Blogging means getting your words out there — the goal is to have look good and to publish blog posts. Good business writing can involve multiple re-writes, consulting a style book, and rounds of spell-checks. Good grammar and correct spelling are a requirement of successful blogging. How far should you go for blogging perfection? The sample above from a national news blog has a typical error that would be missed by spell checking – the misuse of a similar, but misspelled word. Of course they didn’t delay their post for multiple editorial reviews. The purpose of a blog is to get the word out! Here’s 3 tips to get through the spelling and get to publication:
- DO Check your spelling. Create your post in MS Word and run a spell check. Or, install a spelling plugin to check within the WordPress dashboard.
- DO proof-read out loud. A read-through out loud can catch spelling or grammar issues that no checker will find. The image (above) from a major news site shows how easy it is to publish correctly spelled words which are used incorrectly– in this example it’s “tired” rather than “tried.”
- DON’T delay. The bottom line is that it’s a blog post. It should be timely. It’s accepted by readers that it’s timely. So, don’t stew over the writing until your post is no longer relevant. Take a deep breath and publish.
