You May Not Get A Chance For A Second Impression
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog entitled "So What Part of 'Content is King' are you having trouble with?" It was not well-received. I'm pretty sure I stepped on a few toes. I wrote the blog because it appears that many of us are just not taking the time to put our best grammatical foot forward.
Since I am a retired journalist with several years of editing experience, some may say that I have set the bar too high. My response to that is:nonsense. I realize that many of us are from different countries and did not have the opportunity to study basic English composition. That is no excuse. If you want to compete in this market, find somebody to proofread your content - or even write it for you if necessary.
The issue of grammatically deficient content is hardly limited to people to whom English is a second language. Many of us that are born and bred right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. are just as bad, and in some cases, worse. There have been times that I went to a website to leave a comment and just bailed out because the content was so poorly written. I will not arbitrarily give glowing reviews just to get them.
If I bail, you can bet that others are bailing too. The job of the content is to engage the traffic that we have worked so hard to drive to our site. If they bail before they even finish reading the content, the only thing we have done is increase our Bounce Rate, and there's a good chance they won't be back. If you've got traffic and no sales, it's pretty obvious what the problem is.
So there it is, folks. I truly mean this to be constructive criticism, but I realize not everybody will see it that way. That's life. The truth is, the quantity of our sales is directly related to the quality of our content. The King will have his due.
Recent Comments
5
The problem is our generation and before have a different standard of what writing is. Which of course, is not a bad thing.
When I found out the amount of writing would be involved here at WA I started to back out. I am a lover of words, but I don't like to write. I never thought I conveyed my thoughts clearly enough on paper.
On top of that adding punctuation , sentence structure, complex and simple sentences etc. It's too much, only because, no one really talks like that.
Having said that having a lazy tongue and/or a lazy brain is never good. Relating to one another is the difference, between the new and the more mature.
We look at the young, we see their mouths moving, but not sure what is coming out of it. On the flip side there is no telling what they think of us. LOL!!!
Lowering one standards should not be options. We can always do better.
Just saying....
How someone talks and how someone reads is two completely different things. Even people who don't write well want to read stuff that is written well. Taking all cultural differences into account, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Like it or not, the majority population has set the standard for written communication, and regardless of our generational or cultural divide, the extent to which we acquiesce will negatively or positively impact our success.
C.al Jones
Well said. I too have gone to leave comments on someone's post. Yet, it was so poorly written that I left.
That said, I have gotten lazy in my writing and editing.
Early in my career, we had 5 people review our reports before they were issued. The amazing thing is that mistakes still slipped through sometimes.
I look forward to the day that I can afford to pay for a editor.
Hey, you can find an error or two in the Wall Street Journal, but errors should be the exception rather than the rule. Your profile is very well written, so I don't think this is an issue with you at all. As far as editing goes, sometimes another pair of eyes is all it takes. Keep me posted on the farm.
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It's true that grammar mistakes can make bad
impression. My mother tongues are French and
German, I imagine that I sometimes have a bit
awkward language in English.
I try to respect this language, but it's not easy
for everyone.
But as you have explained, there is always a good
soul to help.
Have a great day!
Ingrid