Forum Moderators: not2easy
[edited by: engine at 7:24 pm (utc) on Jan. 11, 2004]
[edit reason] no specifics [/edit]
When detail orientation matters, it gives me great pause to see that kind of thing. At the very least, I wonder about customer service, should I need it -- and that holds true even for buying plain old consumer goods.
It's funny how some hold others to higher standards than themselves.
I am the first to admit I have bad typing and spelling. But I do know how to make a sentence.
Should be:
I am the first to admit I have bad typing and spelling, but I do know how to make a sentence.
You do have a valid point here. Trust is one of the most important issues when buying stuff on the Internet. Why should I trust a company to deliver my order correctly when they can't be bothered to proofread their website?
One of the great things about the web is that a small business can look "big" with a great web site - grammar and spelling errors, though, can make the best-designed sites look like minor league efforts. Obvious errors really destroy the credibility of the site.
One reason we see more sloppy grammar on the web, I think, is that it's so easy for the writer to publish his own work. In the same way that desktop publishing enabled legions of bad designers to turn out ugly flyers, web publishing enables lots of people to display their content without the benefit of proofreading or knowledgeable input.
I fixed the "grammer" in the title.
Sorry Lizzie, but I could not resist.
I am the first to admit I have bad typing and spelling. But I do know how to make a sentence.
Should be:I am the first to admit I have bad typing and spelling, but I do know how to make a sentence.
The first is not wrong, the second is better.
I would not expect standards of spelling and grammer on a message board such as this to be held to the same standard as that for final copy uploaded to a web site or sent to a printer.
Mistakes do get made. They even get into print at some of the better print publishers. But they should be rare.
I wouldn't be as concerned about typos, spelling, and grammer mistakes in e-mail and discussion forums, however.
Sorry Lizzie, but I could not resist.
I am the first to admit I have bad typing and spelling. But I do know how to make a sentence.Should be:
I am the first to admit I have bad typing and spelling, but I do know how to make a sentence.The first is not wrong, the second is better.
There is nothing 'wrong', 'right' or better in starting a sentence - or not starting a sentence - with 'But'. It depends on the emphasis intended. Use of language is a mix of convention, acceptability and clarity - there are no god-given rules. Usage changes continuously.
I've had books published by major publishers, with every word being professionally copy-edited and proof-read. When I wanted a sentence to start with 'But', the sentence was duly passed and printed as 'But ...'
Shock, horror, in modern usage it is even acceptable to start a sentence with 'And' in the right circumstances.
But 'grammer' would never have have been accepted.
[edited by: engine at 7:28 pm (utc) on Jan. 11, 2004]
[edit reason] specifics removed, see TOS [webmasterworld.com] [/edit]
While I agree that I'd prefer my web host to be a better Linux admin than grammarian, I think that grammar/spelling errors in published materials suggest a lack of professionalism. If the company is of reasonable size, I'd expect them to have both top-notch technical people as well as sharp front office people. The fact that the content is on the web and nobody in the company has corrected it suggests to me that the organization is thin or people don't care. (This might not be accurate, but that's my first take.)
Then again, I tend to notice stuff like that, and may not be typical.
Then again, I tend to notice stuff like that, and may not be typical.
On the contrary, I think that most people prefer sites without typos, clumsy expressions and poor attempts at communication.
1. Don't abbrev.
2. Check to see if you any words out.
3. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct.
4. About sentence fragments.
5. When dangling, don't use participles.
6. Don't use no double negatives.
7. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
8. Just between you and I, case is important.
9. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.
10. Don't use commas, that aren't necessary.
11. Its important to use apostrophe's right.
12. It's better not to unnecessarily split an infinitive.
13. Never leave a transitive verb just lay there without an object.
14. Only Proper Nouns should be capitalized. also a sentence should.
15. begin with a capital and end with a period
16. Use hyphens in compound-words, not just in any two-word phrase.
17. In letters compositions reports and things like that we use commas
18. to keep a string of items apart.
19. Watch out for irregular verbs which have creeped into our language.
20. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
21. Avoid unnecessary redundancy.
22. A writer mustn't shift your point of view.
23. Don't write a run-on sentence you've got to punctuate it.
24. A preposition isn't a good thing to end a sentence with.
25. Avoid cliches like the plague.
Language on my site is somewhat redundant to improve search engine position. "we sell widgets. If you need a widget, phone us for all your widgeting needs."
since Dreamweaver has spell check my websites do not have spelling errors.
Sadly I think the main caws of many spelling miss steaks online is over-reliance on spell chequers.
People believe they eliminate the need for careful proof reading and the result is text littered with words that are certainly correctly spelled but are the wrong word.
I recently came across an article online where the word 'which' was consistently replaced by 'witch', among numerous other errors - all spelled correctly. Aside from making the article read like nonsense it seriously undermined its credibility.
The grammar checker in Word usually only catches typos (period rather than comma, etc.), but other wise it does not do a very good job on grammar. It does do well on grammer, however.
i could listen no more. grammar, spelling, overall flow of content is very important for professional sites. i read pages as if they were being read aloud by an announcer. if they do not make sense i will not spend much time or effort getting to the meat of the content, if there exists any at all.
For sites that sell stuff, copy is what will lead to a sale. Product images are also important, the code, the design etc, but it is the copy that sells.
The majority of web sites has poor copy; bad spelling, bad grammar, clumsy sentences, irrelevant information etc.
Content, Writing and Copyright is one of the least active forums on WebMasterWorld, a site that has News and Discussion for the Independent Web Professional written on the front page. Doesn't that worry you?
Certainly, there are plenty of members here who look at conversion rates and realize that copy is a key element in boosting those rates. Nevertheless, I think that many webmasters who think of site copy as "shovelware" to fill up pages, create search engine traffic, and provide a platform for context-driven ads.
I think the future will reward some sites with superior copy, just as some mail order firms are successful largely because of their copy. Other sites will have business models that aren't as reliant on good copy; the mail order analogy might be camera resellers, who devote no time to copy and but put lots of effort into pricing and products.
Getting back to the topic of this thread, lack of attention to grammar is a symptom of lack of emphasis on copy, along with spelling errors, lackluster prose, etc.
It reflects to me the regard that you have for your products/service.
TJ
I'm talking about losing customers because the copy doesn't make sense (abbeyvets 'which/witch'-example being a favorite) and confuses the customer so much that they leave and end up buying the product somewhere else. It's similar to putting the 'BUY'-link in places no one would look for it: It stops the customer buying.
Web site copy should not have any misspellings and have correct grammar, not because that's what we were taught in school, but because it is the medium we use to tell our potential clients why and how to BUY.
