500 Words or Less: The Editing and Proofing Tips Every Brand Can Use

Three simple but effective newspaper journalism hacks that could prevent embarrassment for your brand

Dot Barrett seems like an easy enough name to remember. But when you’re a noob newspaper journalist covering your first election story, nothing should be taken for granted, which is a lesson I learned the hard way.

Her name ran as “Dott Barrett” in a voter registration story under my byline.

Though pink with embarrassment, I learned two important lessons that day:

• Take nothing for granted.
• Focus on the little things before they become big things.

A talk with my news desk editor made me aware of the seriousness of such errors, which can erode confidence in the publication. I then knew I needed a way to ensure it never happened again.

Borrowing from journalism to improve content marketing

After several weeks of working weekends in the newsroom, which allowed me to observe and borrow habits from the news and copy desks, I was armed with the information needed to prevent future errors.

In fact, these elements are still put to good use today, by me and others I’ve shared the tips with for use on content marketing blogs.

I’m convinced your brand can use these simple but powerful tips effectively as well.

• Print, and then read aloud: We hear all the time that “You should read your copy aloud.” Good advice, but it’s lacking. A better idea is to read aloud printed copies of your content. As I learned in the newsroom, our eyes lie, especially when it’s our words on a screen. You have a better chance of catching those errors if you print the work and read the hard copy. Try it; it works. Keep a red pen handy.
• Use your cursor: The single biggest idea I stole from my metro news editor was to use the cursor when editing. That is, use the forward arrow and allow your eyes to track along with the cursor without straying. This keeps you honest and on task. Always. I found this tip magical for spotting typos, but it’s also stellar for readability and meaning as well, even of you’re reading under your breath.
• It’s not done until it’s clean: How many times should you read through a post? As many as it takes to get it totally clean. So each time you read through the post and find an error/omission, you have to re-read it.

While in an ideal world you’ll have someone read your content before it’s published, these tips can at least help ensure your blog’s content is mostly clean and free of egregious errors.

What tips can you share with regard to editing blog content?