Your probably familiar with a variety of company blogs. (Wait! Did you hear that? It was the sound of my editor shrieking… listen… I’ll do it again.) Many business’s regularly add fresh content to there websites, but not everyone takes the time to check it for grammar, punctuation, and spelling issues. (Yup, there’s that distinctive shriek again.)
But seriously though, we’re talking about online content and that’s pretty casual, right? I mean, does anyone even care about those nit-picky details when they’re reading stuff online? You bet they do! So, if you have a company blog, here’s why you should care about grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
(Editor’s note: In case you missed it: it’s “you’re,” businesses,” and “their” …phew, much better.)
Your Image is at Stake
No, not everyone who reads your blog is going to be a stickler for good grammar, punctuation, and spelling, but some will be. And for those who are, an incorrectly placed “your/you’re” or “they’re/their/there” is like a knife to the heart. In fact, to those who pay attention to such details—and we’re definitely out there—these errors look careless or downright sloppy.
Lack of attention and sloppiness are probably not feelings you want associated with your company image. Now, don’t get me wrong; you don’t have to sound uptight and stuffy in your blog posts (unless you want to give that vibe). You can still be ultra laid-back in the way you word things. Just use the proper words, punctuation, and spelling.
Your Message is in Peril
If you’ve taken the time to carefully craft a message for your adoring audience, then you want it to come across the way you intended. Sometimes tone and context can get lost when someone writes a statement rather than speaks it. That’s why it’s extra important that you write as clearly as possible. How do you do that? Well, correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar really help.
Have you ever read a social media post that didn’t include any punctuation? Unless you’re on exactly the same wavelength as the person who wrote it, it’s very confusing to make sense of what’s written. And that’s just a short post. Imagine navigating an entire blog post that is meant to be informative, but is filled with errors. It usually falls flat and is incredibly confusing.
Your customers and potential customers are reading your blog to learn something. You have the expertise, but you need to present it in a professional and clear manner to be helpful.
Your Position is at Risk
You’ve worked hard to position yourself as an expert in your field and you have a lot of experience to share with your audience. There are plenty of tips and tricks you can let your followers in on and those tidbits have the potential to make or break your position in your industry.
Sharing content that educates and demonstrates your extensive background is a great way to establish yourself as an authority in your industry. But if you neglect grammar, punctuation, and spelling, your valuable information runs the risk of being written off as nonsense.
Your Reach is in Jeopardy
One of the main objectives and big perks of publishing content online is to reach a wider audience than the one you already have. The more people who see your posts, the larger your influence in your industry. While it’s true that any piece of content can be shared, the truth is that a well-written piece is more appealing to a wider audience and, therefore, more likely to be shared.
As someone who cares about the little details, I definitely think twice about sharing something that’s riddled with grammatical errors, even if I strongly agree with the original intent of the post. Maybe that seems grammar-snobby, but I don’t want anyone assuming that I didn’t notice the errors or just didn’t care. Guilty by association, as they say; those grammar police are ruthless!
Pretty much everything has spelling and grammar checkers built into it nowadays. Pay attention to those underlined words. And before you hit publish, be sure to read through your work or have a grammar-loving friend do it for you. Even better, get in touch with us at The Get Smart Group. We have some high-ranking grammar police officers on the team who would be happy to take your marketing content to the next level.
