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3 Proofreading Pointers, So Your Writing Isn’t Shared for the Wrong Reason

"Want to know how I find and correct errors in my own writing as well as every article we publish on Copyblogger?" – Stefanie Flaxman

Whenever someone questions the importance of proofreading, my go-to response is:

“Pubic relations is quite different from public relations.”

We all sometimes make a typo that omits or changes a letter in a word. A typo like that is difficult to spot when the mistake is still an actual word (or words). Just last week, I wrote “head lice” instead of “headline.” Again, two completely different things.

But I have an effective proofreading process that helps me find and correct errors before they are published. (Except, of course, when the error is a joke.)

Do you want to know techniques I use on my own writing as well as every article we publish on Copyblogger?
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5 Content Optimization Mistakes You’ll Wish You Fixed Sooner

"Show your site visitors that you’re a match for them — faster." – Stefanie Flaxman

By now you know that — technical details aside — SEO is not separate from content marketing; it’s an integrated aspect of content marketing.

Optimizing your content for search engines is part of your craft and a skill you can strengthen with practice.

But even when you rank well for search terms your audience uses, the real test is what happens when someone clicks through to your website. As Brian wrote on Monday:

“There’s nothing worse than a quick bounce.”

To avoid a quick bounce, you need to focus on content optimization. Since you don’t want to miss any opportunities to connect with your site visitors, study this list of five common mistakes — and how to fix them.
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Everybody’s Working for the Weekday

"Find the space where hard work and fun coexist." – Stefanie Flaxman

Why do we spend so much time researching, creating, optimizing, and promoting our content?

“Geez, Stefanie. That’s a silly question,” you might be thinking. “You of all people should know that content marketing helps with our business goals. In fact, you wrote about that last week.”

And you’d be absolutely correct.

But that’s not what I want to focus on today. I want to look at the personal motivations and goals of people who decide to become writers and content marketers — people like you.
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Why a Prospect You Want Chooses Your Competitor

"No one cares about how good you are until after they know they can trust you." – Stefanie Flaxman

You had trouble sleeping again last night.

Up until the time you got into bed, you were looking at their Twitter feed, their Facebook page, and their website.

It’s your competitor.

You’re completely preoccupied with everything they do … and for a seemingly good reason. Their customer base seems to keep growing and they keep expanding their offerings, while you’re just trying to keep your head above water.
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10 Modern Editing Tips for Meticulous Bloggers

protractor, ruler, and gray pencil - copyblogger

I watch a lot of YouTube videos about the best ways to clean your bathroom.

In fact, I realized that I spend way more time watching “hacks, tricks, and tips” about how to efficiently clean a bathroom than I do actually cleaning my bathroom.

Given the hundreds of thousands of views on these types of videos, perhaps it’s not just me. And I started thinking … this might be similar to bloggers who read about editing tips.

Editing, like cleaning a bathroom, isn’t always the most fun, so bloggers might spend more time reading about editing tips than actually implementing them.

We’d like to have a polished bathroom or a polished blog post — we just don’t always want to perform the work required to produce that shiny end result.

The 10 modern editing tips I’ll share today should invigorate you to put in the elbow grease … at least when it comes to your writing.
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A Seemingly Minor Fact-Checking Tip that Yields Top-Notch Customer Service

people watch woman writing on whiteboard - copyblogger

When I was a cub copy editor, I learned a simple fact-checking technique that is still one of my favorites today.

It may seem unimportant, but if you don’t use this technique and fail to catch a certain type of mistake, you could set yourself up for extra work later.

This is one of my favorites because it demonstrates that reviewing your copy and content for accuracy goes beyond checking for proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
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