Learn how to proofread your content effectively and efficiently, while managing other content tasks. Follow these tips on standards, tools, delegation, scheduling, and learning.

It's always helpful to have someone on the team who's familiar with the entire organization's body of work. This person would have the right lens to do the final proof, to ensure it isn't jarring or disorientating to the audience.

How can you balance proofreading and other tasks in Content Management?

As a content manager, you have to juggle many tasks, such as planning, creating, editing, and publishing content. Proofreading is one of the most important steps in ensuring quality and accuracy, but it can also be time-consuming and tedious. How can you balance proofreading and other tasks in content management without compromising on quality or efficiency? Here are some tips to help you out.

1 Set clear standards and guidelines

Before you start proofreading, make sure you have a clear set of standards and guidelines for your content. These should include the tone, style, format, and structure of your content, as well as the spelling, grammar, punctuation, and terminology rules. Having a consistent and coherent set of standards and guidelines will help you avoid confusion and inconsistency, and make your proofreading process faster and easier.

Add your perspective

Theo Vasilis

Senior Content Producer & Editor
Report contribution
Standards and guidelines usually apply to editing more than proofreading. Don't confuse these two things. Proofreading is always the final stage of the editing process, after developmental editing and copy/line editing. Issues regarding structure are dealt with during the developmental editing stage. Tone, style, and format, spelling, and grammar are handled during the copy-editing stage. Proofreading is the final check to pick up on the small errors that may have been missed during the previous processes.

Like

2 Use tools and resources

Proofreading tools and resources can help you automate some of the tasks and check for errors and issues. For example, you can use spell checkers, grammar checkers, readability checkers, plagiarism checkers, and SEO tools to improve your content quality and optimize it for your audience and goals. However, don't rely solely on these tools, as they may not catch all the nuances and subtleties of your content. Use them as a supplement, not a substitute, for your own proofreading skills.

Add your perspective

Dakshita Jain

Content editor and writer | Long-form SEO articles, content briefs, editorial calendar | Ghostwritten for Forbes, CMI, SEJ, Social Media Today
Report contribution
Grammarly's Chrome extension helps spot typos, grammar, and spelling errors at a quick glance, right in the Google Doc you're working on. I also keep some time for proofreading the article after it goes live.

Like
Theo Vasilis

Senior Content Producer & Editor
Report contribution
Grammarly makes it easy to pick up little things that may easily escape our attention: a misplaced comma, for example. It can be set up to include things particular to your house style, too. But don't rely on it too heavily for sentence structure. It doesn't always make good suggestions. Hemingway is useful for grading language, but if you blindly follow its recommendations regarding readability, you'll end up sounding like a bot. You'll never use passive even when you should, and your vocabulary will be very limited.

Like

3 Prioritize and delegate

You may not have enough time or resources to proofread every piece of content with the same level of attention and detail. Therefore, you need to prioritize and delegate your proofreading tasks according to their importance, urgency, and complexity. For example, you can focus on proofreading the content that has the most impact, visibility, and value for your organization, and delegate the less critical or simpler content to other team members or freelancers. You can also use a proofreading checklist or a proofreading matrix to help you prioritize and delegate your proofreading tasks.

Add your perspective

Ruth Lee

People-Centered Communications
Report contribution
It's always helpful to have someone on the team who's familiar with the entire organization's body of work. This person would have the right lens to do the final proof, to ensure it isn't jarring or disorientating to the audience.

Like
Theo Vasilis

Senior Content Producer & Editor
Report contribution
Editing and proofreading require slightly different skills, so if you don't have an editing team already, make sure you delegate the right tasks to the right people. Proofreading is about catching spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors, so they need to have a keen attention to detail and an impeccable knowledge of grammar.

Like

4 Schedule and review

Proofreading requires concentration and focus, so you need to schedule and review your proofreading tasks accordingly. For example, you can schedule your proofreading tasks for the time of the day when you are most alert and productive, and avoid distractions and interruptions. You can also review your proofreading tasks periodically to monitor your progress and performance, and identify any areas for improvement or feedback. You can use tools like calendars, timers, trackers, and analytics to help you schedule and review your proofreading tasks.

Add your perspective

5 Learn and improve

Proofreading is not a one-time or static activity, but a continuous and dynamic one. You need to learn and improve your proofreading skills and techniques regularly, as the content landscape and the expectations of your audience and stakeholders change. You can learn and improve your proofreading skills by reading and analyzing other content, taking courses or workshops, joining communities or networks, and seeking feedback or mentoring from experts or peers.

Add your perspective

6 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that donâ€™t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Add your perspective

Theo Vasilis

Senior Content Producer & Editor
Report contribution
In book publishing, proofreaders are usually distinct from editors. Proofreaders don't get to see the content before it has been typeset, having already gone through developmental and copy editing. Page proofs are the interior pages of a book, designed, typeset, and laid out as it will appear in print (assuming thereâ€™ll be a printed version). Hence the term proofreading.

Like

Directory

How can you balance proofreading and other tasks in Content Management?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Set clear standards and guidelines

2 Use tools and resources

3 Prioritize and delegate

4 Schedule and review

5 Learn and improve

6 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

Content Management

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

More articles on Content Management

More relevant reading

Directory

How can you balance proofreading and other tasks in Content Management?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Set clear standards and guidelines

2 Use tools and resources

3 Prioritize and delegate

4 Schedule and review

5 Learn and improve

6 Hereâ€™s what else to consider

Content Management

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

Explore Other Skills