Poor Spelling Cuts Sales Online
As more and more people turn to the internet to do their shopping, there has been a huge rise in the number of websites offering goods and services for sale.
Unfortunately, illiteracy rates are rising, and this is shown in many otherwise interesting websites.
Even one simple spelling error can put people off, and many websites owners do not bother to correct that error, even when it is pointed out to them.
The average browser looks at a site for just 6 seconds, and spelling errors and poor grammar have been proven to put them off and use the back button.
Studies have shown that by correcting errors, websites have seen their sales rocket by 50% overnight.
Online Sales Increase when Spelling Errors are Corrected
Online entrepreneur Charles Duncombe, director of the Just Say Please Group which runs travel and clothing websites in the UK, carried out a study on his own sites after finding out that many university graduates who he tried to recruit could not spell, to the extent of having spelling errors in their job applications.
Out of those he chose to interview following successfully spelt applications, he discovered that none of them could spell without the use of a computer spell-checker.
He deliberately placed a single spelling error on a high-trafficked site, and watched as sales collapsed.
He then corrected the error, and sales sprang back.
"Poor spelling is costing websites operators millions in lost sales revenue", he is quoted as saying.
"Spelling is important to the credibilty of a website. When there are underlying concerns about fraud and safety, then getting the basics right is essential. Even cutting-edge companies depend upon old-fashioned skills, because when you sell or communicate on the internet, 99 per cent of the time it is done by the written word. Spelling is vitally important to the credibility of the website".
A Misspelt Word can Kill Sales
William Dutton, director of the Oxford Internet Institute based within Oxford University, agreed.
"When a consumer might be wary of spam or phishing efforts, a misspelt word could be a killer issue",
he said, before going to to explain that in some less formal areas of the internet, like Facebook, spelling and grammar are of less importance.
"However, there are other aspects, such as a home page or commercial offering that are not among friends and which raise concerns over trust and credibility," Professor Dutton went on to say.
Correct Spelling Errors as Soon as Possible to Increase Sales
The importance of error checking your website cannot be stressed enough. Check and double-check that your site, especially your main page, does not contain spelling or grammatical errors that can easily put people off.
If you are a poor speller and have not invested in a dictionary, consider employing a professional freelance writer to write your content for you.
With a potential 50% rise in sales, it is money well spent.
If you normally write well, but are, like all of us, victim of the occasional typo that we miss when editing or checking our own work, it is of especial importance that you correct that error the moment it is noticed, or pointed out to you by others.
A study in Spain showed that online businesses are losing up to 70% of their potential business and sales simply because of poorly written content and spelling errors that have not been corrected after having the errors pointed out, according to Michael Walsh, one of Spain's best known copywriters and journalists.
