What should I proofread on a website?

Check all page copy (headings, body, buttons, form labels, error messages), meta titles and descriptions, image alt text, every link, and any placeholder content like 'Lorem ipsum' or '[Insert image]'. Pay extra attention to proper nouns — misspelled company names and product names are common and credibility-damaging.

How do I proofread a website I built for a client?

Do your own pass first using an incognito window and reading aloud. Then send the client a way to review it directly — not just the URL with a request for email feedback. When clients can click and annotate the exact spot, you get specific notes instead of vague descriptions. It also creates a record of what was signed off on.

Do I need special software to proofread a website?

Not always. An incognito browser, a free link checker (W3C Link Checker is free), and a second pair of eyes cover most errors. Grammarly's browser extension helps catch typos in the CMS editor. For client review, a tool that lets reviewers annotate the live page saves significant back-and-forth compared to email.

How do I get a client to review a website before it goes live?

Give them a specific link that opens the staging site, and a clear way to leave notes. Asking for feedback via email produces vague responses. Asking them to click the element and comment on it directly produces notes you can act on. Set a deadline and a defined number of revision rounds in your contract before you start.

What's the most common thing people miss when proofreading a website?

Meta titles and descriptions — they're invisible on the page, so they rarely get checked. Also: placeholder text in image captions and form fields, broken links to external sites (internal links get checked, outbound ones get forgotten), and alt text on images. Mobile layout errors are another common miss if you only proof on desktop.

Can I proofread a website I don't own?

You can review any publicly accessible site in a browser. If you need to leave comments on it, tools that overlay an annotation layer on a live URL let you do that without owning the site or having CMS access.

drafty

How to proofread a website before it goes live

Quick answer

To proofread a website, open every page in an incognito window, read the copy aloud, check every link, verify meta titles and descriptions, and have at least one person who didn't write the content review it — ideally with comments pinned to the exact spot on the page.

Step 1

Open every page in an incognito window

Your browser caches styles, images, and scripts. Incognito clears that — you see what a first-time visitor sees. Resize to mobile too; a typo in a hero headline on desktop can wrap into gibberish on a 375px screen. Go through every page in the sitemap, not just the homepage.

Step 2

Read the copy aloud, page by page

Your eye skips errors it expects. Your mouth doesn't. Read every heading, subheading, body paragraph, button label, footer, and form placeholder aloud — including the boring stuff like privacy policy and error messages. Most guides say to copy content to a Word doc and strip formatting first; that removes the visual context and you miss errors that only appear in the live layout (truncated headings, placeholder text left in image captions, a CTA button that says 'Submit' when it should say 'Book a call').

Step 3

Test every link

Broken links damage SEO and undermine trust. Use a free tool like W3C Link Checker or Broken Link Check to scan the whole site automatically, then manually click anything the crawler might miss — PDF downloads, mailto links, anchor links within a page, and social profile links. Don't forget the navigation and footer.

Step 4

Check meta titles, descriptions, and image alt text

These don't appear on the page itself, so they get skipped. View source (⌘U on Mac) or use a browser SEO extension to check every page's title tag and meta description. Look for missing alt text on images, placeholder meta descriptions ('Page description goes here'), and meta titles longer than 60 characters — Google truncates them. Also check for any leftover 'Lorem ipsum' text in hidden or conditional elements.

Step 5

Get a second reviewer — and give them a way to mark the exact spot

You can't proofread your own work reliably; you know what it's supposed to say and your brain fills in the gaps. Send the site to someone who wasn't involved in building it. The usual method — email the URL and ask for feedback — produces responses like 'the bit near the top' or 'the header thing on the contact page.' Give the reviewer a way to click the exact element and leave a note pinned to it. You'll get usable feedback instead of a scavenger hunt.

The faster way

The slowest part of proofreading a website with a client is decoding their feedback. They email you 'the bit near the top looks off' and you spend 20 minutes figuring out which bit. Drop the staging URL into Drafty — your client opens the link (no account needed) and clicks the exact element to leave a note. Every comment lands pinned to the spot, threaded, in one place. You stop translating emails and start making fixes.

Open a live demo

Questions

What should I proofread on a website?: Check all page copy (headings, body, buttons, form labels, error messages), meta titles and descriptions, image alt text, every link, and any placeholder content like 'Lorem ipsum' or '[Insert image]'. Pay extra attention to proper nouns — misspelled company names and product names are common and credibility-damaging.
How do I proofread a website I built for a client?: Do your own pass first using an incognito window and reading aloud. Then send the client a way to review it directly — not just the URL with a request for email feedback. When clients can click and annotate the exact spot, you get specific notes instead of vague descriptions. It also creates a record of what was signed off on.
Do I need special software to proofread a website?: Not always. An incognito browser, a free link checker (W3C Link Checker is free), and a second pair of eyes cover most errors. Grammarly's browser extension helps catch typos in the CMS editor. For client review, a tool that lets reviewers annotate the live page saves significant back-and-forth compared to email.
How do I get a client to review a website before it goes live?: Give them a specific link that opens the staging site, and a clear way to leave notes. Asking for feedback via email produces vague responses. Asking them to click the element and comment on it directly produces notes you can act on. Set a deadline and a defined number of revision rounds in your contract before you start.
What's the most common thing people miss when proofreading a website?: Meta titles and descriptions — they're invisible on the page, so they rarely get checked. Also: placeholder text in image captions and form fields, broken links to external sites (internal links get checked, outbound ones get forgotten), and alt text on images. Mobile layout errors are another common miss if you only proof on desktop.
Can I proofread a website I don't own?: You can review any publicly accessible site in a browser. If you need to leave comments on it, tools that overlay an annotation layer on a live URL let you do that without owning the site or having CMS access.

Keep exploring

Review a website How to annotate a PDF Website feedback tool How to comment on a website

Stop emailing files back and forth.

Share one link. They comment on the exact spot — no account, always the current version.

Open a live demo