The Ultimate Proofreading Tool for Bloggers

Bloggers can spend a lot of time working on writing their blog and social media posts. Sometimes after hours of writing, you tend to let little mistakes go unnoticed because your eyes are glossing over. This is where a proofreading assistant comes in handy. What’s even better than an assistant? A browser extension that automatically catches all of your mistakes.

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What is Grammarly?

Well, it’s a website but also a browser extension that works kind of like your spell check. But it does so much more. It also can correct your grammar. There’s a free version that anyone can use, not just bloggers. It works across anything within your browser including social media, email, Google Docs, and anywhere you’d write something. If you like to write in Word or another offline program, you can upload your document to the Grammarly website for a quick grammar check.

Will it still help me if I have excellent grammar?

YES. You’re in the presence of the nine-time reigning Grammar Queen of Mrs. Serena’s 7th-grade class. I can list 50 prepositions in alphabetical order in 30 seconds. I’m the person people go to when they have grammar questions. But I still make mistakes. A lot of mistakes, actually. Some are just typos because I type too fast, but there are a few things that it catches that I didn’t know.

If you’re like me and have extensive grammar knowledge (whether you choose to use it or not), you’ll benefit most from the upgraded version. It will catch more technical mistakes and improve your writing by suggesting better use of words and phrases.

How does it work?

First, you’ll need to download the extension to your browser and enable it.

Then while you’re typing, it will analyze your words and sentence structure for errors. You can edit immediately. I do. Or fix your mistakes when you finish. Check the bottom right corner of your text box for the Grammarly logo. It will have a red bubble for critical errors and a yellow bubble for advanced errors.

Advanced errors are only accessible through the premium plan. They are more technical than just misspellings or missing commas. They involve things that even I am not keen to. Remember all of those fancy terms you learned in high school like “infinitives” and “dangling participles?” That’s what the advanced errors are.

Do I have to change everything it suggests?

Nope. Grammarly’s proofreading is just a suggestion. I leave things the way they are sometimes. Especially if it’s just nitpicking or I’m using colloquialisms. I will often leave it the way I wrote it because it sounds more conversational. I tend to write how I speak, and I don’t want to take that away from my posts. There is an ignore option for each correction. And you can add your own words to Grammarly’s dictionary.

Here’s a screenshot of this post as I was editing it in the popup window. You can tell that I left a few things in that Grammarly didn’t like.

Try it out!

It’s free! Try it for yourself. Do you need help proofreading, and do you think Grammarly would benefit your writing? Let me know in the comments below!