GrammarPhile Blog

Why You Always Need to Proofread Your Website

Posted by Kelly Creighton   Jul 12, 2018 7:30:00 AM

mistakeMany websites lose readers, business, and revenue because the site contains errors. A common misconception is that website content doesn’t need to be proofread because changes can be made quickly with just one click of a button.

But there are quite a few reasons why you always need to proofread items on your website before you hit “publish.” Some of them are listed below.

Your Credibility and Trustworthiness Are at Stake

Your website should always display a sense of credibility and trustworthiness. Typos and grammatical mistakes endanger both of these, even after they’re fixed. Why? Because first impressions mean everything, and even more so online.  

Website visitors evaluate the integrity and credibility of a website in a matter of seconds. If they see typos or poorly laid out content during their first visit to a website, they will immediately deem the site not credible and will be less likely to return to that site in the future. Why would they, if they have thousands of other more credible sites readily available to choose from?

(Read research and studies parsed and conducted by conversionxl.com and usability.gov for more details.)

Your Website Is More Likely to Be Found Online

When you proofread your website content before publishing it, you’re more likely to include keywords and phrases that are more appropriate and spelled correctly, and you’re more likely to include unbroken and correctly spelled hyperlinks. This ultimately makes it easier for search engines to find your website, helps it achieve higher rankings and makes it easier for people who are searching for your content.  

Your Website’s Entire Layout Will Always Be Top-Notch

Website visitors are always quick to abandon websites that have poorly designed layouts, where the content isn’t easy to read or navigate. But if you take the extra step to proofread your website’s content, you’ll be aware of where images, links, videos, headers, sidebars, etc. sit in relation to that content. Doing this will yield a more visually appealing website that’s easy to scan, read, view, and navigate overall. This will also decrease your bounce rate (people who leave your website immediately after clicking on it).

Your Website’s Style Will Remain Consistent

A website typically has many pages and it’s imperative that you follow the same language, spelling, punctuation, and grammar rules across all pages. For example, you wouldn’t want to capitalize Marketing Services on one page but not on others or include industry jargon on one page of your website while being sure to avoid it on another. Such inconsistencies will undermine the overall credibility and trustworthiness of your website, and make you seem disorganized or unreliable.

Assigning a proofreader to review the content on your website is especially important if you have multiple writers with different styles who publish content on your website. A proofreader will help you maintain a consistent style and voice across all pages of your website regardless of who’s writing what and when they’re writing it. This is particularly important for companies that are building a brand and want to remain consistent across all the online channels they use.

You’ll Save Time

At the end of the day, you’ll save time if you proofread the content on your website first, before publishing. You won’t have to log into your account multiple times to change errors you notice at random times, or worse, after your visitors notice an error and point it out to you. You’ll always know when something is ready to go “live” and you won’t have to spend time taking down content or deleting content that is riddled with typos or errors long after it’s published. And because you aren’t worried about constantly fixing proofreading errors, you can spend more time creating and writing new content for your website.  

Have you ever had an experience with a bad typo or grammatical mistake in content published on your website that cost you or your business? Or have you seen an error on a website that caused you to leave? Share your stories in the comments below to keep the conversation going.

Just for fun, check out 11 Embarrassing Spelling and Grammar Mistakes From Brands by HubSpot.

If you enjoyed reading this post, be sure to share it with others too.

 

Free E-book: Guide to Evaluating Outsourced Proofreading Services

Topics: proofreading errors, proofreading websites

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