annoying – these make my skin crawl. I am penalised if I don’t spell things the way that goes against the grain for me? (and penalised has a wiggly red line under it at the moment because it is not spelled with a “z”) – we get so fed up with US domination! – R
Hi Barbara.
I don’t know why it works when you print it out to proof, but it does. I think we tend to scan more when we’re reading on screen so it’s easy to miss typos that way. Reading backwards is supposed to help but I’m not fond of doing that.
One trick I use is to close one eye when I’m proofing. I switch back and forth between eyes. You can also scroll so that each line you are proofing is at the top of your screen, like using an imaginary ruler. That helps you just to focus on one line at a time.
Hi Robin.
I know what you mean. Even Gmail corrects the American and Cdn spelling. I don’t really know why there have to be two different ways to spell the same word. Who cares? Personally, I’d rather there be a U in colour. (Yep, there’s that red squiggly line again.)
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