Website proofreaders help site owners correct errors before publishing web pages, in order to attract their potential visitors. The ever-growing number of websites provides freelance proofreaders the opportunity to get paid to search for and correct spelling, punctuation and grammar errors in web page texts. If you have good writing skills, an excellent command of the language and a particular attention to detail, you could increase your income as a website proofreader. Here are some things to know if you wish to pursue this career.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Develop Your Proofreading Skills
Step 1. Expand your culture
To be a proofreader of websites or any other type of text, a considerable passion for reading is required. You should be passionate about many literary genres and familiarize yourself with several styles, as well as deepen your knowledge in multiple fields.
Step 2. Try to understand the specific skills required of a proofreader
Correcting the text adequately requires the appropriate use of lexicon and punctuation, as well as writing the words correctly, distinguishing those with similar spelling, and understanding what the writer means by carefully reading the text.
Step 3. Develop your PC skills
The text you are going to review will be sent to you by e-mail, or you will be allowed access to a site from which the text can be downloaded or edited directly. If you download the text to your pc, you will need to be familiar with word proofing tools, such as tracking revisions and inserting comments. If you are correcting the text directly, you will need to know any tools available online that you will be asked to use.
Some customers, however, may ask you to print the text, edit it manually, and then fax it. In these cases you will need to know how to use the printer and fax, as well as know the symbols used for manual correction
Step 4. Consider a proofreader training course
Some Italian, journalism and literature courses will provide you with the basics of the language and other useful tools. You can integrate this knowledge with university courses, or online, as well as through tutorials available online.
There are online courses from organizations such as eLearners, Universalclass.com, and Mediabistro.com
Step 5. Become familiar with different styles
While courses can offer you the basics of the language, the organizations you will work for often adopt a style manual or make a unique one. A style manual collects composition rules and editorial rules useful for the correct editing of books and publications according to the editorial customs and the rules dictated internationally by bodies and organizations that regulate the standards.
Read some style manuals to get a general idea of the work that awaits you
Step 6. Get some books for reference
In addition to the style manual, you should have a vocabulary, a thesaurus and, depending on the clients you intend to work for, specialized glossaries of medical, scientific, legal or financial terminology.
You should also become familiar with online dictionaries; however, it is sometimes easier and more effective to search in a book than online
Step 7. Practice your proofreading skills when reading
Evaluate the books, newspapers, websites and even the texts that appear on the news and commercial advertisements with a critical eye. It will help you recognize spelling errors, punctuation and inappropriate use of terms.
Method 2 of 2: Finding Proofreading Jobs Online
Step 1. Identify the areas you want to specialize in
If you have particular areas of interest, such as medical, financial or legal sites, you should focus your efforts on these. You may need additional training in your areas of specialization, but you would get better paid and more personal satisfaction by specializing rather than reviewing whatever comes your way.
Step 2. Use the internet
You can find countless sites offering proofreading jobs by typing "online proofreading jobs" or "home proofreading" into a search engine. You can create an account on these sites and list your services on freelance sites.
- Websites that specialize in providing proofreading and reviewing services include Cyberedit, Grammatika.com, EditFast.com, Mulberry Studio, Proofread NOW, and Wordfirm. Some services specialize in areas such as corporate communication, while others provide additional services such as transcription or proofreading in many languages. Some services offer promotional assistance to proofreaders who contract with them, such as the ability to link directly to their sites. The requirements usually required are at least two or three years of experience in proofreading and editing of texts, possession of the appropriate IT supports, being quick in typing texts and even taking a test to demonstrate one's skills.
- Brokerage platforms for freelancers include Elance, Guru, and oDesk. These sites list job offers, and the interested party can make their own competitive offer with other freelancers to win the job. Freelancers are listed by experience rank, and some sites offer fast track lanes for a fee.
- Job portals include Monster.com and Jobs.com. Publish your resume describing your work experiences and enter a keyword for the jobs you are interested in. Job portals are mainly dedicated to those looking for full-time or part-time work in companies, but they could also offer teleworking opportunities.
Step 3. Contact the website owners directly
Look for sites with a lot of text and contact their owners or webmasters. Go to the Contacts section to find the e-mail addresses; you will have to look for one with the name of the person or at least of the webmaster, rather than the generic address to request information.
Step 4. Build your own website
By having your own site, you will be able to advertise your proofreading services online and show your professionalism to potential customers. You will need to develop your search engine optimization (SEO) skills to help your customers reach your site easily, and you will also need to make sure it does not contain any grammar or spelling errors.
Step 5. Consider offering your services free of charge in the beginning
You can turn to non-profit organizations or start-up companies, offering to review their sites for free, in exchange for references to other paying customers. Be honest about your purpose from the start, to get the references you want, rather than other tasks without being paid.
Advice
- Most proofreading jobs are underpaid, so you may want to consider offering other services, such as copyediting, to guarantee you a higher income and be more selective in the tasks you accept. Copyediting differs from proofreading in that it requires a deeper reading of the text for the choice of words and its fluency, as well as the correction of grammatical errors and is done on the initial drafts, rather than on the final draft.
- Consider joining an organization of writers, editors and proofreaders. These organizations offer advice to those who work in the field of writing in all its forms, as well as forums where they can share their experiences.
- For advice on current rates, visit
