Purpose of this SQ How To: Provide a guide to proofreading and quality control.
Owner: Project Manager
Applicable to: Proofreader/Quality Control
Customers: All
Timescales: Within 24 hours of receiving a piece of content (unless otherwise specified)
Introduction
All content should be sent through quality control before going to the customer or being uploaded.
Content written by a “Secondary Writer” for Platinum customers will go through both proofreading and quality control.
Who Sends What?
Content for Silver customers will be sent directly to quality control from the writer of the content. This will be sent through a proofreading task on the specific interval.
Content written by the Primary Writer for Platinum customers will be sent directly to quality control by themselves. This will be sent through a quality control task created for that specific task within the interval.
Content written by the Secondary Writer for Platinum customers will be sent to the Primary Writer for proofreading through the designated proofreading task. When they are happy with the content, the primary writer will send through to quality control. This will be sent through a quality control task created for that specific task within the interval.
To Start
When receiving a piece of content to proofread/quality control you need to:
- Start your timer within the proofreading/quality control task
- Read through any supporting documents for that customer: tone of voice, do’s & don’ts
- Read the task for that specific piece of content so that you know what the content executive was asked to do
- Open the content on Word
- Turn the ‘Track Changes’ function on Word on, so that the writer will be able to see any changes you have made to the document
- You will be allocated 15 minutes per 1hr of blog writing
What do you look for?
Whether proofreading as a primary writer or proofreading as quality control, you should be looking for the following things:
- Any grammar or sentence structure errors
- That the context of the blog makes sense
- That it answers the question that the blog sets out to do
- If the article meets the brief and contains the necessary keywords & keyword links (mentioned in the task description)
- That the article has relevant images, working and relevant links and appropriate subheadings
- Ensure the article matches the client’s tone of voice
- Watch any videos linked in the blog and make sure they’re relevant and appropriate
- Links to sources – if the article is claiming something to be true, it needs to be backed up by credible sources. Links to high DA sites are beneficial for blogs in general, but it also shows that you have done your research.
- Is the headline a strong one?
- The opening paragraph should be strong, informative, and concise. Provide the reader with background information on the blog topic that answers who/what/where/when/why. Does the content provide them with a reason to read on further? Is it straight to the point?
It’s important to keep the audience in mind when reading the blog;
- Is the blog targeting the right audience?
- Is the content appropriate?
- Is the blog topic appropriate for the client?
What to do if there are errors
You should correct minor errors which the writer will be able to see with the changes tracked. You can add comments to areas in which you want to suggest changes, ask for clarification, ask for a rewrite or suggest links. Try and give as much information as possible to help the writer.
If you are not happy with the content overall, then you can request that the writer rewrites the entire article. It’s recommended that you sit with the writer to explain your reasons.
After Proofreading/Quality Control
Once you have finished proofreading, you should save your changes and send back to the writer through the same proofreading/quality control task on Accelo. You can add any comments to the writer in the Accelo note. Don’t forget to log your time.