By Chapô
April 09, 2024
Why have your web content revised
When redesigning a website or deploying a content strategy, significant amounts are invested in design, graphics, and marketing. If you choose your web writing provider yourself, you will have to evaluate and compare quotes.
Some companies will offer content revision services within their writing offers. Is it really necessary? Aren't writers already equipped with effective correction software?
Why would a company invest in language revision?
Because your writing is the voice of your company
It has been said before, on the Web, content is king. It is the content (and its quality) that builds a connection with your target clientele.
If the appearance of your site is the face of your company, your web writing allows you to communicate your values, your personality, your uniqueness.
It is the words on the page that encourage purchases or appointment bookings.
If your texts are poorly written, full of mistakes, unintelligible due to awkward syntax... Well, you understand... You yourself would not be inclined to trust a company with neglected content.
Leading web creation agencies understand this. Just as a website is not delivered to a client before a quality check, the site's page content is not integrated onto the site before a round of language revision.
When the content is approved by the client, the person in charge of the revision is the last line of defense to ensure the text does not contain typos that may have slipped through the writing team and the project manager's fingers.
And the truth is, there will always be a few mistakes...
Just to give you an idea, a novel may require up to four rounds of corrections!
Web spell-checking is the quality control of your writing.
Because machines have not yet replaced humans
What about correction software?
It can be a complementary tool for the corrector, but it cannot replace them. Why? Because, firstly, these software do not detect all errors.
Furthermore, their biggest weakness is not having the intelligence to grasp the meaning of a text. They do not understand the subtleties of language and are not sensitive to syntactic inconsistencies or contradictions that may be present in a text.
Correction software can be effective for spelling and typographical errors, but are not good filters for syntax, punctuation, and textual organization.
In essence, software does not understand what it reads. A human does!
To standardize your communications
The person in charge of language revision ensures the consistency of the company's communications. Here are some important points to consider when proofreading a website:
- Spacing before and after punctuation marks
- Treatment of non-breaking spaces
- How to write numbers and figures
- Abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols
Dizzying?
In addition, there are specific recommendations for web writing and feminization... which virtually change every year!
No wonder we need the expertise of a professional proofreader.
To ensure compliance with your editorial policy
The numerous recommendations from the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) are a good starting point for creating web content. However, your company will always have its own practices based on its market and target clientele.
A company operating in an environment where Anglicisms are frequently used may decide to treat these terms as "commonly used". This will avoid repeated use of italics, which is not recommended on the web for readability reasons.
A brand targeting a young audience may want to use a relaxed language, closer to spoken language.
Each company establishes its own editorial line. This is usually summarized in an editorial charter or a writing guide.
The same goes for proofreading. We work with a guide that presents, in a single frequently updated document, the company's practices for editing and proofreading web content.
A review guide is the best way to ensure compliance with your editorial policy.
To carry out a verification of the facts/names and places important to your company
For web content, the person in charge of content revision is also the one who will verify the job titles mentioned in the article or webpage and verify the names of your clients.
A final check that can avoid many embarrassments...
How to know if your company needs web content proofreading
If you have a small business or a personal blog, you may decide to hire a freelancer. In most cases, these writers do not have their texts proofread by a professional before delivering them to you.
One way to improve this approach is to hire someone for proofreading. A retired French teacher, for example, a student in writing, language revision, literature. Again, the advantage of having a "fresh" look at the content is undeniable.
If your company deals with important commercial clients, public and para-public organizations, you should probably have your communications and web content proofread. This will likely save you a lot of headaches.
Inquire with the provider when they submit a quote if you do not see mention of proofreading.
Additional information: the role of a linguistic reviser
The linguistic reviser is a language specialist. They know the most common traps (Anglicisms, paronyms, grammar, spelling [new or traditional?], vocabulary, syntax) and will be able to spot them in your texts. But their task does not stop at correction.
The linguistic reviser:
- scrutinizes all elements of the text to ensure it is clear, coherent, and well-structured;
- checks vocabulary, grammar, syntax construction, punctuation, typography, word collocations, acronyms, abbreviations;
- validates facts, dates, names, quotes, phone numbers, addresses;
- ensures that presentation standards are met;
- ensures consistency in presentation.
The linguistic reviser can also carry out a rewrite with the aim of:
- making information communication more effective to the target audience;
- facilitating reading through information structuring;
- improving readability, cohesion, relevance, consistency, intelligibility, and comprehensibility of a text.
Some useful resources
Related Tags
Content Creation
Content Redaction
About the author
Chapô
Chapô is a content creation company specialized in SEO writing. We always work as a team. Our writers come from various backgrounds (marketing, journalism, communication). Our senior proofreader holds a bachelor's degree in French language and professional writing (with a focus on public communication). We provide writing services for businesses and various web agencies.
