8 Pros & 8 Cons of Using Grammarly to Check Your Copy

If you have anything to do with content marketing, or even if you’ve written a dissertation or an academic essay, you’ll have likely heard of a programme called ‘Grammarly’. It’s a way of checking the spelling and grammar of your copy electronically rather than by using the expertise of a qualified copywriter. 

However, even copywriters look to the tool to quality-check their work, for multiple reasons. From struggling for time to spotting the differences between British and American grammar and spellings, there are many benefits to be had by using Grammarly to check your work. However, just as there are some advantages, there are also some limitations to the software and that’s what we’re going to be discussing today.

 

What are the benefits of using Grammarly?

There are many different benefits when it comes to using Grammarly to check your written work. Whether you’re a full-fledged content marketer or a student at university, there are many ways in which you’ll find Grammarly advantageous. From upping your writing game to simply checking it for basic grammar and spelling mistakes, here are the benefits of using Grammarly:

 

1. It carries out quality checks

Grammarly is a great way of double-checking the copy that you’ve already proofread. The thing is, it’s designed to be used in combination with human work, so if you’re struggling for time, or if you don’t have another copywriter on hand who can cast a second trained eye over it all, then Grammarly is a great tool to use if you’re wanting to make sure your copy is pristine and free from grammar and spelling errors. Even the most trained of copywriters can make mistakes, so correct them with the use of Grammarly.

 

2. It can be easily customised

Grammarly can be easily customised to suit your needs and requirements. No matter what it is you’re using it for, there are many different settings and features available that can be changed to ensure it works in line with your work and what’s relevant to you. For example, you’ll be able to switch it from British English to American English, and vice-a-versa, depending on who it is you’re writing for. Whatever you need it for, Grammarly can be made to work for you.

 

3. Explanations are easy to understand

If something comes up that it flags as wrong or incorrect, then the explanations behind it are easy to understand, whether you’re a copywriter who is in the know or not. It’s never been more simple to find imperfections in your writing and fix them as quickly as they arose. If you need to know what’s wrong with the way you’ve written something, then you’ll be sure to have a clear and concise reason as to why it’s been flagged in the first place. You can then use this in future to enhance your writing style going forward. See it as a way of developing your writing skills rather than as a way to tear it all apart

 

4. It knows the difference between British & American English

For those who haven’t been trained in the art of writing in two distinct styles, then it can be easy to mix up Americanisms with British English. This is something you will almost always find if you use AI to write your copy for you. Not only are the spellings American, but the grammar is as well. 

You might not think that there are too many differences in grammatical style, but there is. Grammarly will make short work of finding those Americanisms for you. Alternatively, if you’re writing for an American company or client, then Grammarly will be able to help you to make the copy America-friendly. It’s a simple switch in the software and it’s quite accurate, also.

 

5. It gives quick vocabulary suggestions

From synonyms to antonyms, Grammarly is able to give you multiple vocabulary suggestions, along with their standard spelling and grammar corrections. This is how many content writers will use Grammarly as a way of enhancing their writing style, because it offers different words and phrases that can be used in place of more common or overly-used words and vocabulary. Look to Grammarly for quick vocabulary suggestions you can use to upgrade your writing and content.

 

6. It detects plagiarism

This is an especially useful tool if you’re a student at college or university, because you can be heavily penalised for submitting plagiarised content. Likewise, it’s a handy resource for marketers to have at hand, because Google will always look negatively on duplicate and plagiarised content. Essentially. Copying the work of others always has detrimental consequences for the copier, but Grammarly can help you to avoid this.

 

7. It’s time-efficient for busy content marketers

If you struggle for time as a content creator or copywriter, then using Grammarly to proofread your work is an effective tool that saves you time. You won’t have to cast your eye over a 1,000-word article that you’ve just written if you put it all through Grammarly. Grammarly will check it for spelling and grammatical errors in quick time, so you don’t have to.

 

8. It has a user-friendly interface

Grammarly has the potential to be used by everyone, for multiple different reasons. It’s not something that you need specialist training for, and it’s not something that will take you hours to get used to. It is incredibly easy to navigate and suggestions are simple to implement, if you decide to go ahead with the amendments that Grammarly is suggesting for you. Either way, no matter how competent you are with technology, Grammarly can be used by anybody and everybody.

What are the disadvantages of using Grammarly?

Just as Grammarly can be beneficial in your quest to produce high-quality content, there are some ways in which it can hinder your project. Taking it from someone who has used Grammarly in the past to check their work, here are all of the disadvantages I have noticed when using Grammarly to quality-check my own written work:

 

1. It’s considered to be flawed

It’s generally considered to be an all-round flawed tool. It’s not a programme that is regularly raved about, because there are many other, built-in resources that ensure the accurate quality-checking of a wealth of different content pieces, such as the spell-check included in Word, for example. It’s not a necessary part of content writing if you’re confident in your own proofreading skills. Where it’s good for peace of mind that you’ve done everything right, it’s not a tool that should be regularly relied upon.

 

2. It’s not very flexible

It’s not as flexible as it makes out to be, especially if you only have the free version on hand. Where you can change the settings and features to match your needs, it’s still not an accurate way of quality-checking or proofreading your written work. This is because Grammarly often gives some false-positive readings, making you think that things are wrong, when they’re actually correct.

 

3. The free version has limited features

As already touched upon, the free version of Grammarly is very limited and, because it’s free, it comes with many adverts. This also hinders you in your job. So something that was developed to help save copywriters some time has actually cost us time, because we have to wade through the many different adverts they have on there. 

In addition, you don’t have access to all of the features it has to offer and you can only quality-check so many articles in a day, which isn’t useful when you spend most of your day writing content. If you’re looking to get the most out of Grammarly and all of the features it has to offer, then you should consider paying for it rather than relying solely on the free version of the programme.

 

4. The advertising is aggressive

This is a problem with the free version of the website. Advertisements is how Grammarly will make its money if users aren’t paying a subscription for their service. Sometimes, this can be distracting and it often gets in the way of your work. If you’re not wanting the harsh and unrelenting advertising that they have on there, then you’ll, unfortunately, have to pay for the same service, although you will end up getting a few additional features that you can use to your advantage.

 

5. There’s an over-reliance on the tool

People who aren’t in the know when it comes to content production have too much of a reliance on it, forgetting that there is a team of copywriters who are trained and qualified in the field. Grammarly, as people often forget, needs to be used in conjunction with human content creators and not be seen as a replacement for them. Whether you look to AI to write your content or use Grammarly to check it, a human eye is almost always the best way to go if you’re looking for quality content that Google will love. 

 

6. It can give false readings

Grammarly can sometimes confuse correct grammar for incorrect grammar. Whether it gets mixed up between American and British English, or if it’s just having a glitch, Grammarly isn’t always as accurate as people think it is. It often has people second-guessing themselves and their writing ability when, in actuality, it’s a problem with the software itself and not your writing style.

 

7. It has a limited contextual understanding

Grammarly will throw up issues with your copy without actually looking at the context it’s been written in. Although the technology it uses to quality-check your written work, it’s still not clever enough to distinguish between the grammar and spelling and the context in which it’s been written. This can, in some cases, make more work for the copywriter, rather than save them time, in the long term.

 

8. Offline access is limited

Where you might not be using Grammarly offline very often, there are still some cases where you will need to use Grammarly offline, such as if your internet drops out or if you need to do some work on the train, for example. However, I wouldn’t recommend relying on that when offline. If you can, wait for internet connection and use it as you normally would, because offline access isn’t worth the hassle.

 

Kumo is a dedicated digital marketing agency with over two decades of experience in the marketing industry. If you’re looking to propel your business into the spotlight, then look to us here at Kumo for SEO, PPC, content writing and website design services. For further information about how we can help you, get in touch with a member of our friendly, professional team – we’re always pleased to hear from you.