Mistakes To Avoid While Hiring An Online Proofreading Service

No writer ever wants embarrassing errors in his/her content. If you are a blogger, you can not get anything from a messy blog that is loaded with errors. If unlucky, you can also get penalized by Google for the mistakes or face troubles during search engine optimization. Also, the audience never praises or enjoys content with grammatical errors — something that does not make sense. Therefore, if you want a perfect piece of content, you can click here to hire the best proofreader services.

A professional proofreader has a sharp eye that can catch even minute errors in the formatting, grammar, sentence framing, and spellings of your write-up. Like a fresh set of eyes, the proofreader goes through the topic, headings, photos, and all other content of your essays before they are sent to be published. 

You must choose only the best services so that your content can stand out from the crowd in this competitive world. There are a large number of proofreading services available online for you to select from. This article talks about some mistakes that you can avoid while hiring a proofreading service online, to make sure that you get the best proofreaders for your project. 

Not being clear about your needs

The very first step for hiring a service to proofread your content is to consider your professional needs. You must understand your requirements and be very clear about what you want. 

If you are looking for a proofreader to help with academic content, you would want someone who has enough knowledge of the different subjects that he would be proofreading like science, social studies, or economics. In that case, you must search for an academic proofreading service. If you own a business and wish to hire a service that would proofread your emails, documents, agreements, and other contents related to your firm, you must search for a business copyediting service. Or you can also choose to hire someone for just a professional review of your text. Just be clear of your choice. 

Another decision that you would have to make before you put your request is about the level of proofreading required. Do you want a proofreader for just grammatical and punctuation errors? Or, do you want a proper editing service to improve the lexis, syntax, and style of your piece?

Not reading the information on the website thoroughly

A proofreader’s website is a window to the quality of service that he/she can provide. If you find the site messy or filled with any amount of errors, you know that this is not the one. Read the information provided by the proofreader on his website. Make sure that the information provided by them is clear-cut and doesn’t contain any tricky points or clauses. You should be innately mindful of the price and deadlines. 

Skipping the interview

Not assessing the quality of the individual can put you at risk. This is why you must be proactive about discussing all the crucial bits beforehand. Make sure there isn’t any unattended doubt when it comes to finalizing the project. While at it, you should discuss every minute detail related to the project to know what you’re getting into. Your proofreader must possess the following qualities:

• Good eyesight so that he can cover several assignments on a single stretch when needed to do so. 

• He should have a good grasp of the language to be able to identify errors regarding the grammar, punctuation, spellings of the content.

• He should be familiar with at least two or three stylebooks so that he can quickly identify and refer errors.

Apart from their working approach and feasible working hours, you should also dive into aspects like pricing. Also, see whether they’re going to charge for subsequent edits after submitting the final draft. Skipping the interview process is not the best idea because it determines the clarity you have before hiring the proofreader.

Not asking for a sample of their work

Asking your candidate about his/her experience, style, and the price is not enough. You should never hire a proofreading service before you go through a sample of their work. A sample is a piece of content that they have edited earlier, and it gives you an idea of their efficiency and style. 

Different editors use different terminology to describe their work. A sample can help you to verify if your editor is actually as good as he/she is claiming to be. If you don’t see a sample, it is possible that you would not get the quality of service that you are expecting. It also helps to compare different proofreaders who you have contacted and make a decision about what you want. 

Not asking for contact details

This point is crucial while hiring an online service. You must be able to contact your person whenever you have a query or doubt or whenever you have to convey some details to them. Make sure you have free access to all the contact details of your service provider. 

If your service is offering a wide range of options to communicate with them like their mobile number, WhatsApp number, email, etc., it is a good sign and a clear indication of a genuine service provider. 

Choosing the cheapest service provider

Every proofreading service entails a price different from the other. Also, this price varies according to their experience and efficiency. If you go with the cheapest editor, you may not get the service you are looking for. In the worst case, you will need to get your piece edited again by someone else. 

Therefore, you must choose someone who can cater to all your editing needs and requirements. Of course, you must consider the price at which they offer you a service and should not spend more than what your budget allows, but the price should not be your primary concern. Communicate with your editor about all your needs and the level of proofreading that you desire.