Yesterday I visited a relatively new website for a browse. I clicked through about five pages and encountered more than a couple of typos.
Now I know errors sneak in there sometimes. No one writes perfect content every time.
Usually I can forgive one or two typos per website browse or a few grammar issues when reading through a document. I promise I don’t judge when there’s a couple of typos in an email!
But once mistakes start jumping up and out all over the place, especially in prominent places like headings, I start to cringe. The cringe factor starts to impact on my perception of the business. I admit … I pass some judgement.
I wonder, if they miss these details, what will be forgotten when they deliver their services to me? If they don’t care about typos on their website, will they care about the quality of everything else they provide?
According to a recent Daily Mail article, potential partners perusing online profiles are shunning those with poor grammar. The article noted that women in particular see errors in spelling and grammar as indicating a general lack of effort.
Yet in reality, we also need to keep perspective. As the BBC noted in an article in 2014, big issues that require genuine discussion can be overtaken by social media ‘outrage’ over a sentence that is missing one letter.
Find the right balance I say. Take just a little time, every time, to proofread. Or know your own or others’ limitations by engaging fresh eyes to give your work the once over. It may just save your reputation.
If you’re an editing nerd like me, you may like chuckling through the 16 of the Worst Typos, Grammatical Errors & Spelling Mistakes We’ve Ever Seen blog (which interestingly has an error in its hyperlink – perhaps they did that on purpose!).
