Should You Worry About Grammar When Writing Online?
Written by Annette Elton
When it comes to writing online, there are two schools of thought. The first is to write conversationally, which if you sit and listen to anyone speak (particularly if you have teenage children) you’ll notice proper sentence structure is the last thing on their minds. The other school of thought is to write formally, present yourself professionally as you would offline. I argue there’s a happy medium – you can accomplish both.
Is Grammar Really That Important?
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a stickler for grammar and I do rely heavily on editors to check and double check my work because I often miss errors. That being said, I do notice grammar mistakes when other people write them. Does it matter? That depends on who they are and who their audience is. If they’re an expert in the writing and publishing industry, yes, I’m going to hold them to a higher standard.
Your clients and prospects will too.
People, for the most part, will forgive, if they even notice, a grammar/spelling error or two in your content. However, each mistake they notice does to a small degree, lessen your credibility. It can make you appear lazy, indifferent, and unconcerned about how people perceive you – even if the exact opposite is true. Therefore, it pays to triple check your content, or have someone else check it, before you publish it online.
Why Conversational Copy is Important
When you write online content, you’re writing to someone specifically, right? You’re writing to the prospect who is reading your content right then and there. Do you want your content to sound formal, like a case study or a press release, or do you want to forge a connection with them? Ideally, you want to make a connection and that is accomplished by writing conversationally – using contractions, using the words “You” and “I”, and so on. The trouble with writing conversationally is that it often requires breaking a few grammar rules.
The trick to balancing both conversational copy and proper grammar?
Read your content aloud – or have someone else read it aloud. If it flows well, sounds natural and engages the reader – you’re golden. If, on the other hand, your content sounds choppy, awkward and you get caught up a trying to read your sentences, it needs a bit of reworking.
Well-written conversational copy takes practice and by all means, use your spell check and grammar check to eliminate the obvious mistakes. And if you’re prone to grammar mistakes, like me, have someone reliable whom you can pass your content by before you publish it. The extra effort is worth it.
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About the Author
Visit Annette online at AllCustomContent.com
Everybody says "Content is King", but what does that mean for you? 
Mary Lutz says:
Those are some really great tips! I think it’s important to keep your writing style “simple” too. I don’t mean uneducated, but easy for anyone at any reading level to read. I can’t stand when I go to a blog and it’s so full of huge words I get lost just trying to understand the meaning. I think if a reader is easily drawn into the content, then they will stay longer and come back again. However, if they have to struggle in order to understand what’s being said, then they’ll most likely click away.
Just some thoughts from my own experience as a reader and a writer.
Annette Elton says:
Hi Mary,
Agreed! I think the general rule of thumb is to keep your writing at or below an 8th grade reading level. If you use MS Word, they have a reading level indicator so you know if you’re hitting the mark.
Thank you for your input!
Alice Seba says:
The Grammar Police are out there. Funny, I figure about 67.6% of the police spell grammar as “grammer”.
Nobody’s perfect and getting the message across in an intelligent and understandable way wins every time.