The power of proofreading in keeping your content polished, professional…and profitable!

Comma, comma, comma chameleon

“Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.” – Dave Barry

When you’ve spent time getting all the elements of a campaign or website together, you don’t want to attract attention for all the wrong reasons. Typos, bad grammar, inconsistencies and poor choices in tone and sentence structure can shift focus away from your desired message.

And anyone who has spent any amount of time on the internet will likely have seen one of the many examples of advertising gone wrong. Perhaps a particularly unfortunate choice of words, instructional text not removed or simply an embarrassing typo.

As funny as it is to see, it’s obviously not the sort of attention you want for your business or product. And while spell-checking and grammar tools have come on leaps and bounds since they were first introduced, they’re never quite as accurate or reliable as you’d like them to be. Or as discerning as the human eye.

 

Make your content shine

Well-written copy that’s easy to read is the ideal. When your content is clear, consistent and – most importantly – correct, it enhances the whole rather than detracting from it. It’s not just putting the finishing touches in place, it’s an essential part of the process that should never be underestimated.

Here at Denfield, we’re incredibly proud of our proofreading offering, helping our clients make sure their work hits the mark, every time! And boosting your audience’s confidence in your brand isn’t just good for business – it gives key stakeholders and team members something they can be proud of.

Our proofreading team check every single job and are involved from the earliest stages of campaign planning all the way through to sending artwork to print or uploading it online. We see content in a range of formats: copy from the Copy team, artwork from the Studio team, emails from the Content team and posts from the Social Media team.

 

Proof, rinse, repeat

We check it all. And then we check it again. And again. Because with the number of hands a job can pass through – not to mention the amends, updates and reworking that can happen – it’s easy for an error to slip in, and we want everyone to be proud of the final product.

We also go beyond the tasks done by proofreaders in traditional publishing, taking on some line editing and copy-editing tasks. Naturally, we check spelling, grammar and punctuation. We’ll also cross-check against the brief, check the tone of voice and reword the copy to make sure it’s readable, understandable and can’t be misread or misinterpreted. And we’ll query anything that seems a bit off…

 

Proofreading and editing at Denfield

As part of the larger Copy & Proofing team, we work closely alongside our copywriters. While they’re clearly keen spelling bees themselves, giving them a break from too-much frantic self-editing helps them turn their energy to more creative pursuits.

We’ll also make sure things are consistent not only in the copy but also across the assets, whether that’s for a specific project like an event or the brand as a whole. Our style guides are living documents, evolving not only with the language but with our clients’ needs too. And while we’ll admit our team probably get the most (nerdy) joy out of them, they’ve also become bibles for our designers and the wider team.

There’s no job too big or small. From hashtags, tweets and web banners to policy documents, manuals and (award-winning!) annual financial reports, we’ve tackled them all. And our team has grown to meet the demand. Because you need someone to make sure you’ve dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s.

Get in touch if you want to hear more about how we can help you to create and maintain a professional image by proofreading your work to ensure consistent and clear communications.