There’s a shcool of thuohgt taht says speellnig msitkaes dno’t mater!
But really, why would you want to make things more difficult for your website visitors?
When US President Donald Trump used the word “covfefe” instead of “coverage” in a tweet, the world had a good laugh at his typo. But spelling mistakes in your online content might impact you more… potentially even leading to lost sales.
Many business websites and postings contain spelling mistakes. I’ve spotted several in my first few site reviews for clients. When you spot one, how does that impact what you think about the organisation? Sure, mistakes happen, but they haven’t bothered to correct it. That’s sloppy. I wonder if their products/services are sloppy as well. I wonder if they are reliable.
There’s really no excuse for poor spelling if you want to project a professional image. Just draft your text in a word processor first (for example Microsoft Word or Apple’s Pages). Run a Spelling & Grammar check, properly set up for UK English. It’s easy to spot your typos and grammatical errors, before publishing.
It’s not just spelling
Writing for the web is very different to other forms of writing. Your audience — who are all your potential customers — will only scan part of your pages, very quickly. If they don’t find the information they need, they will soon click away.
So it’s not just spelling. It’s grammar too. And layout. And general ‘readability’. A truly optimised website considers all these things from a potential customer’s point of view.
Read more in my introduction to writing for the web and search engine optimisation and let Site Review UK optimise your online content this month. I’ll spot any issues that your website developer may have missed.
Simon Anderson
Site Review UK
