They say that content is king, and they’re right. Whether you are an author, student, marketer, business owner or jobseeker, your content needs to stand out from the crowd if you want to be a success. And one of the best ways to achieve this is by employing a professional proofreading company to perfect your English.

“Why do I need a professional proofreader?” I hear you ask. “My English is good, and I always run spell check at the end of writing my document.”

While this may be true, is it really good enough just to check your own writing yourself? You might have got an A in English at high school, but do you really understand all the rules and nuances of the English language? Do you know the difference between an en dash and an em dash? Do you know how to use a serial comma? And that’s just punctuation – there are many other minefields to navigate when mastering grammar.

The same goes for spell check. Word’s in-built tool is very clever at spotting spelling errors, but it doesn’t detect when a word is spelled correctly but used in completely the wrong context. Its AI also gets a lot of so-called grammar mistakes wrong.

The other issue with checking your own writing is that your mind will play tricks on you. If you spent weeks, months and maybe years writing your document, you will be too close to it to stand back and truly look at it objectively. Your eyes will see what they want to see, they will not spot all the errors that exist. It’s not your fault – it’s human nature. You need a fresh pair of eyes on it. Fact.

A qualified, experienced proofreader will correctly identify all your errors. They will also make suggestions where your text is unclear or repetitive. They bring an awful lot to the table and while you will have to pay them for their time, it could potentially save you more money in the long run.

Nick Jones, MD, Full Proof