Checking your content

Edit your content before publishing, including proofreading, spelling, grammar and common mistakes.

Editing

You should edit content to be clearer, simpler and easier to scan. This can include:

  • rewriting in simpler language (plain English)
  • splitting sentences over 25 words into two or more shorter sentences
  • turning dense paragraphs into several shorter ones
  • deleting redundant words
  • checking for readability using a tool like Hemingway

Proofreading

To spot mistakes in your writing you can:

  • spellcheck, but do not rely on it (it will not tell you if you’ve used a word in the wrong context)
  • change the font to make it unfamiliar
  • print it out so you're reading it in a different context
  • read it aloud
  • read it backwards
  • ask someone else to read it

Common mistakes to avoid

Below are some common mistakes made by content editors.

Misspellings

Write using British English, not American English.

Examples:

  • ‘recognise’ not ‘recognize’
  • ‘focused’ not ‘focussed’
  • ‘holiday’ not ‘vacation’
  • ‘pavements’ and not ‘sidewalk’
  • ‘lift’ not ‘elevator’

Make sure your spellcheck is set to British English. Refer to the Oxford English Dictionary if you’re ever unsure.

Homophones

These are words that are pronounced and spelt similarly but have different meanings.

Make sure you’re using the correct versions of the following:

  • affect/effect
  • complement/compliment
  • formerly/formally
  • licence/license
  • practice/practise
  • principal/principle

Tautologies

This is when you use additional words that are unnecessary.

Examples of tautologies are:

  • new innovation
  • mutual co-operation
  • past experience
  • honest truth

Apostrophes

Apostrophes are used to indicate the possession or omission of words.

Below are the correct uses of apostrophes:

  • This is Thomas' room
  • This is Thomas's room
  • Work will start in two weeks' time
  • Today's the day
  • You'll be contacted soon

Do not use an apostrophe when writing the plural of something, for example, there are 20 worker's.

Other mistakes

It’s easy to use the wrong version of the words below. Ensure you’re using the correct instance of the following:

  • a/an
  • farther/further
  • fewer/less
  • it’s/its
  • that/which
  • they’re/their
  • who’s/whose
  • your/you’re