Tips For Proofreading Website Content
Each page has a goal
Every website has a main objective, whether to get a visitor to fill out the contact form, to subscribe to a newsletter, to buy a product or to download a file. Within this context, each page of the site has its own objective, which should finally lead to achieving the main objective. When writing or reviewing a text, it is important to be clear from the beginning what the purpose of each page is. This way you can identify and correct each time the focus is lost and the message begins to lose traction.
Make sure that the content is direct and always focused on the purpose of each particular page.
The personality of the brand
Every brand is like a person, that is, it has its own personality and is identified with certain values. When you are writing or reviewing a text, make sure that the tone and way of communicating represent these characteristics of the brand.
For example, if you are reviewing the contents for a website of a major law firm that is very traditional and elegant, you will not want the message delivered in an informal or colloquial way. Probably the most appropriate, according to the brand, would be to use serious and formal language.
However, if the content is for a brand of jeans aimed at the adolescent public, surely the most appropriate would be to use a direct, close and informal language.
The points of mistrust
Usually what keeps visitors from taking the action that we expect them to do is simply a lack of trust with the brand or the site and, in most cases, this simply comes from a lack of information.
Let's assume for a moment that the site you're proofreading/editing is getting subscribers to the newsletter. There are several questions that the visitor may have and that can cause distrust.
Some could be:
• What will I get when I subscribe?
• In this newsletter do you talk about topic X?
• Will they send me SPAM?
• How difficult will it be to unsubscribe if I do not like the newsletter?
• Are there people who already receive this newsletter? Has it been beneficial for them?
When reviewing or writing the content of a site, try to put yourself in the shoes of the visitor and answer all the questions, and show that the brand and the site are trustworthy.
If you already have previous contact with site visitors, the best thing you can do is to simply ask them.
Try to tell stories
There is nothing more boring than entering a website and seeing texts that only describe a company in a flat and linear tone.
People retain much better information when we are told as stories, especially if it is well narrated and has a climax, moments of tension and moments of tranquillity. When a story catches you, there's no way you'll forget it.
If possible, try to include stories in your texts, they are much easier to digest and easier to remember.
Stay away from the cliché phrases
If you use cliché phrases on your website or your clients' website, people will probably think that it is a cliché company. Furthermore, they may believe that you don’t know what you do very well, since you cannot explain it in any other way than using pre-made and formulaic phrases.
Spelling and writing
The last thing on the list, but probably most importantly, is that there are to be no writing or spelling mistakes. Make sure you do not miss accents, that there are not many repeated words, that you have not changed a "V" for a "B", etc. Luckily most writing applications have spell checkers, so that's a great help, but do not just rely on the software, if you have someone who can read your texts and give you a second opinion, then this will always be beneficial.
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At Express Proofreading we offer a professional proofreading service for businesses. We are able to ensure that your company material or documents are not only free from spelling mistakes and grammatical errors but we also check syntax and sentence structure.
Proofreading A Legal Document
How to Proofread a Legal Document
Proofreading a legal document thoroughly is key when drafting legal contracts and agreements, as even the smallest of errors or omissions can have significant consequences. One of the first things to make sure in any legal document is that it is easy to read and has a natural flow and clear layout. Also it is better to proofread from a hard copy than from a computer screen. If the fonts are too small, then take the time to enlarge them so it’s easier to read.
• Consistency
Be sure that your legal document is consistent. We know that different businesses have different in-house writing styles with regards to the layout, font type, size, paragraphing and the choice of words to capitalise. For instance, some prefer words like ‘Claimant’ or ‘Defendant’ to begin with a capital letter; some others may prefer certain words or phrases to either be in bold or italics.
There isn’t actually any approved grammatical reason why this is so; it is just a style that different people adopt. Make sure you stick to your business’s style of writing throughout the document. Not being consistent is likely to happen when there are several people working on a particular document who may end up adopting different writing styles. As a result, when the whole document is finally brought together as one, the inconsistencies can be spotted easily. This does not leave a good impression in the mind of the reader.
• Easy Omissions
(a) Ensure to check for formatting errors, e.g., the margin may not be properly aligned or a tab may be in the wrong place.
(b) Always make sure that your typing goes back to normal after using the bold or italic function for a few words or sentences.
(c) Ensure that the numbering is in the right order and that they are in sync with the relevant text. Footnotes and endnotes should also be properly numbered so that they are in line with what they refer to in the main body of the text.
(d) Once you open brackets or inverted commas, ensure that they are closed afterwards.
(e) Look out for casting and rounding up errors as regards to figures. Names, dates and addresses should be correctly written too. Whenever you are typing numbers with plenty of zeros, ensure that you are typing the right number.
(f) Make sure that there are no large gaps at the end of your pages and that there are no headings at the bottom without any texts underneath.
• Confusing Words
There are some words that sound and look alike but have different meanings e.g. principal/principle; affect/effect, practise/pracitce. Ensure to pick the right one.
Whenever you are proofreading a legal document, try to always have a dictionary beside you. There are also some good online dictionaries that you may find useful. Always ask questions when in doubt – it is better to cross check your document properly before sending it out so that it does not end up having avoidable mistakes.
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At Express Proofreading we offer a professional legal proofreading service. We are able to ensure that your legal documents are not only free from spelling mistakes and grammatical errors but we also check syntax and sentence structure.
To obtain an instant quote for us to proofread your documents, click the Instant Quote button below, select the service that you require followed by the turnaround time and upload your document and our Quote Generator will calculate an instant quote based upon the word count of your document. Once you are happy with your quote, you can then proceed to our secure checkout page.
Content Trends To Look Out For In 2017
5 Key Content Trends
Well crafted, informative content is key for online businesses in helping them to engage and communicate with their customers. There are five content trends that we believe will be particularly relevant for 2017:
- Growth in Live streaming: Live streaming of videos to push content out will grow in popularity in the current year. Social Media platforms like; YouTube Live, Facebook Live and Snap Chat provide easy-to-use features that enable live product/service briefings, product launch, tours, tutorials, events and more.
- Virtual reality takes off. Companies have already started using VR technology to promote premium products. Companies like, North Face (outdoor clothing company) has already applied the technology to showcase their products and athletes. This tool can be a very powerful but expensive way to promote the content of one’s products and services. While this trend might be beyond the reach of small and medium company’s at least for the current year, we’re convinced that once the technology is cheaper, it will grow rapidly and become very popular.
- More newsletters. The use of email newsletters to reach out to and share information with existing customers and prospective clients is very prevalent amongst B2B marketers. If you are considering email newsletters or a different type, 2017 is probably the time to launch into that platform. This is because studies are beginning to show that email opening rates are actually increasing. We guess that lots of people’s ideas in the past five years about the death of emails was a little premature.
- Storytelling and content marketing. Good storytelling in business will most likely grow beyond just being a case study, but will become a key part of content marketing. This is evidence that most consumers are beginning to wear out from the idea of product content just for content's sake. Just blogging or updating other social media platforms just for the sake of it won't do it any longer. Your audience needs to be more engaged and this might require you telling a story.
- Push advertising against native advertising: A general dislike for online advertising coupled with the use of Ad blockers are making it more difficult to get to consumers with banners, pop-ups, pop-under and paid ads. Even though this trend has been around for some time now, we would still dub 2017 as the year for ad blockers. This is the year that consumers will finally say enough is enough and will then take matters into their own hands. Don’t get us wrong though, we don’t think advertising and ads are going anywhere, they will just evolve into something different.
The usual ways used to share content and information is not just going to disappear. We will still depend on the use of our emails, videos, blog posts and downloadable reports to share content.
It would be a smart choice to keep all of these trends in mind while strategizing on your content marketing plan for the current year and even beyond: As regards to social media, a coherent reach is proving to be more and more difficult to achieve. For instance, Facebook changed some of its rules which has made content visibility more difficult. To get high visibility now, you will need to pull out your wallet. However, this is not entirely true if you are just trying to reach out to a small audience. But if you want to go big, then it’s going to cost you more money, more advertising and better online marketing.
There is a surge in demand for interactive content. White papers and case studies will still be treasured in many markets but content marketers should begin to develop interactive quizzes or presentations that can get a web visitor's attention.
Proofreading In The Publishing Industry
You might be wondering how proofreading is performed and what it involves in the publishing industry. Well, wonder no longer because our short guide will hopefully answer your questions.
• The Process Simplified
Proofreading in the publishing industry is essentially a review that is performed during the more advanced stages of the publishing process. Once the piece of text (for example, a book) has been read, reread, edited, reviewed and rechecked, it is delivered to the graphic production team who will pour the manuscript into a design document, usually in a specialised application such as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress.
At this time, the text leaves the hands of its editor and its author and can no longer work with the correction functions of the word processors. Each editorial establishes how many corrections are made, but quality control requires two to three, as a minimum.
This correction is no longer done on the screen, unless it is done in a PDF file, because it is essential that the formed page remains as it is seen in the design program.
In addition, not only is the text revised, but other elements, such as spaces, headers, non-textual elements, the division of words, rivers and streets (spaces between words and blocks of text), rosaries (sequences of characters similar to the beginning or end of the lines), all sorts of errata are addressed.
• How test corrections are performed
Since the fidelity of the page is crucial, the use of paper printing and freehand annotations still dominates in making corrections. Many proofreaders still use a red pen, a pencil, some additional colour for other annotations (green or purple) and many sticky notes, to put extra comments, to make general marks, to differentiate chapters etc.
When you are unfortunate enough to have to add or correct a whole paragraph - something that should only happen occasionally, sometimes it is useful to type the paragraph in a word processor, print it and stick it with tape.
So the craft is the process, because it is worth many hours of work and must flow between the person doing the graphic editing and proofreading.
Can proofreading be avoided?
Whether or not proofreading is one of the big differences between good and bad editions, is open for debate. This is essentially a quality control system to filter out, before the final product. The small imperfections that remain in the text sometimes are unavoidable, despite previous efforts.
Do you need training to do proofreading?
Definitely.
Can you make style corrections when proofreading?
Never.
From time to time a comma, a cacophony, a reiteration will be detected. From time to time there will be a meaningless phrase that will need the arrangement of a verb or the change of a word. From time to time there will be a macaronic paragraph, extensive and lost that everyone overlooks - but only once in a while.
Style corrections in proofreading should be minimal. The quantity itself will depend on the length of the text, but the percentage must be low in proportion to the entire text.
True style correction should be done earlier, when paragraph movement, insertion of titles, rewriting of texts, or cutting of verbiage do not have an impact on the formed pages of the book. Otherwise, there would be a great waste of resources and, instead of gaining time, it would be quickly lost.
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The Cost of Proofreading a PhD Thesis
Proofreading a PhD Thesis
Proofreading a PhD Thesis can be a vast task and may require considerable time, for this reason you may wish to hire the services of a professional proofreading service. The costs can vary depending on which company you select. Generally speaking a reputable firm is most likely to charge you a rate based on per 1,000 words of your PhD thesis.
Proofreading a PhD Thesis Prices
From our experience market prices for proofreading a PhD thesis can vary between £8 per 1,000 words to as much as £16 per 1,000 words. When selecting a company we would however, recommend looking into the history of the company, does it appear that they are reputable and long established? Do they have positive reviews? Providing you are happy with these factors it is then a case of balancing the costs and merits of using a particular service.
Our Proofreading Prices
At Express Proofreading we receive many enquires and orders from students and academics wishing to have their PhD thesis proofread. Our prices for our proofreading and editing service start from £11 per 1,000 words. However, for documents greater than 50,000 words we are able to offer a discount and reduce this price to £9 per 1,000 words, we believe this to be amongst the most competitive prices for such a service on the market.
Our Services
If you wish to find out more information about our academic proofreading services, please visit the academic proofreading page. Alternatively feel free to contact us and our team will be more than happy to assist you.
How To Write A Professional Practice Dissertation
What is a Professional Practice Dissertation?
A professional practice dissertation is a dissertation that has a practical focus and is often used in practice focussed Masters Courses. The aim of it is to give you the opportunity to demonstrate originality in tackling and solving problems taking into account practical considerations, acting autonomously in planning and implementing tasks, whilst advancing your own knowledge and understanding. It is also aimed to develop independent learning and research skills that are required for continuing professional development.
Key considerations
The first thing to consider is what your title will be, it is important to pick a topic that will enable you to adequately consider the subject from a practical perspective and ultimately provide insightful recommendations to practitioners. As a professional practice dissertation is typically in the form of a report its contents should be practically focussed with recommendations that would assist those practising in the field. For this reason you should choose a topic which you think has a reasonable amount of literature and content that you can use for research. You should also consider people who practice in those areas and see what they are writing about in their blogs.
Research your Dissertation
A professional practice dissertation just like any type of dissertation will require extensive research. You should consider a wide range of different types of sources. It is important not to over rely on any one source or type of source.
It is also important that you show familiarity with, and engagement with, the range of academic writing and content that is relevant to your project, as well as contextualising these into a practical context. It is important that you go beyond relying on a small number of textbooks. Crucially you will need to show that you have sought out journal articles, especially from peer reviewed journals. Material published in peer reviewed journals may well be more up to date and more focused than some other sources. Also if the journal is peer reviewed then the article will have been examined by one or two experts anonymously prior to publication, so there is a guarantee of quality.
Structure
A professional practice dissertation like other types of dissertations will normally be structured around chapters (or maybe sections), including introductory and concluding chapters. Within chapters headings and even sub-headings may be used. A table of contents, a title page, an abstract page and an acknowledgements page. If there are no University guidelines as to formatting then see if you can obtain a copy of a good quality dissertation example to see how it is set out.
It is also a good idea to use signalling to help the reader understand how the chapters, sections, paragraphs are linked. Thus the beginning of a chapter may refer back to the previous chapter and the overall argument; the end of a chapter might want to refer to the next stage of the argument. Moreover, check each paragraph: Does it link to the next paragraph?
Bibliography
You will usually be expected to include a bibliography. Again each institution may have its own version of how this should be presented. A few matters to bear in mind: Any bibliography should distinguish between primary and secondary sources. Most importantly, make sure you use the citation system precisely and consistently.
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To obtain an instant quote for us to proofread your work, click the Instant Quote button below and upload your document and our Quote Generator will calculate an instant quote based upon the word count of your document. Once you are happy with your quote, you can then proceed to our secure checkout page.
How To Become A Proofreader
Many people regard proofreading as a job that offers a great deal of flexibility, as it can be done in the comfort of your own home, from your laptop and provides the opportunity to freelance. This is partly because the role has become increasingly more in demand in recent years as it is a key part of the digital economy and ensures that online content is ready for publication. With the speed at which content is produced online many companies now have professional proofreaders, either through agencies or on a freelance basic checking their content.
However, how do I become a proofreader? You may be asking yourself. Unlike many jobs there are no set requirements or standard qualifications or even a standard route to becoming a professional proofreader. However, it is generally expected that proofreaders should be degree educated and have relevant qualifications in the area in which they wish to practice.
Options to work as a proofreader
In essence there are two ways to be employed as a proofreader. You can pursue a physical office based job as a proofreader, many large companies will have large teams of proofreaders alongside their writers to review their content. There is also the option to consider freelancing, this may involve applying to a specialist proofreading service to work with them, or seeking your own work through advertisements.
If you are considering applying to a proofreading service to be added as a freelance editor, your first step should be to make a shortlist of potential companies that you could work with, do your research and find out as much information about them as possible. Once you have a list of proofreading services that you like the look of, write to the relevant contact, attaching your CV, highlighting your achievements and qualifications.
The salary of proofreaders
Salaries can vary and would depend on the exact nature of the role. However, on the whole proofreading is a specialist profession which requires a high degree of skills and relevant qualifications. Therefore, typically it is advised that proofreaders should charge £22.75 per hour of work.
Applying as a freelance proofreader
If you are considering applying to become a freelance proofreader, we would suggest considering Proof Right they offer specialist proofreading services for academics and businesses and are always actively looking to add experienced freelancers to their team.
Factors To Consider When Using Online Proofreading Services
The Importance of Proofreading Content
Proofreading can be defined as the act of finding and correcting mistakes in copies before their final submission/publication. It is therefore an important part of the writing process for all content whether it is for academic or business purposes. Ensuring the accuracy of writing is also pivotal in conveying a professional tone and image. As a result, the demand for online proofreading services has grown to cater for this. The growth can partly be explained by the spread of the English language across the globe. There are many world languages, however English now appears to be the most common one across the globe due to its convenience. Therefore, people are more likely to publish their work in English, write their novels in English and also prepare their company literature in the English language. As for many English is not their first language, English proofreading becomes essential.
The Convenience of Using a Proofreading Service
Online proofreading services therefore offer convenience to people across the world to have their work proofread and edited with quick turnaround times. However, at the same time there is also a risk with online proofreading services and it is centred on the quality and reliability of the service chosen.
Risks of Using an Online Proofreading Service
Firstly, because there are limited barriers to entry online, people can falsely claim to be editors without the necessary qualifications. There is also the issue of quality, this can vary considerably depending on which online proofreading service you choose to use. On top of this there is also the added security concern as many online proofreading services are simply contracting work out and hiring freelancers, this is perfectly fine if they have been adequately vetted, however without thorough checks this not only compromises quality but also undermines the confidentiality of your document and raises security concerns.
What to Look for to Avoid the Risks
It is therefore essential that you check the reputation of the online proofreading service you are thinking of using, you can do this by googling their name to see what comes up and if there are any negative reviews. You should also ideally speak to them or contact them to ask any specific questions you may have. You should also at this point clarify the background and qualifications of their editors. Taking these step is essential when considering using an online proofreading service and will safeguard you against the potential risks.
About Our Proofreading Services
At Express Proofreading we offer a professional online proofreading service for academics, businesses and writers. We also specialise in content creation so we are able to utilise our extensive experience to assist you in creating perfect copy. As part of our proofreading service we will ensure that your work is not only free from spelling mistakes and grammatical errors but we will also check syntax, sentence structure and are able to recommend improvements and suggestions that may be relevant to your work.
Obtain an Instant Proofreading Quote
To obtain an instant quote for our proofreading services, click the Instant Quote button below and upload your document and our Quote Generator will calculate an instant quote based upon the word count of your document. Once you are happy with your quote, you can then proceed to our secure checkout page.