How to Hire a Proofreader in 5 Easy Steps

What’s the number one factor to consider when it comes to SEO for your blog?

Hint: It’s not backlinks, social media posts, or your schema (although all of these are still super important!).

The answer is quality content.

Simply put, your website content can make or break your online reputation.

For example, imagine you are a small business owner who needs to hire a contractor to provide part-time IT support for your company. As you search the web for IT support near you, you find a potential candidate.

Quality content is the number one SEO factor to consider.

But when you check out their website, you find multiple spelling errors on the landing page. A closer look reveals the misuse of punctuation, incorrect word usage, and poor flow. In short, it’s borderline unreadable.

Are you going to hire this contractor?

How Hiring a Proofreader Benefits Your Business

This is just one example showing how important a proofreader can be for your business.

A good proofreader will find and fix every error and make your content shine. This makes your company look more professional the next time a potential customer visits your website.

It also helps with things like reader engagement and click-through rates. (The better your content, the more likely visitors are to stay on your site.)

But how can you go about finding a good proofreader? Sites like Upwork have hundreds of freelancers selling their proofreading and editing services, and there are a number of larger proofreading companies that want your business as well.

The better your content, the more likely visitors are to stay on your site.

So how can you separate the wheat from the chaff? How can you guarantee you hire a proofreader worth their salt? And how can you set a budget and project deadlines that ensure you are getting the right amount of value in the time frame you need it?

How to Hire a Proofreader

In this post, I’m sharing five tips about how to hire a proofreader to help you grow your business.

1. Define your expectations.

Before hiring anyone, you need to spend some time understanding what it is you are looking for. Some questions to consider are:

• What content do you need to be reviewed?
• What is the voice or tone of the content that needs to be maintained (friendly, professional, trustworthy, casual, etc.)?
• Do you need simple grammatical fixes, more advanced rephrasing or rewriting, or an entire overhaul of your blog?
• Is this a one-time project, or is there ongoing work to be done?
• How much money do I have to spend on this project?
• What are the project deadlines?

The more information you have about your needs in advance, the easier it will be to find the right fit in a proofreader.

2. Research potential proofreaders.

Sites like Upwork and Fiverr can be good places to find freelance proofreaders and editors. It’s a good start to search out some potential contractors on these sites and read their profiles.

Be sure to pay attention to things like how many jobs they’ve had in the past, how much money they have made on the platform, and their overall rating provided by the site.

Sites like Upwork ensure that freelancers can’t “game the system” by altering or fabricating reviews.

Additionally, be sure to read previous clients’ reviews. Clients are under no obligation to sugar-coat the truth about the services they receive, and sites like Upwork ensure that freelancers can’t “game the system” by altering or fabricating reviews.

3. Check prices.

The old adage is true: you get what you pay for.

Yes, you can hire plenty of proofreaders online to review your upcoming 1,500-word blog post for $5. While it’s possible you will get a great result from a quality freelancer who’s just starting out, it’s equally likely you will have just paid someone to run your post through Grammarly—something you obviously could have done yourself!

Professional, experienced proofreaders and editors know their worth and charge accordingly. According to Upwork.com, the typical proofreading rate for a beginner is $20/hr. Intermediate freelancers charge $30/hr, and advanced proofreaders charge as much as $60/hr.

Part of the reason rates are set in the $20–$60/hr price range is the time commitment. A good proofreader can review 2,000 words per hour, but this depends heavily on the quality of the copy they receive. That number may fall to 1,000–1,500 if the content needs a lot of work.

Professional, experienced proofreaders and editors know their worth and charge accordingly.

Additionally, a good proofreader will go over your text at least twice, if not more. All this means a considerable amount of time and effort will be required. Be sure, then, to factor in a reasonable hourly rate (and deadlines) in your plan to ensure you get the quality results you need.

4. Start with a paid test project.

Once you’ve understood your project’s needs and found a potential proofreader to hire, it’s a good practice to start with a small, one-off project. This allows both of you to test the waters.

It’s not fair to expect free work from someone, even if it is “just” a test project.

A test project allows you to verify the proofreader’s abilities while allowing the freelancer the chance to evaluate you as a client. (Remember, a freelancer may choose to walk away from a project if the client is a bad fit—it’s a two-way street.)

Make sure, however, that you pay the proofreader for their time. It’s not fair to expect free work from someone, even if it is “just” a test project.

5. Make the hire.

Once you’ve verified that you have the quality proofreader you need, you can offer a contract with confidence.

You’ll know the freelancer you hire is the right fit for you and your project, and the freelancer will know that you are a client they want to support.
And because at this point, you should both be on the same page about—and comfortable with—both the scope and pay of the project and the project workflow, it’s highly likely your professional relationship will remain strong.