Magazines and newspapers have always made a point of checking facts before they publish them. At many big publications, there is an employee who’s sole responsibility is to take every article the publication plans to run and double check the facts. That can include calling sources to confirm quotes, researching statistics and even making sure that details thrown in more for style than for fact — like the weather on the day of that a particular interview took place — is correct.

Unfortunately, most blogs just don’t have the resources to handle a similar level of fact checking. When you’re a one-guy or gal operation, you aren’t often in a position to hire a fact-checker.

But at least some fact checking is necessary for ensuring that you turn out reputable posts. Lynda McDaniel, a business writing coach and Director of the Association for Creative Business Writing, fact checks her own work as necessary: “I usually interview people for my facts, so I know where I got the information. (Even so, I let my sources check their quotes to make sure I got it right.)”

As a blogger, you can take similar steps. Making sure that you’ve gotten quotes down correctly is an important first step, but verifying the story behind them can be equally important. Lynda points out, “Don’t assume something another blogger or even some journalists said is true (especially from media with a strong, obvious bias). You have to check it out. We’re seeing a lot of half-baked ideas spread like wildfire because someone picked up on a salacious rumor. Listen to that voice within when it tugs at you. You’re on deadline, you want to hit ’send’; you’re in a hurry, so you don’t want to take time to check. But do it. That voice is telling you something needs to be checked. Your intuition is helping you do a better job.”

Even small details deserve extra attention. Check that you’ve spelled names correctly, posted the right locations and times for events and so on. You wouldn’t want another blogger to misspell your name, after all, so why should you let that happen to someone else.

You may be primarily writing from the basis of opinion, but even then, it’s still important to make sure that you have the right facts. “If…you are writing more from your own head, sharing an opinion, for example, check assumptions you’ve made, verify them through Google, newspapers, books or a phone call.”

Your blog posts will be stronger if you’re sure of the facts they rely on.