How To Edit Your Online Content to make a great first impression. We know that you truly “know your stuff.” But if you’re writing a blog post or uploading content to your site and it’s rife with typos, glaring grammatical errors and even factual mistakes, you are damaging your credibility.
It may be a subconscious feeling, but if a prospect notes that you can’t spell a word correctly, how will he or she be able to trust the rest of what you say? You know that is not true — you know your stuff — but you are damaging your reputation with errors and it’s difficult to get it back. Don’t lose sleep if you occasionally misspell a word or use a comma instead of a semicolon — that won’t kill your credibilty, and when you notice it, go back in and update the post.
How To Edit Your Online Content
- Be your own harshest critic. Write your blog post. Print it out and read it on paper. Let it sit and go back and re-read it. Read it from the bottom up or from left to right — anything to change the way your brain processes the information will let you see any mistakes.
- Read your content and see if it makes sense. Fiction writers, very often, leave out crucial bits of information in their first drafts because THEY know what’s happening, but the reader doesn’t. Make sure the information you’re sharing answers a question and helps your reader.
- Cut out unnecessary words. We all get wordy when we write. I do. You do, too. After you’ve written the post, go back and look at it with an eye to cutting out words. In fiction it’s called “killing your babies.” It sounds harsh, but if you can say something in three words instead of a dozen, please do so. Your readers will thank you.
Set aside time to write and revise your blog posts in a manner that gives you the opportunity to have time to edit before you have to hit “publish.” Your readers and potential customers will thank you!