8 Reasons to Hire a Proofreader

A proofreader can make web copy shine, and clients will take your web design business seriously as a result. It never hurts to have a second pair of eyes review your work for grammatical and spelling errors. It’s easy to miss errors when you’ve spent hours working on a website. Hiring a proofreader can pay dividends, and here are 8 reasons why:

Reason #1 – Retain Clients

Some of your clients may jump ship because you’ve made a poor first impression. Web copy that contains errors will make you appear untrained and unprofessional. It’s hard to get clients, so if you can keep more when you hire a proofreader, it’s worth the cost.

Reason #2 – It’s Better than Spell Check

You might think that you can get away with using spell check in your word processor, but it does miss some things. For example, a common error is to interchange “you’re” with “your.” The spell checker may not pick up on that mistake, but a proofreader will.

Reason #3 – Save Time Learning Rules

When you hire a proofreader, you expect them to know the various rules of grammar. For example, a proofreader should know the rules about when to use commas in a list or before the word “because.” The time it would take you to research and learn those rules yourself could be time better spent on web design.

Reason #4 – Improve Your Writing

A proofreader will suggest ways to improve how sentences are worded. It will result in quality work for your clients. Working with a proofreader will also improve your writing after some time.

Reason #5 – Everything is in Cyberspace

Once you publish content online, it stays in cyberspace. Clients doing research on your company and looking for some of your sample work may come upon it. The last thing you want is for them to find poorly written web copy. You can avoid losing prospective clients when you hire a proofreader to make sure that everything you publish online is your best work.

Reason #6 – Spare Yourself the Pain

If writing and editing is not your strong suit, you can spare yourself some of the pain by hiring a proofreader. It can be frustrating to review content multiple times to ensure accuracy because it’s not the work that you’re accustomed to. A proofreader is used to it, and many even enjoy it.

Reason #7 – Outshine the Competition

The truth is that too many web designers publish work that contains spelling and grammatical errors. Prospective clients do take note of that and will pass them by. When they come across your work that contains quality writing, they will be more likely to hire you. It’s a simple step you can take to beat out the competition.

Reason #8 – Don’t Frustrate Customers

A typo on web copy can frustrate the customers of your clients. It’s easy to transpose digits in a telephone number or write the wrong email address that can result in lost business to the clients you’re designing the website for. A proofreader can verify contact information to make sure that it’s accurate.

Before you hire a proofreader, compare their prices as well as their experience. Try to find someone who charges a flat rate so that you know how much to budget.