Editing and Proofreading Tips for Bloggers

Anyone with a computer and an internet connection can now become a blogger. Starting a blog is easy, and once you do, you have the potential to reach millions of people. Unfortunately, the simple nature of blogs and blogging often breeds a careless mindset when generating a post. Bloggers are often too caught up in the thrill of their story or opinion to properly edit or proofread their piece. We've compiled a short list of tips in order to help the average blogger optimize their posts and get the most out of their online publications. Follow these tips, and your messages, thoughts, arguments, or ponderings are sure to be well received.

1. Proofread Your Post

This is easily the most important step in generating a worthwhile blog post. There is nothing that renders a blog useless faster than a post riddled with careless spelling mistakes. As blogs are often statement or opinion based, it is likely that the blogger is trying to make a point or convey an argument of some sort. A blogger could make the most profound statement of all time, only to have it torn apart in the comments section by readers who are quick to point out that they used there instead of their. Always go over your post several times to ensure that you've removed every error you're capable of finding, and your posts will improve tremendously.

2. Edit for Context

Are you a professional? A politician? A pro wrestler? Or just an average Joe looking for a creative venue to vent your frustrations about everyday life? As a blogger, a CEO should not use the same language as a teenager, as their readers are from vastly different walks of life. Your blog post will say a lot about your personality, so you must be mindful of your tone. What's more, when you're publishing things online, anyone can find your entry and read it. Take your personal context into account in the editing process; remove any language or thoughts that you wouldn't want your boss or co-workers to read. Conversely, if your post is aimed at fourth graders, don't use terms suited to university graduates.

3. Fact Check

Truth is a necessity in your blog writing. Although the internet does not require citations and references, nothing will affect your readership more than blog posts filled with obvious lies and false statistics. Bloggers should edit their posts to remove outlandish statements masquerading as facts. Again, it is important to assess your facts in relation to the context of your blog; a humor blog is more likely to exaggerate events in order to get a chuckle, but if your genre doesn't call for outrageous antics, edit them out. Fellow bloggers tend to be a tough crowd, and if you're constantly spouting lies and falsehoods, your credibility will forever be in question.

4. The Shorter, the Better

When learning how to blog, you may have encountered the term TL;DR, which stands for "too long; didn't read." TL;DR is used to quickly and efficiently communicate that a blog post's length is far too long to attract potential readers to even begin looking at your blog. Who wants to read a 46-page blog post when they could potentially get the same information on X in fewer characters?

5. Remove the Rambling

Steady, unrelenting, coffee-induced stream-of-consciousness rambling[s] worked for Jack Kerouac and the Good Doctor Thompson, but in the blogosphere, these instances of verbal diarrhea tend to draw negative comments or even result in a loss of readership. This goes hand in hand with the TL;DR concept, as readers will get lost in incoherent blathering or unnecessary instances of verbose declarations. Stick to the important parts of a blog and cut out the rambling. Edit the language of your posts to remove redundancies; your readers won't frequent your blog for long if they can barely understand what you're talking about.

6. Engage Your Readers

Editing and proofreading are crucial steps that can elevate your blog from good to great, ensuring your message is clear, impactful, and engaging. To make your content more engaging, focus on the flow and structure: Ensure your introduction hooks the reader and that each subsequent paragraph transitions smoothly. Start by reading your post aloud to catch awkward phrasing and errors that you might miss when reading silently. Focus on clarity by eliminating jargon and overly complex sentences—your goal is to communicate ideas effectively, not to impress with vocabulary. Use the active voice to create a sense of immediacy and engagement, and vary your sentence lengths to maintain a dynamic rhythm.

Make Your Blog a Must-Read

These are just a few examples of how a thorough edit and proofread can potentially improve your writing as a blogger. If you want people to read, or continue to read, your blog, then you must ensure that what you are writing not only is worth reading but also is plainly readable. Try applying these 6 tips to your next post and keep an eye on the comments section; chances are your feedback will be more about the content of your post than any grammar or stylistic errors. If, as a blogger, you want to spend more of your time writing, and less time editing, that's OK! Submit your entry to our blog editing services.