When it comes to proofreading, one of the most common issues you can have is finding time. Time is a precious commodity, and we want to waste as little time as we can managing things in our life. For that reason, you might look to simply avoid proofreading on your own and instead use proofreading tools. And while many of these tools have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, can you really rely upon them? The short answer is no, but we want to take a closer look at why that is in just a moment.
Proofreading tools, although very useful, do tend to lack some of the key features needed to give you a complete proofreading service. If you are looking for a proofreading tool to try out, then you should feel free. Don’t expect perfection, or anything close to it, though!
Proofreading tools cannot provide the human touch
The main problem when using a proofreading tool is that it can often lack the subtle changes needed to make content really come to life. It can spot small problems that you might not have caught with the human eye. At the same time, though, you can have problems appear that, in reality, would not make much difference to the writing. Often, proofreading tools can focus on content issues that would not make the content any harder to read. (Read Human Proofreading Vs. Machine Proofreading.)
Often, they can instead pick up problems more related to search engine optimization. While this can make more browser-friendly content, it can also produce content that simply does not make sense from a written perspective. Overall, you might find that using a proofreading tool can actually make the content worse, not better!
Keep that in mind; recommended changes aren’t always worthwhile.
Proofreading tools can also limit writing quality
You might also find that proofreading tools tend to be quite picky when it comes to errors that it spots. They often can point out miniscule problems, issues that might make your content more readable to a website browser. It might, though, miss key errors that you can even spot with your own eyes. They do tend to be quite limited in how human they can be; most proofreading tools should be used only for catching the most obvious of problems.
Generally, though, you will find that using something like a proofreading tool can be useful for minor mistakes and SEO-related errors (What is SEO?). You should, though, generally only use a proofreading tool if you wish to try and make content writing more mechanically readable. If you want to make it better for a human audience, don’t make the mistake of using a proofreading tool.
What should I do, then?
You should look to hire a professional editor and proofreader for all of your content. You will soon find that proofreaders can spot both the key issues and the smaller issues. It can work extremely well because they make the writing better for both human and AI audiences. Your content will be more likely to get a tick from the search engines, but it can also improve the way the content reads from a perspective of how your write. Do you use the same terms too much? Is your writing repetitive? Do you lean on the same analogies too often? (Get your content ready for publication)
Whatever mistakes you happen to make, you can find that a proofreading professional can do the entire job. A good quality expert ensures that you get all of the precision and help that you need to make sure your content reads better, writes better, and generally is more suitable for whatever purpose you have in mind.
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