Copywriting Workshop: How to Avoid Classic Copywriting Mistakes

Everywhere I look these days I seem to be able to find mistakes in copywriting. From magazine articles and adverts through to corporate websites and television programmes.

Now I don't want to turn this into a rant, so instead let's think of this as a copywriting workshop, because I'm going to focus on something close to my heart. Copy on websites. Or, more to the point, copywriting mistakes on websites. The kind of typos, bloopers and inconsistencies that can readily be found on websites across the net, representing the corporate image of organisations great and small.

What is the purpose of your website?

It does not matter whether you are a multi-national corporation, a small one man band, an eCommerce solution or a charity. Your website should exist to reinforce your brand and instil confidence in your visitors, whether you want their time, money or praise as a result. Those purposes are eroded by mistakes and inconsistencies, which in extreme cases will leave people concerned about an organisation that does not take care of its online persona. Your website is a huge investment, so it is a shame to let anything detract from all the hard work that has gone into building it. Am I making a fuss about nothing? Surely a few spelling mistakes cannot have that much of a negative effect on a business? A BBC article shares the same fears about sloppy copy. According to the article, spelling mistakes "cost millions" in online sales, with consumers put off from making purchases by spelling mistakes on eCommerce sites. Does not seem like I am moaning about nothing now, does it?

Common copywriting mistakes

To illustrate the point, here are some easy-to-make (and easy-to-fix) mistakes that show up time and again.

Spelling

This one rears its head so often it is amazing. Bad spelling should be reasonably easy to avoid, but what about the words that are not really spelling mistakes and will not always get flagged up by a spell checker? "Your" and "you're", "their" and "there", "weather" and "whether", "wait" and "weight", "to" and "too" are all common slips you should watch for. Be prepared for a shock if you ask someone to bare with you.

Capitalisation

Sentences work best with a capital letter at the start (and a full stop at the end). That is conventional wisdom and helps your readers out. However, your design may involve the use of all lowercase letters for headings and sub-headings. If that is the case, just try to be consistent across your site, so everyone knows it is part of your design.

Americanisation

Which side of the Atlantic are you from? There are obvious differences in spelling between some English words and their Americanised counterparts. There is no real problem with the use of American English on the web. Just use it consistently if you do.

Why do companies make copy mistakes?

As mentioned above, misspellings, poor grammar and general errors are easy to make, particularly if your spell check is set to the wrong version of English. But sometimes companies will deliberately make mistakes in their copy. Why would you do that? Simple. For SEO purposes. If your keyword research suggests that a misspelling has high search volume and very few competitors, it is tempting to optimise your website for that phrase. Please do not use this strategy. Bad spelling has no place in on-page copy. Any ethical SEO agency will tell you that Google's "Did You Mean" feature automatically shows results for the correct spelling, which makes optimising for bad spellings kind of pointless.

In case you still think targeting misspellings is a good idea, despite the lost business and the Did You Mean results, maybe the words of Matt Cutts, former head of Google's webspam team, will help you see sense:

Tons of spammers target typos and misspelled queries all the time.

By deliberately making mistakes with your copy, Google thinks you look like a spammer. Potential customers probably will too.

How to avoid these pitfalls

Above are just a few examples of easy-to-make copywriting mistakes that can let down the feel of an otherwise great website. Thankfully, they are just as easy to fix.

• Take your time when planning your website and do not underestimate the power of well-written copy.
• Use a professional copywriter (and brief them thoroughly). It will save you time and money as well as ensuring your message gets across to your prospective audience in the clearest, most concise way. Do not be tempted to do it yourself or use your web developer.
• Copy and paste from Word or Google Docs after using the spell checker (and a visual check for those wrong words spelled right). Typing copy directly into your CMS is an accident waiting to happen.
• Proofread your copy thoroughly and get a second pair of eyes on it.
• Watch your formatting and use headings, sub-headings and capitalisation consistently across the site.

And here endeth the copywriting workshop.

Need help with your website copy?

If you would like a fresh pair of eyes on your website copy, or a hand briefing a copywriter, our content team works with brands across the UK on everything from product pages to long-form SEO content. Get in touch for a no-pressure conversation.