How Bad Grammar and Spelling Can Ruin Your Site

“Thanks, Grammar Police.”

“Stop trolling.”

“Who cares — it’s the Internet?”

These are only a few of the responses you might receive if you correct someone when they demonstrate bad grammar or incorrect spelling on the Internet. Very often, it’s the ones who know the rules that get attacked, which is a really sad state of affairs.

What you must remember is that while a well written website may not impress those who don’t have a fantastic grasp grammar, those who do know proper grammar and spelling may steer clear of your business. Their basic feeling is, “If you don’t even know the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’, which is something I learned in fourth grade, how can I trust you to deliver a quality product or service?”

More Writing Apparently Doesn’t Help

It’s hard to argue that many people do more writing these days than they’ve ever done before. You can see this on Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, article comment sections, texts, and pretty much everywhere else. You would think that this increase in writing would improve overall grammar due to repeated usage, but it seems to be doing just the opposite. In order to avoid multiple texts, for example, both young and old users alike are finding abbreviations that often defy logic, creating their own “virtual language” that only they can decipher at times. The problem is that many of these attempts at brevity — using anagrams like omg and lol, in addition to switching out “u” for “you” and “4” for “four” — are bleeding over into their everyday lives. It’s fine to use things like “lol” — it’s one of my personal favorites — but there is a time and place for such things.

A resume or website? Those are not the time nor place.

How This Can Sink “You’re” Website

Many people have taken a relaxed attitude to the use of proper grammar in their everyday lives, so when they move forward and create a website, that site is often full of mistakes that should be easily caught. We’re not all editors, of course, and even professionals obviously make mistakes from time to time, but many consumers will view this as unprofessional, especially if the errors are very blatant. While consumers are likely to forgive a huge website like Amazon or Walmart for the occasional error because they already know it’s a reputable company, a small business that makes multiple mistakes on their website may be seen as unprofessional or simply “thrown together.” Not too long ago, I was checking out marketing and writing websites, and made note of two discoveries: First was a marketing website where the profile for its blog writer was full of errors. Second was an editing and content writing website with outlandishly priced services that was full of grammatical mistakes on every page. I would have shaken my head had it not been spinning by that point.

This kind of thing can turn potential customers away. So what’s the solution? Get a second set of eyes. Hire someone with the required skills necessary to ensure that each page of your website looks and sounds professional. Even if you’re a very good writer, it’s common for us to be so close to something that we can’t see the errors because our brains know what it’s supposed to be so we gloss right over the mistakes. I’m pretty sure there’s a term for this phenomenon, but I can’t remember it right now. Regardless, hiring someone for writing/proofing/editing blogs not only takes a task off your plate, but it will result in a more professional website.

Are you looking for ways to improve the look of your website or give it the extra “oomph” that it so desperately needs? Madison Taylor Marketing excels at working with clients to develop a new website or enhance an already existing one while finding ways to increase a company’s exposure, which includes — among other things — social media outlets and insightful blog articles. Contact us today for a free consultation and we’ll get you started on your road to success!