A UK entrepreneur, Charles Duncombe, believes that poor spelling is costing online merchants millions of pounds in lost sales every week.<\/p>\n
Mr Duncombe says \u2018when you sell or communicate on the internet, 99% of the time it is done by the written word.\u2019 Correct spelling, he says, is critical when it comes to establishing and maintaining a website\u2019s credibility.<\/p>\n
I have no idea if his estimate of millions of pounds lost every week is right or wrong. But I\u2019m sure that his basic point is correct: misspelling leads to missed sales.<\/p>\n
For most people, one of the things that helps to identify fake websites and dubious emails is poor spelling. Combine this with strange grammar and the alarm bells start ringing loud and clear.<\/p>\n
\u2018Helo dear glorius friend I am Mr Bonjobi.\u2019<\/p>\n
Well, you may be Mr Bonjobi (although I have my doubts), but I\u2019m pretty sure that I\u2019m not your dear glorius friend. In fact, I\u2019m almost certain that I am nobody\u2019s \u2018glorius friend\u2019. I doubt if I am even a glorius acquaintance. Or a glorius anything else.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s just the obvious tip of the rather disturbing iceberg.<\/p>\n
According to people who study such things, online customers are slow to accept and quick to reject. Customers can take several minutes \u2013 or even several visits \u2013 to decide to do business with you. But they can decide not<\/em> to do business with you in just five or six seconds.<\/p>\n Creating a good first impression is essential. And anything that gets in the way of creating a good first impression needs to be eliminated.<\/p>\n Maintaining a good impression is also essential. And, again, anything that prevents this needs to be eliminated.<\/p>\n Of all the things that might get in the way, a few misspellings and a bit of poor grammar are probably the simplest and least expensive to fix. And when you\u2019ve spent serious money on everything else \u2013 concept, design, build, graphics, and more \u2013 it simply doesn\u2019t make sense to skimp on copy editing.<\/p>\n Quality writing and quality editing really does help achieve quality business, both in the short term and in the longer term.<\/p>\n And sorry, Mr Bonjobi, my spam filter has got your number. – Jack Scrivano<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A UK entrepreneur, Charles Duncombe, believes that poor spelling is costing online merchants millions of pounds in lost sales every week. Mr Duncombe says \u2018when you sell or communicate on the internet, 99% of the time it is done by … Continue reading