While most people wouldn’t know how to spell “egregious,” one may wonder about a university that charges $10,000/year (in-state rate).

Your web presence is too important to fool around with. Not only does your site need to convey clear ideas, but they cannot stray from the reason people are there.

This is why a few years ago Shoplet’s marketing team rejected an article we submitted to them. It was an informative and accurate business piece, but too far out of the realm of what Shoplet readers come to the site for – buying index tabs.

Had Shoplet published that piece, it would not have been a cardinal sin, but it would have opened the door to more unrelated content.

Beyond these intricacies that deal more in judgment than quality, there are other mistakes writers make.

Factual Errors: Names, Dates, Data

This post was inspired by a now-removed blog post. A friend sent it to us asking if “Kleer-Facsimile” was actually the full name of Kleer-Fax. It’s not, but that’s how it was spelled in this jumble of word-vomit.

The article claimed to tell people about investing, but following the word Facebook (FB), the ticker symbol for Twitter (TWTR) was given. The company Medical Marijuana, Inc. was called Medical Pot, Inc.

When you write a blog post, you must be sure to get this information right, or you will guarantee that you won’t be taken seriously.

Typos and Grammar: Pubic vs. Public

Web reading lends a higher tolerance for typos and grammar issues (like how we ended the very first sentence of this post with a preposition), especially since reading is often reduced to skimming.

This was the “eggregious” typo noted above. Hopefully, Nana and Pop-pop were at least amused by it!

However, a typo can completely change the meaning of a sentence, eliminating clear communication. For example, the statement:

Anything in the pubic domain can be accessed, shared and reused without restrictions

simply is not true. Works in the public domain, on the other hand, can be.

Get to the Point

Effective business writing involves making a statement in as few words as possible. This is why executive summaries are included with major reports.

It is also why many online articles have 1 sentence per paragraph.

Because people skim.

If you want your point taken, you must reduce the poetry and increase the particulars.

And eliminate typos.

And get names right.

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