When I'm in a rush to get content out, I can sometimes overlook simple edits that would make the difference for readers. Thankfully, there are several free online tools available to help me fix these problems quickly when I need help.

3 Free Tools To Improve Your Blog Posts

Basic grammar problems - things like using the wrong word or using the wrong spelling - can really throw readers off. Punctuation problems can also distract readers from your main message. Spellcheckers in word processing software can miss a lot of mistakes, especially with words that sound alike.

For bloggers with an international audience, clear language can be even more important. English is often a second language for blog readers or for bloggers themselves. Even those of us with a pretty good handle on the language can make mistakes, and miss those mistakes on a second pass.

Grammar checking software edits your work similar to the way a spell check does, except that it applies more complicated rules and potentially fixes more complicated mistakes. In this post, I will share three tools to help fix up your writing that won't cost you anything.

After the Deadline

After the Deadline is an open source grammar checking tool that is free to use. Both commercial and business users are welcome to take advantage at no charge, although commercial users are asked to run the three server version on their own machine for their employees' use.

After the Deadline's free software is integrated with popular tools like Chrome, Firefox OpenOffice, and WordPress. Notably, you cannot use after the deadline with Microsoft Word. If there is not a version developed for the tool you want to use, your next best option is to enter the text in their web tool at polishmywriting.com.

Get After the Deadline: http://www.afterthedeadline.com/

Grammarly

Grammarly is probably the best-known grammar check software on the market. I see a lot of ads for it, so they must spend a lot on marketing. It has a lot of integrations and functionality.

Unfortunately, a lot of the functionality Grammarly could have is locked up in the free version, and you can only unlock it by paying the subscription fee. That fee ranges from $11-$30 per month, depending on how much you're willing to pay in advance. I've used the premium version through jobs that I've worked at, but personally I think the subscription fee is pretty steep for what they offer.

That said, the software integrates with most other software you are probably already using, and it's pretty seamless. Once you get it set up, Grammarly will automatically help you with emails, blog posts, social media posts, long-form reports, and any other type of writing that you do on your computer day-to-day. I could definitely see ordering it if the subscription cost would cover several members of a team.

Get Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/

Language Tool

The biggest advantage that Language Tool has over the other options in this list is support for multiple languages, including German, Russian, Ukrainian, and Portuguese.

You can download Language Tool as standalone software for your desktop computer, as a browser plugin with Chrome or Firefox, or as an add-on for Google Docs or Libre Office. Like After the Deadline, Language Tool is also open source, which means it is free to use and free to share.

Personally, I've always hated OpenOffice, almost as much as I hate MS Office. I greatly prefer Libre Office, so support for that software alone would be reason enough for me to choose Language Tool.

But bottom line- it's good software. It also has an active community of developers and linguists maintaining the software and the grammatical rules. It's my personal choice as the best on this list.

Get Language Tool: https://www.languagetool.org/

I hope you find these tools useful!