So, today’s post is going to be about blogging. I have written a bit on the topic of blogging, and you can find all of those posts under the category “Blogging.” Today, I am going to tell you why it is super important to edit your blog posts. Editing and proofreading is not the most fun activity, and if you really hate doing it, I can help. Just contact me using the form in the side bar, but either way, someone needs to edit your posts for spelling and grammatical errors before it goes live.
1. It looks unprofessional.
Your blog or website is often what gives someone their first impression of you. You don’t want to give off the wrong impression just because you didn’t edit your most recent blog post. If you are using your blog to start a business or other career in your field, having errors in your post will make it harder for you to prove that you are an authority on your subject.
2. A blog post with errors is less readable.
The main goal of most bloggers is to make their posts readable and entertaining to anyone who reads their blog. That’s my goal, at least. If you want people to read your blog posts, you need to make sure that they are fun and easy to read. I know that when I come across a blog as a reader, I don’t want to work too hard to read the blogger’s content. If I see tons of typos in just the first paragraph, I will most likely give up on the post, and I will assume the entire blog is like that, too.
3. A blog post littered with errors is a big turn off.
And not a sexual one (um, what?!). Just as with the previous reason, people are lazy, they don’t want to put in much work to read a blog post. If you have dozens of misused “there” “their” “they’re” s, your post will be difficult to read, and in some cases, it could mean that someone misinterprets the meaning of your post.
Why should you edit you blog posts? Because it looks so unprofessional to see a blog post that has countless errors in it. It is less readable. It is a turn off. I’m not talking about a missed comma here or a misused quotation mark there. I’m talking about when the article is filled with typos. Don’t be that blogger. I can’t take people seriously when they have tons of errors in their posts. Yes, I know that as college students or busy working millennials, we are all busy. You might not have time to write until just before you have to go to bed. So, you are tired and you fumble through writing tomorrow’s post.
That’s not how you want to live. Especially if your blog is used in anyway for professional purposes, you need to be professional. You wouldn’t turn in a term paper (even if you wrote it the night before) without editing and proofreading it, right? Well, it’s the same with blogging. Even if you are not an English or journalism or communications major, you need to edit your work. Not doing it could cost you page views and drastically increase your bounce rate (things I will talk about in another blog post). You don’t want that. How will it look if you are applying for a job that involves a lot of writing or editing and your interviewer asks about why your blog has so many typos? What do you say to that?
When I am reading through a blog post by someone, especially if it is my first time on their blog, I will make a snap judgement on their professionalism based on how many (or hopefully few) typos they have. Editing is something that you have to do as a blogger. YouTubers have to edit their videos and take out any awkward pauses or random background noise. Bloggers have to edit their posts and remove or change any spelling or grammar issues.
I, personally, love editing and proofreading, and, if you couldn’t already tell, I do it even when I don’t mean to. I prefer to write my blog posts at least a few days before they are scheduled to go up so that I can give it a few days and come back to it and edit it before anyone sees any of the mistakes that I will inevitably make.
If you really hate editing and proofreading, let me help you! I am taking on new clients for my virtaul virtual assistant business. I have plans to fit your needs on any budget. Just scroll to the top of this page and click on “Services” to get started!
So, do you edit your blog posts or do you outsource it to a virtual assistant (VA)? Let me know in the comments or tweet me at @HannahHaefele. Thanks for reading!