Spelling mistakes could cost millions

by Stratton Craig

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In today’s society, the internet has become an inherent part of life for most people, and more importantly it’s become a hub for businesses. But there is evidence suggesting that poor spelling could cost the UK’s online businesses millions of pounds in lost revenue.

In fact ‘a single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half’, according to internet entrepreneur, Charles Duncombe.

In a digital era, this is a major issue that needs to be resolved rapidly; all successful businesses communicate via the internet. And even the most cutting-edge companies depend on basic skills. From employing SEO strategies, through to regularly refreshed website content and use of spaces such as Twitter and blogs to boost online presence. 99% of this communication involves the written word, so it’s a no-brainer that writing needs to be 100% up to scratch.

Spelling mistakes won’t only lose you traffic; they will also batter your credibility and reduce the trust your clients have in your brand. Errors of any kind in business are unprofessional and unnerving for those who have invested in the company.

What’s the problem?

42% of the UK’s employers are not satisfied with the basic reading and writing skills of school and college leavers and have had to invest in remedial training to improve their staff’s skills. Even worse is the fact that when recruiting school and university leavers, Duncombe found that not only did a vast amount of applications contain spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, to his despair 'some even used text speak in their cover letter'.

As we’ve said before, it’s not junior team members alone that are making these mistakes. And even if it is – it’s management who are most likely to be signing them off. Spelling mistakes are a natural issue but publication of them can always be avoided.

What’s the solution?

If you want to achieve professionalism, you need to work with professionals. Whether it’s through internal engagement, workshops and training or making use of external writers to provide your communications, or even just a proofreading service – your company should be making use of at least one of these, if not all three.

Digital communication is particularly susceptible to fear of scams and fraud, and so grammatical correctness is paramount but in fact all communication is susceptible to ridicule, loss of credibility and subsequently loss of sales. So action should be taken in all areas of your business.

If you’d like to discuss how we can help bring your communications up to scratch, please call us on 020 7593 4014 or email [email protected] with your details and a convenient time to call.

Get in touch. Let us know how we can help.