The Internet has definitely brought different rules to writing than were taught to us in high school English classes. When people read blogs, eBooks or web content on the Internet, they have a tendency to skim the words and overlook some mistakes.

Readers want short sentences and paragraphs and don’t really care if a preposition hangs at the end of a sentence. Serious English students and teachers of English will cringe at the new rules, but if you’re writing for an online audience, you’ll want to know the basic facts.

Writing for the Internet means that you’ll want to cut the fat out of your writing. You’ll want to know what the rules of grammar, punctuation and spelling are, but how not to go overboard with them.

You should be consistent in your writing style - and that means you should also develop continuity in how you put together a phrase. People tend to follow a writing style that they like and are comfortable with.

Don’t make readers cringe with your lack of rules, but don’t make your sentences look like you went overboard in being a stickler for every rule in the book, either.

Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation

Grammar, spelling and punctuation in writing are important factors in setting you apart as a professional writer. If you don’t want to be a ‘professional’ writer,’ but simply be able to write content for your own site, these three elements of writing can help you get your point across.

It’s extremely important that you proofread your writing before hitting the button to share your work with others. Poor grammar, punctuation and spelling can hurt any efforts you might have put in to a website or sales copy, and you should strive to make it the best it can be.

Even though these three elements are completely separate entities, they work together to present a mechanically-correct document that you can be proud of. Proofreading your work before publishing may seem tedious and boring, but it’s important to find and correct errors.

And don’t forget that you can tweak everything online. So if you publish your sales copy and three days later you go back to reread it and find a glaring mistake, just edit the HTML file and upload a new one in its place!

You can also outsource your content to freelance editors at sites like Elance.com and have someone with a fresh eye review your work, since we often miss our own mistakes.

Become an effective proofreader by reading this guide and referring to it when you have questions. Reading your work aloud can help you find errors and will also help you develop a clear and flowing style of your own.

Eventually, you’ll begin to recognize common mistakes and typos that you’re likely to make and this will result in becoming more mindful of what you’re writing. Dictionaries, spell checks and thesauruses are great tools to call upon when in doubt.

There are many “style guides” and software that address the rules and foibles of grammar, spelling and punctuation in the English language. There’s no way we could include all of that in this guide, but we have addressed some of the common problems and hope this helps you in your own writing ventures.

As you perfect your own writing, you’ll notice the urge to email everyone else when you land on other sites and see a mistake. Don’t get too bogged down in being a free editor, but if you happen to see someone you admire making a common error, you might want to mention it in passing!