Is your website driving sales or is it driving potential customers away? Think about it — how you present yourself via your website is your customer’s first impression of you and your business. What you say and how you say it matters.

There are plenty of excellent resources available to guide you in writing compelling copy for your site. For instance, Copyblogger is a great source of tips, stories, and general information on Web copywriting and writing for search engine optimization (SEO).

While researching copywriting courses, I came across another site that offered articles, books, and courses on writing Web copy. Much to my surprise (and amusement), the word “copywriting” contained a typo in it. In the headline. On the Home page!

If you are a software company or a travel agent, let’s say, a typo on your Home page might be embarrassing. A typo in the first headline a visitor sees… we’ll call that REALLY embarrassing.

But if you are selling products about writing Web content, your website should contain clean, well-edited copy. A typo in the first sentence shows sloppiness. Carelessness. A serious lack of attention to detail. When there are countless similar resources out there and I can find them with a simple mouse click, a misplaced letter in a headline is enough for me to look elsewhere for a writing class.

The “expert” in question thanked me for pointing out his mistake when I emailed him, though he dismissed my comment that he might be losing customers by being careless. His reply was essentially, “would you stop reading a book because you found a typo in it?” And my reply was, “if I hadn’t bought it yet, and the typo was on the first page, and it was a book about writing? You bet I’d stop reading it!”

Now, I’m a writer and editor. So admittedly my tolerance for typos is probably lower than the average person’s. But just because it’s fast and easy to fix typos and mistakes online, compared to those in a book or magazine or newspaper (where the best you can do is issue a correction after the fact), doesn’t mean that you don’t need to proofread, edit, and review your content for mistakes, misspellings, and typos.

It might seem old school, but it’s also common sense. And it applies to any website, regardless of what you’re selling. With so many online options available to them, you need to make sure you’re not making it easy for your customers to dismiss you.

image by Dainis Graveris, 1st Web Designer.com

-Jay Snider
Palo Alto Software

“I don’t get no respect!” That was Rodney Dangerfield’s catchphrase.

I say this is terribly true today in the universe of electronic communications where, I point out, it is we that don’t give any respect. In our typing and our composition we are lazy, slovenly, careless, thoughtless, nonchalant — in short, downright disrespectful — and we don’t seem give a whatever about it…until we get no respect ourselves. Then we’re upset.

• We misspell names of people and businesses.
• We incorrectly name businesses and organizations.
• We ignore capitalization of proper names and trademark names.
• We misquote people, using incorrect words.
• We type famous quotes, but attribute them to the wrong people.
• We don’t check our sources to see if they are real or a hoax.
• We post and publish incorrect links.

Yeah, yeah, so what? Who cares? You know, you know what I mean.

Businesses can’t be so cavalier. Their success depends on enforceable copyrights, brand name identification, proper use of product names, tag lines, quotes, successful SEO, correct URLs, etc.

To start with, misspelling someone’s name is just plain rude. Our names, our choice of spelling, our inclusion of middle names, initials, nicknames are an integral part of how we present ourselves to the world, and how we see, hold, and validate ourselves. When you misspell or incorrectly capitalize someone’s name you are directly insulting them. In my opinion they have every right to be angry.

A misspelling could mean a reader couldn’t find a volume, and an author doesn’t sell a book. A misspelling could mean an innocent person can be harassed for the financial dealings of some ne’er-do-well.

For bloggers and online authors, misspelling other peoples’ names can alienate those folks, and the important trackbacks, reciprocal links and mutual admiration referrals and recommendations may never materialize for you.

When someone reviews our Business Plan Pro product but calls it, say BizinessPro Writer, we lose customers. It can, and will happen to your product as well. When you refer to a product or company or website, check to be sure you are using the correct name.

Ignoring capitalization of letters in names can cause confusion, and possibly a loss of copyright protection. For instance, we all know that Twitter is the proper name of a social communication network, and twitter is a bird song. The soft drink is spelled Coke, but coke is a narcotic and a coal derivative used in making steel.

As another example, take jello. Jell-O [note the capitalization now, if you haven't before] is the protected trade-name, but it has become a generic word for any type of gelatin-based dessert. Go to the store and you’ll see Knox, Royal, a local private label maybe, but to the customer they are all jello and they don’t care which one they buy. You can be sure that Jell-O cares.

Adobe’s Photoshop is well on its way to becoming an eponymous term. Now anytime someone makes a casual remark about manipulating pictures, they say they photoshoped it, regardless of which digital image editing software program they actually used.

It costs businesses billions annually in marketing branding efforts to keep their brand names visible, unique, known and purchased. But lazy, thoughtless, careless typing works everyday to negate the value of your marketing efforts.

No end of trouble, misinterpretation, bad feelings, feuds, lawsuits, destroyed public images and reputations have come about because of misquoting. Something as small as a single letter or two (could, would, should) can change the entire meaning of your business’ publicly made statement of concern to one of callous indifference, and the survival of your company.

Many quotes from literature and famous people from years past have slipped into our vernacular. They are often misquoted and misattributed. Brush up your Shakespeare by Michael Macrone has an entire chapter on popular phrases which people think came from the Bard, but did not. “The long and the short of it” “Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d” “Fool’s Paradise” are just few.

This problem is certainly not limited to age-old authors. “Play it again, Sam” – was a line never spoken by Ingrid Bergman or Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. “Houston, we have a problem.” This is a misstatement of the actual communication between the Apollo 13 astronauts and Mission Control in Houston. Your credibility suffers when you incorrectly quote, or assign the words to the wrong person.

Recently, the U.K. mainstream media was caught not checking their sources adequately. They printed quotes from an elegy for Michael Jackson, from a Twitter post ostensibly by Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. The tweet was actually by a Twitter impostor, a case of identity theft. A significant lapse in due diligence. It damaged the public position of the Foreign Secretary, and discredited the reputation and trustworthiness of those media.

Posting bad links is sloppy and unnecessary. At best, it irritates readers who get the 404 Errors, or end up on a page that has nothing to do with the original publishing. Worse, a bad link loses customers/visitors/business at the intended link. If the author gets affiliate or click-through revenue, publishing a link without checking its accuracy is like throwing money away.

It is time we electronic digital communicators put some polite respect back into our writings. Use spell checkers, proof read, double check and spell correctly the names of people, businesses and products. Don’t assume you’ve got it right. The power of the Internet is just a click away.

After all, if you expect to be respected, you have to show the same respect to others.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

A certain je ne sais quoi which makes English such a creative and challenging language is its sponge-like ability to absorb and use words and phrases from other languages as if they’ve always been there.

We regularly use nouns from other languages to improve the image of the same items in our product or services offerings. Pomme de terre frites, (or simply pomme frites) appears on fancy menus instead of French fries. Grande and Vente make our cappuccinos and caffè Americanos taste far better (and cost more) than simple big cups of coffee.

Atelier (a workshop or studio) is a popular addition to the store names of artists, or specialty shops or boutiques (to use one French word to describe another French word wink).

We use abbreviations such as R.S.V.P. instead of spelling out répondez s’il vous plaît, when please respond is just as succinct and stalwart.

When applying for a job we’ll prepare a summary of our accomplishments and call it a résumé, unless it is a job in academia, in which case that summary might be called curriculum vitae.

Our business plan financials are often labeled pro forma (in advance, or as a matter of form).

Your physician’s protégé may give you a pro bono prognosis and prescribe a placebo and wish you prosit. Geshundheit!

Can you tell the difference between ad lib., au-h2o, ca., circ., ebit, e.g., et al., etc., i.e., ibid., lsmft, v., vs., viz, v.s. or v.v.? Can you spell out all these abbreviations?

It is so easy for us to read over, past or through these foreign words that are emigrating into English. Many times we simply make a guess on the meaning, based on the context of the sentence, because we are too busy, or too lazy, to look them up. But then many of us compound the error. We incorporate them into our own writing, still without knowing what we are actually saying.

So, what can you do? Obviously the first thing to do is use your dictionary. There is the old standby, the printed book (our Documentation team has six different editions from different publishers). There are plenty of online dictionaries as well. Google or Yahoo! search and you get a plethora of links. Bookmark your favorites and return to them often.

There are a couple free translators on the Internet as well, such as SDL Free Translation.com and Babel Fish, though they don’t translate Latin.

And, here are two good reference books I’ll recommend to you.

Latin for the Illiterati: Exorcizing the Ghosts of a Dead Language by Jon R Stone. Over 5,000 entries of Latin words and phrases that turn up regularly in modern English.

Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases edited by Jennifer Speake. Covers 8,000 words and phrases from over 40 languages.

Give your writing that certain indefinable quality (je ne sais quoi) of worldliness when you drop in phrases from other languages. No faux pas.

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software, Inc.
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I regularly post on this blog about the importance of accurate spelling and correct grammar. It is an ongoing issue for everyone who works with the written word; in education, in any publishing media, in all facets of business, etc.

But don’t think for a minute that I’m preaching from some high seat of perfection. I regularly have my blog posts reviewed by the other two members of our Documentation Team, and they always find some egregious error. [Thanks Teri and Sara!]

It really is impossible for any of us to be correct all of the time. Even the pros make mistakes.

Philip Corbett, the deputy news editor for The New York Times has just begun a new blog, posting “After Deadline,” The Times’ weekly newsroom critique.

As Corbett explains, “The goal is not to chastise, but to point out recurring problems and suggest solutions. Since most writers encounter similar troubles, we think these observations might interest general readers, too.”

Stop by this blog, enjoy the critiques and comments, and improve your business writing.

My thanks to Andy Isaacson of our Palo Alto Software Web Team who sent me the link to this blog.

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software

Spell checking should be an automatic task in all our business writing. I don’t mean simply using the built-in spell checkers in software applications. I mean we should be constantly working at improving our own spelling skills.

Of course, many of us have the painful memories of school spelling quizzes and spelling bees. It is difficult to get back into the habit of learning new words.

Here are two books which I just acquired for my reference shelf, by one of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson. His writing style is crisp and he brings his fine sense of humor to the task. Not only does he give the correct spellings, he includes the most frequent misspellings and incorrect usages.

With these two enjoyable books, sprucing up your vocabulary can be fun instead of a drudgery.

• Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer’s Guide to Getting It Right
• Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software