Writing To Your Audience - Grammar & Spelling
Hello people. This is for all the members with writing that is not up to the mark when creating the content for their site articles/blogs.
Although a great many people who read your site content may or may not be too familiar with the English language they WILL expect to find content created by people who can write the English language, if not perfectly, then certainly in a style that they can read and understand.
Sadly this is not the case with a great many sites I have been asked to browse and comment on. I’m afraid there has been an abundance of spelling mistakes, and on some the grammar has been atrocious.
Up to a point you may be able to get away with this but did any of you know that you will be penalized by the search engines for poor spelling and grammar?
You are dealing with a machine folks and they have been programmed by people with a good if not excellent command of the English language and therefore the search engines will and do pick up on the smallest mistake.
There are a number of programs available on the internet that will help you with your grammar, and a great many WA members use this one - https://www.grammarly.com/ . I do advise anyone who struggles with the written word in the English language to use it.
There is also this site - http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-Grammar where you can learn the basics of good grammar.
I also found this list of 50 rules for writing which you should keep as a quick guide.
These are Do Nots folks so don't get mixed up and follow them as Do's.
(right click and choose - open in a new tab - to enlarge the image)
This blog has not been published to cause any offence but to make the membership aware that well written content will get a better overall ranking than content that is poorly written. Makes sense don’t you think?
I don’t suppose I will receive a lot of comments for this blog but if the urge comes upon you to do so then leave one
Have a nice day wherever you are in the world, and whatever your first language is, remember the first language for Wealthy Affiliate is English.
Robert Allan
Recent Comments
64
Hi Robert,
As a long time violator of spelling (I make a lot of spelling errors, not because I do not know how to spell, I just am a bad typist), I can vouch for what you are saying Robert, I do have spell check etc. but do not use it often enough.
In my college and post graduate days, grammar were one of the things that was emphasized greatly. It does take a little more time to do a spell check but if you are like me and have poor vision this is the way to go...
The grammar part is not a real big issue for me, but I do tend to get away nowadays from one thing that was so important in the military...
There were two acronyms we used for writing and the style of writing for many kinds of documents I was involved creating/writing/editing over the 25 years I served...
Here they are: BLUF and KISS...
- Bottom line up front and
- Keep it short and simple...
Maybe my tendancy to write TOO much is linked to my natural rejection of all that military stuff? Too many deployments I think...
LOL I will have to ask my counselor (the guy next to me at the bar)...
Cheers!
Dave : )
Ok Dave you had a particular job to do and a particular way of doing it that suited you.
That's great for that job but this is an entirely different kettle of fish.
You must get it spot on or your site visitors will leave and we don't want that, do we?
Take the time and make the effort to get it right even if it takes you a wee while longer than it should.
Maybe your counselor can give you a few pointers lol.
Have one on me.
Thank you for your comment at least you don't take yourself too seriously and that has to be a good thing.
Have a nice day and enjoy it.
Robert
Hi Robert,
In all seriousness you are of course right....
Not sure it came across as such, but throughout all my jobs, and while in school, there was the need to be particular and proper on spelling and grammar...It makes perfect sense that the same should be true for affiliate marketing or online marketing in general!
It is something that needs to be reinforced once in a while and you have done so admirably with this post! I too have seen some atrocious errors on sites I provide comments for - too much makes the site ineffective...
Hardly what we are looking for...
Good job! Thanks...
Cheers!
Dave : )
No probs and its really up to the individual whether they take good advice when its offered or just keep on making the same mistakes over and over again.
Que Sera Sera as someone once said in a song.
Have a great day when it dawns.
Robert
Very much agree Robert. I don't mind people using colloquialisms on their site, or writing with a bit of "personality". However, I do see a large number of sites where quite clearly the person doesn't know how to wield the language. I guess if someone is serious about making money, then hiring a copy editor would be the next step. Thank you for sharing, great post!
Hello Clare and how are you. I haven't heard from you in ages.
I guess you've been busy with your site and that's as it should be but thank you for taking time out to read my blog and leave a comment.
Have a nice day/evening.
Robert
Hey Robert, yes I've been trying to work on creating content, rather than doing too much on WA. I find I can spend hours opening notification emails only to find it's noon and I've done nothing else :) I've only done 5,500 words so far for my site and I have a target of 30,000 - a long way to go! Hope all is well with you! Greetings from sunny New Zealand :)
You will get there eventually but why don't you have a schedule set up and stick to it or do you have loads of other stuff you have to do?
I used to have lots and lots of notifications but I unticked a couple of boxes in my settings so I don't get so many now.
Maybe you have noticed that a lot of the time you get emails in your Inbox that are the same. That's because the WA system is set up that way and there really is no need for it.
Anyway you just do what you feel you have to and what's important to you and for you and you will be ok.
I'm going to sign off now as its getting late.
Its also Burns night so perhaps a wee celebratory dram l, purely medicinal you understand lol.
Robert
I agree Robert. I tend to leave sites quickly when spelling and grammar are not great. I tend not to trust those sites. Most people, however, do not like to have that pointed out to them. Maybe hearing that google counts off on ranking will make them more receptive to it! Thanks.
Debby
I'm with you Debby. Poorly presented work will always get the thumbs down and yes people do not like their faults pointed out and I have had quite a few nasty responses because I did point them out.
Needless to say I'm not asked to review the sites again lol.
Thank you for your comment and have a great day.
Robert
You'll get more response than you expect, I think.
This is somewhat of a "pet peeve" of mine. If it's not grammatically correct, it's really hard to read. I tend to close sites like this without exploring them.
Barry
I know that my grammar may not ALWAYS be correct, but I certainly find it hard to trust a site that cannot spell words or use the proper word in a sentence. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jennifer and of course you're right. I will make allowances for little mistakes but then I'm only browsing before I submit a comment.
Potential customers could easily get confused if they cannot quite grasp what the author is saying because of spelling mistakes and poor grammar.
Have an excellent day/evening and thank you for the comment.
Robert
Robert, Grammarly is a great tool and I use it all the time. It will catch me with some of simplest sentences. I often leave out words, because I am thinking faster than I'm writing or vice versa. To the point, you need something or someone to check your work. You get 5*****
James
Hello James and thank you for your comment.
Yes that is a great tool and I only wish more members would use it.
It does make sense to write in such a way your audience will understand but perhaps there are a lot of members who like yourself tend to write and write loads but make loads of mistakes as well and can't be bothered to correct them.
Oh well, their loss, and I do mean financially.
Have a great day.
Robert
Great stuff Robert as we all need the reminders - FYI one of my friends here in Lithuania had a look at my site and just loved it as he said I write so well now if he would have seen my writing before I installed the spell checks and trading ease it would have been a different I know!!!
Hi Paul. Yes we all need a little help now and again and there's that old saying about having the right tools for the job so if you're job is to make money then of course you should be using the right tools to do that job.
Thank you for your comment and have a great day/evening.
Robert
My Jude but you are quick off the mark.
Most of the time we don't really bother too much with the way we write because we are usually writing to people we know so it doesn't matter a great deal about your spelling or grammar.
But
If you are in the business of making money then you better make damn sure the people you are aiming at can understand what it is you are trying to sell them.
Getting it wrong will of course lose you sales/commissions.
Thank you for your quick response and have the most excellent of days.
Robert
No problem at all Robert. I am actually a freelance writer, so I make my living by making sure I am understood :)
If I recall correctly you used to be a Proof Reader like myself.
Little things learned in a job like that does pay dividends later on as we have both surely found out within WA and creating a business.
Thanks for getting back to me.
Robert
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Hi Robert, yes i fully agree, spelling and grammar is of paramount importance........first impressions count ! I most certainly will make use of the above mention programs . Thanks for sharing, take care ,Johan.
P.S..........i would appreciate it highly if the WA. community here would let me know, should they spot a mistake in any of my postings !
The good ones will surely let you know if you ask them.
Thank you for your comment and for the agreement and of course for leaving your comment.
Robert
I copy and paste some examples, usually, when I offer a critique. Sometimes, there are so many, it would almost feel mean to put all of them in. I figure if they really want to fix them, they can find them.
Dennis
I know that Ginger can also rephrase things for you. I guess the amazing thing is that even with all these gadgets, folks just don't bother taking the few extra minutes to get things right.
Some people will accept help in the spirit its given and others just go in the huff as we say over here.
I personally browse sites and good or bad I give an honest opinion.
Thank you for your comment and have a nice day.
Robert
There's good tools and the not so good but if and when you find one that works for you its best to stick with it and you know what I have never heard of Ginger so I will have to take your word for it that its a good one.
Robert