Typos, Grammar Woes, and Your Credibility as a Blogger

A blog post is not a school paper or a newspaper article. So, if you have a few typos and grammatical errors it doesn’t really matter, right? Wrong. One of the most important things for a blogger is establishing credibility. If we really want people to read our blog and keep coming back to it, we have to be credible.  There are so many factors that contribute to credibility that it’s easy for some to get lost in the shuffle.  It should go without saying that we have to know what we’re writing about and present our content in the proper way. This means not spouting off generalizations or random “facts” without backing them up or explaining our reasoning. But, it’s also about how we present our content physically.

Think back to the famous debate between JFK and Richard Nixon. JFK presented himself better on camera (he was also much better looking in the first place), and people paid attention. It may seem shallow, but the truth is that first impressions really do have a big impact on how someone perceives you. An even simpler example: two people show up to interview for the same position. One is wearing a suit and tie, and has all of his materials neatly organized in a portfolio. The other is wearing slacks and a button down shirt, but no tie or jacket. They have a copy of their resume folded up in their pocket. On first impressions alone, before either one speaks a word, the one who put in the time and effort into how he presented himself already has an advantage.

So, what does this have to do with blog posts, typos and grammatical errors? A lot actually. I had the absolute pleasure of helping out my friend Matt by copy editing the 50+ posts from the Inconvenience of Change series. Matt is planning on turning the series into an e-book, and asked me to proofread the content before he took the next step. I love editing, in fact, I’m the crazy kid who looks for errors everywhere (playbills, menus, signs, etc).  In addition to the excitement of releasing my inner editor, I really enjoyed reading through these posts again. Some pretty amazing people were involved in this series, and I was inspired all over again (stay tuned for a post on that subject).

The content was great, but there were several recurring errors that I noticed as I read through the posts. I know that not everyone is anal like me, but part of how you present yourself and your ideas on your blog is actually in the words themselves. Wouldn’t you hate to write a beautiful, heartfelt post, but have someone discount your content because of typos? Just like the person who takes the time and effort to put on a suit and tie automatically has an advantage, a blogger who takes the time and effort to read through their posts before posting them is laying the foundation for credibility.

Beware:

• Split Infinitives: “I need you all to really work hard.”
  • To work is the infinitive, but by placing “really” in between “to” and “work,” the infinitive is split. Instead, try: “I really need you all to work hard.”
• Punctuation inside quotation marks: Punctuation goes inside quotation marks, no matter what the punctuation is, whether the quotes are single or double.
  • Using the example above, I wrote …and “work,” instead of …and “work”,.
• Than vs. then, affect vs. effect: These are both really common errors, and the best way to learn them is by practicing.
  • As a general rule, than is used in comparison: My house is bigger than yours. Then is used with a sequence of events or actions: I ate the apple, then I ate the pear.
  • Affect is the verb form: This cold is really affecting my ability to concentrate; And effect is the noun: I can feel the effect of this cold on my ability to concentrate.
• Their, there, they’re:
  • Their: The possessive form, for example: They brought their boat ashore.
  • There: Refers to location, for example: The boat is over there.
  • They’re: Contraction of “they are,” for example: They’re bringing the boat ashore. So, if you wanted to include all three in a sentence about the boat: They’re bringing their boat ashore and parking it over there.
• Typos: There are obviously no “rules” or tips I can give on typos. Just read through your posts before you publish them, and use spell check. If you’re not grammatically inclined, find a friend who is, and ask them to give your posts a read-through. Time permitting, I’m glad to help anyone who needs it.

Do you agree with me, do things like typos and gramatical errors affect your credibility as a blogger? Do you proofread before you click publish? If not, why not? Are there any other common errors you’ve noticed?

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