Tips for Bloggers: Don't Let a Few Typos Ruin Your Image

By Carol Zombo

Originally posted on the Watch Your Language blog

Do you want to pour your heart and soul (or hours of research) into a blog post, only to have your readers bail out after seeing too many careless typos?

Let's face it, no matter how hysterically funny your story is, your image is damaged by even a single spelling error. Even if your ironically snarky political commentary skewers those in power, a few misplaced apostrophes could be enough to lower your credibility level.

If readers are distracted and put off by the errors in your writing, then that in turn keeps them from

• hanging around your blog
• getting to know you
• browsing through your previous posts
• leaving comments
• clicking on your links and ads
• forwarding the link via social media
• telling their friends and family about your post

Debbie Hemley at socialmediaexaminer.com offers some fantastic tips for bloggers in 26 Ways to Enhance Your Blog Content. This site is loaded with insight for new and veteran bloggers.

Tips for Catching Typos in Your Blog Posts

The Yahoo! Style Guide recommends a number of proofreading techniques and suggests that writers use at least one of them, or combine a few:

• Print your page. Reading a printout is a great tactic for spotting errors.
• Wait. You’ll start to see what it actually says, not what it’s supposed to say.
• Ask someone else to read your copy. Having a second reader is one of the best ways to clarify and correct your copy.
• Read backwards. Great for proofreading numbers and useful when you need to make sure that a piece of text is perfect.
• Read out loud. Reading out loud, or using screen-reading software, will make you take in the words differently. This is also a good way to check the “voice” of your piece and whether the text flows smoothly.
• Read line-by-line, word-by-word. Use a spell-checker.
• Change the look; e.g., font size, background color or text color.

Before you hit "Publish" on your next blog post, take some extra time to check for typos, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Your readers will appreciate it.