An obvious typo. A usage that shows a clear misunderstanding of the word's meaning or proper use. A statement of quantitative results where the math doesn't add up. A missing or incorrect source citation.
These errors seem small on their own, but when they appear multiple times within your materials, they diminish your credibility in a reader's mind. Worse yet, even a simple spelling error can result in a large loss of online sales.
Given that a white paper is usually a showcase marketing piece for your product and company, you have every right to expect that the writer has done the detail work to create a quality draft. But what are the details the writer (and you, when reviewing) should be looking for? Adapt the following list for your projects:
- All words are spelled and punctuated correctly and are used in a form that is correct for the context. Look out especially for homonyms that have different meanings (e.g., their, there, they're). Common words also may have specific meanings when used in technology marketing (see one frequent mistake in this post about the word premises).
- Source citations are complete and appropriate and all Web links lead to the correct page.
- Statistics and other quantitative information are presented correctly and in a way that fairly represents the meaning conveyed in the source. Relationships and dependencies in the data are presented clearly and in a way that allows the reader to verify calculations if appropriate.
- Product names are stated correctly, especially if a particular form is needed for trademark protection. The relevant trademark symbols are noted with the first appearance of a trademarked name or phrase in the document.
- The text complies with all other standards specified in your corporate style guide or writing guidelines. (A good resource for creating these guidelines is the Yahoo Style Guide.)
- Diagrams and infographics contain the correct text labels and captions.
- Product specifications have been checked against a datasheet or other authoritative document.
Whew! This list can seem like a lot of nit-picky busywork, but it's not. A professional writer will understand that checking for these details can avoid the negative impression left by a sloppy white paper-- and perhaps the bigger problem of a legal issue or lost sale.
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