Want to sell? Learn to spell.

The average greengrocer’s passion for misplaced apostrophes might drive me bananas but it’s not enough to drive me to buy elsewhere. Not so with the web.

As the BBC reported recently Spelling mistakes 'cost millions' in lost online sales. So there it is, proof that I’m not the only one who can’t help but doubt the professionalism and attention to detail of a business that doesn’t know its its from its it’s.

Tests showed that revenue per visitor doubled after a spelling mistake on a retail website was corrected. We might be used to seeing wrongly spelt words and poor grammar in print these days, but clearly getting it right still matters.

Of course, spellcheckers do some of the work for people whose spelling isn’t so hot. But rely on them at your peril. Your spellchecker doesn’t know if you mean stationery or stationary. Both are correct. It’s how you use the word that makes one right and one wrong.

Do you really want design that's standing still?

Now, I’m not saying every one of us needs to be a brilliant speller. Only that we need to be aware of how important it is to use language well. Writing is a skill. Not everyone is an expert. Yes, most of us can write, but that doesn’t mean most of us are copywriters. That’s like saying if you can paint a wall, you can paint a picture.

The point is words work harder than many people realise. They work in obvious ways. They work in subtle ways. It’s not only spelling and bad grammar that can cost you dearly. A professional copywriter thinks about things non-writers don't even notice. Nuances. Shades of meaning. Rhythm. Balance. Avoiding ambiguity. Fact versus opinion.

Never mind research into the impact of a spelling mistake. There’s plenty of evidence to show that changing a headline can turn sales around. Even taking out or adding a single word can make a dramatic difference.

But to get back to the point, I’m amazed at how many web designers and website builders fail to recognise the value of having a pro writer on board. Most designers I worked with in my ad agency days openly admitted to being useless at spelling. (They weren’t great writers, either.) Yet the basic need for literacy when presenting your business or organisation to the world seems to go by the wayside on the web.

In my view, it’s simple. If your website contains more than a couple of small literals - missed words or misspellings - and you paid for it, you didn’t get value for money. It might even end up costing you.

Money for nothing

Hardly a day goes by when my inbox isn’t blessed with another promise of easy money from the internet. One sender of such joyful offerings labours under the illusion that although I failed to respond the last thirty-seven times, maybe I will the thirty-eighth. Even though the core message is unchanged:

You can make thousands from the web! And it’s easy!

Yeah, yeah. Well, you can make thousands, millions even, from writing a song, writing a book, kicking a football, standing in front of a camera, standing behind a camera...

And those things aren’t just ‘easy’ for the people who are lucky enough to do them for a living, they’re a whole lot more fun than slogging away at web marketing.

Making money online has become the Aladdin’s lamp of the modern world. So simple, anyone can do it. Indeed, snake oil sellers have been swift to market their wares to the unsuspecting and naive. How easy it is to lure fools with dreams of financial independence into swapping their cash for the next internet cash-making machine.

I even sat through a video the other day (just for the hell of it) which assured me I didn’t need to do anything at all to make thousands of dollars every month. Didn’t need any special skills, experience or talent. Just buy the online marketing miracle he was peddling and follow his easy steps to riches.

Hah, I was sorely tempted to hit the BUY button!

Trouble is, these purveyors of digital diarrhoea are everywhere. While some may actually have something worthwhile to offer, most are going to make far more money for the seller than the buyer.

Right, enough. I’m off to buy this week’s lottery ticket...

How to create a Google account

Want to leave a review in Google Places? You need a Google account. It only takes a couple of minutes to set one up. Here’s how.

Type Google account into Google or click this to go to the Google Accounts page. This will open in a separate window, so you can continue to follow this step-by-step guide.

To get started, click Create an account now.

Enter your email address and create a password. Type the security code. Click Create account.

You’ll now see something like this:



Check your email. Click on the confirmation link that Google has sent you.

You’ll now see something like this:


You can now sign into your Google account. Your username may already be in place. You simply need to enter your password.

You’re now ready to write your review. See How to Leave a Google Places Review, another step-by-step guide from The Tin Piano.

How to leave a review in Google Places

Had good service? Got a comment? Want to make a recommendation?

Google Places makes it easy to make your opinions public. And this step-by-step guide from The Tin Piano makes it easier still.

Step 1: Find the ‘place’ you want to leave a Google Places review for.

To find the listing in Google Places, go to the Google search page and click on the Maps tab.

Type in the name and location of the place.

In this example, we’re going to leave a review for Holly House bed and breakfast, Brockenhurst

If you can’t see the place you’re looking for, try adding the county, region or postcode.

You should now see the place marked on the map and listed on the left.

Click on the place name.

You can now see the Google Places listing for this place.

Here’s the page for Holly House Bed and Breakfast, Brockenhurst

Step 2: Click Sign in to rate or Rate and review.

Look under Reviews by Google users. You’ll see either Sign in to rate (above) or Rate and review (below). Whichever you see, click the link.

• If you see Rate and review, you’re already signed into your Google account and are ready to leave your Google Places review.
• If you see Sign in to rate and you already have a Google account, at the next screen, enter your username and password. You’ll now see Rate and review.
• If you see Sign in to rate and you don’t have a Google account, you need to create one before you can leave a review. This is Google’s way of making sure people don’t cheat by leaving fake reviews. It only takes a couple of minutes to set up a Google account. Once you have an account you can review any service listed in Google Places and take advantage of the growing number of Google services.

Help setting up a Google account >

If you don’t yet have a Google account, see How to create a Google account, another step-by-step guide from The Tin Piano.

Step 3: Write your review.
You can write your review straight into the text box or copy and paste it.

Now, click the stars to give your rating. If this is your first Google Places review, you’ll be prompted to ‘set your appearance’. This is another thing Google asks for to stop people cheating. Simply click Get started.

Enter the nickname you want to use. Click Start rating.

You’ll now see  something like this.

You can ignore this screen. Simply go back to the Google Places listing and complete your review. Choose how many stars you want to give. Click Publish.

Your review is now live. If you need to you can edit it or delete it.

First Note

The web is a great tutor. Maybe that’s why I love it so much. I love to learn, especially when the lesson is something I can apply right away. I learned one of those lessons today.

Over the weekend I gave someone the URL for The Tin Piano. This is a little premature as the site is still not finished, but I figured there was enough content there to create a favourable impression. Seems I was wrong.

Looking at the visitor stats in Statcounter I can see this prospective customer spent less than two minutes on my site. They checked out six pages. Trouble is, three of those pages I haven’t completed yet. In fact, they were almost blank. One was my portfolio page. Another was this blog.

I imagine my visitor left underwhelmed. I sure felt deflated when I realised that I had been hoist by my own petard. In my intro I talk about the need to give people what they’re looking for - fast - or else they’ll go elsewhere.

Well, I reckon my half-completed site delivered a strong message. But not the one I intended. Who knows if that prospect will ever return?

So what’s the lesson? Or, as a book I’ve been reading puts it: What’s the gift in this?

Twofold.

One: if handing out your URL, either make sure you warn people the site is still in production or, better still, hold off until you have content on every live page.

Two: get busy with that content. Pronto!