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Article:
An Editor Spins Her Thoughts about Web Content by: Linda Jay Geldens A glossy magazine placed an advertisement on its Web site, targeting the publication's upscale subscribers. The expensive ad emphasized how perfect the tiniest detail would be for guests who stayed at a certain, very fancy hotel. There was only one small problem in the ad, but it was big enough to undermine the credibility of the hotel's claim to perfection. The headline blared, When Everything Has to Just Right. Uh-oh. What happened to the 'Be' before the 'Just Right'? You may be losing business or hurting your professional reputation by sending out unedited Web site copy. Text that is riddled with errors will distract present or potential clients. The reader will think, do I really want to buy a product or service from someone whose copy is sloppy? One way to ensure that your Web site message will be as perfect as possible is to invest in the services of a professional copyeditor/proofreader. In the twinkling of a well-trained eye, a topnotch editor can clean up your Web site copy so it sparkles in the sunlight. Misplaced modifiers, dangling participles, your's/yours, two/to, and other hair-raising/hare-raising errors will melt away. Skilled editors say that mistakes 'leap off the page' at them. And potential clients will leap off the couch to e-mail or call you because of your magnetic Web site copy. Horror Stories about Unedited Copy When Web content is launched into the stratosphere raw and unedited, unfortunate occurrences happen: A national eNewsletter goes out with the headline 'For Pubic School Educators' (the 'l' is often left out of that pesky word Public) 'And as we stand on the toes of those who have gone before us'¦' appears in a scholarly piece (should be 'stand on the shoulders') A financial consultant offers a complimentary phone call (which would only have favorable news the word here would be complementary) $'25
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