Spelling mistakes 'cost millions' in lost on-line sales


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An online entrepreneur says that poor spelling is costing the UK millions of pounds in lost revenue for internet businesses.

Charles Duncombe says an analysis of website figures shows a single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half.

Mr Duncombe says when recruiting staff he has been "shocked at the poor quality of written English".

Sales figures suggest misspellings put off consumers who could have concerns about a website's credibility, he says.

The concerns were echoed by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), whose head of education and skills warned that too many employers were having to invest in remedial literacy lessons for their staff.

Mr Duncombe, who runs travel, mobile phones and clothing websites, says that poor spelling is a serious problem for the online economy.

"Often these cutting-edge companies depend upon old-fashioned skills," says Mr Duncombe.

And he says that the struggle to recruit enough staff who can spell means that this sector of the economy is not as efficient as it might be.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics published last month showed internet sales in the UK running at ?527m per week.

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Anyone remember having spelling tests every week - competitions in the class who could get the most right x number of weeks in a row? tell anyone under 18 these days and they'll think you're pulling their leg. Yes back in my days we used to have spelling tests, reading comprehension exercises (read a book then answer a set of questions afterwards) plus basic language concepts such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, proper nouns, adjectives etc.

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Anyone remember having spelling tests every week - competitions in the class who could get the most right x number of weeks in a row? tell anyone under 18 these days and they'll think you're pulling their leg. Yes back in my days we used to have spelling tests, reading comprehension exercises (read a book then answer a set of questions afterwards) plus basic language concepts such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, proper nouns, adjectives etc.

I remember these, I don't know about other countries, but we had/have grade 3 and grade 6 testing. Then in grade 10 we had to do a literacy exam, you couldn't graduate high school unless you got (I think 75%) on the literacy thing. I mean, I haven't been in grade 10 in nearly 7 years so it may have changed.. but still

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Anyone remember having spelling tests every week - competitions in the class who could get the most right x number of weeks in a row? tell anyone under 18 these days and they'll think you're pulling their leg. Yes back in my days we used to have spelling tests, reading comprehension exercises (read a book then answer a set of questions afterwards) plus basic language concepts such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, proper nouns, adjectives etc.

Wait, they don't do that anymore? O_o

No wonder spelling is so atrocious these days! I wondered. Yes, I won't order from a website with spelling mistakes either, and I used to have a small side business doing editing for people. Spelling and grammatical errors tend to "jump out" at me, I guess because I did well with those lessons in school and I value the written word. It kills me when I see a billboard or sign outside a business with mistakes like that! Couldn't possibly spend my money there, and yet most people don't seem to notice or care =/

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I don't mind typos but blatant spelling errors and poor grammar push me away from most sites.

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I can vouch for this.

I won't touch a site with spelling mistakes on it :\

Agreed, sites like this are, quite simply put, unprofessional!

I don't mind typos but blatant spelling errors and poor grammar push me away from most sites.

Once again, I totally agree with this sentiment!

That said, even typographical errors are basically spelling errors and 99% of them should be filtered out by a simple proof reading process. Most programs, from web browsers to word processing programs, have spell checkers! At the end of the day you are being unobservant, lazy and unprofessional by allowing errors to appear on business sites!

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Wait, they don't do that anymore? O_o

No wonder spelling is so atrocious these days! I wondered. Yes, I won't order from a website with spelling mistakes either, and I used to have a small side business doing editing for people. Spelling and grammatical errors tend to "jump out" at me, I guess because I did well with those lessons in school and I value the written word. It kills me when I see a billboard or sign outside a business with mistakes like that! Couldn't possibly spend my money there, and yet most people don't seem to notice or care =/

I know for a fact they have spelling tests weekly in our schools locally all the way through high school... have one week to know how to spell 10 words (elementary until grade 3) 20 words (elementary until grade 6) 25 words middle school until grade 9, and 30 words by 12th grade per week, increasing in difficulty as you get older

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Wait, they don't do that anymore? O_o

No wonder spelling is so atrocious these days! I wondered. Yes, I won't order from a website with spelling mistakes either, and I used to have a small side business doing editing for people. Spelling and grammatical errors tend to "jump out" at me, I guess because I did well with those lessons in school and I value the written word. It kills me when I see a billboard or sign outside a business with mistakes like that! Couldn't possibly spend my money there, and yet most people don't seem to notice or care =/

My father was like that as well. He was a journalism professor and he couldn't read the major news paper because he always saw too many mistakes and it annoyed him to no end.

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When I tell a kid a certain word is misused, he just says, "Well Word didn't correct it!" Like it's Microsoft Word's job to make you look smart. :rolleyes:

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can sum1 plz tell me wut dis post is about?

I dnt undrstnd. plz explain

u fergot "k thnx bai"

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can sum1 plz tell me wut dis post is about?

I dnt undrstnd. plz explain

/me slaps da00

Don't. Just don't. Every time you type like this the FSM kills a kitten.

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/me slaps da00

Don't. Just don't. Every time you type like this the FSM kills a kitten.

but im only using de inglish skillz i lrnd in skewl.

plz, no hate.

dnt c y.

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but im only using de inglish skillz i lrnd in skewl.

plz, no hate.

dnt c y.

Argh. Stop or I'm going to ask the Regular Ordinary Swedish Mealtime guy to feed you mayonnaise until you burst.

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Mmmm.. Mayonnaise..

Is it Man-Mayo, Meph?

Id gladly take the 8 hour train ride up to them for that ;D

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Considering the majority of text applications have the ability to spell check, there really is no excuse for spelling mistakes, especially when they are underlined in red

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We communicate in textual form more than we ever have before and it exposes people's poor writing skills (or inattentiveness). I know a lot of people like to blame the younger generation but the reality is that the older generations (middle-aged and older) can't type, spell, or write worth a damn either.

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Relying on spell-check is still being lazy, though. That's why we have brains!! Besides, it's not always just spelling errors alone. One example I saw just the other day is on uniqueskins.com, where I was browsing for pretty skins for my phone. They had a page full of mistakes--words that were spelled correctly, but weren't the correct word. My favourite was the bit where they said "Before a new device is released to the public we put it through several testes to insure the skin will not effect the functionality of your device in any way." :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

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Relying on spell-check is still being lazy, though. That's why we have brains!! Besides, it's not always just spelling errors alone. One example I saw just the other day is on uniqueskins.com, where I was browsing for pretty skins for my phone. They had a page full of mistakes--words that were spelled correctly, but weren't the correct word. My favourite was the bit where they said "Before a new device is released to the public we put it through several testes to insure the skin will not effect the functionality of your device in any way." :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

What a great example of Engrish.

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What a great example of Engrish.

Eh, I don't know if that's what it was. There were a LOT of errors just like that, where the wrong word was used or it was spelled wrong. The grammar doesn't come off as coming from someone with limited English skills. Mostly just looked like typos that weren't caught since they also made legit words (testes=tests, prefect=perfect) and then instances of using the wrong version of a word (insure=ensure, effect=affect). In other words, the kinds of mistakes people who are either lazy, uneducated, or just apathetic make all the time, even in their native language.

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Yes, it's bad enough when you people don't take the time to correct mistakes in forum posts but really unacceptable on commercial or government websites.

I just came across this one on the Australian High Commission's passport renewal page:

the passport your are replacing

Unfortunately I don't have the option to boycott them because they have a bit of a monopoly in the legitimate Australian passport market :laugh:

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I don't mind typos, but blatant spelling errors and poor grammar push me away from most sites.

This ^

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So many retards from the UK type like complete twats... How many times have we seen the chavs type "there" for "their" or "should of" instead of "should have"? :whistle:

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