Copy errors that seriously bug me

AnniePot

13 years ago

Oh, yes...

Their, there, they're
Alot
Alright

Those are just a few off the top of my head.

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doingwrite

13 years ago

Any misspellings drive me bananas. I find this kicks my ability to respect the writer down several notches. I often can't even continue reading. Sure we may commit typos on this forum, but when you have something on a website you have got to spell check. Of course that doesn't catch Annie's "their, they're, there."

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RHert

13 years ago

I'm with the misspellings. Most of the time I think WHY didn't they read this before they posted, or even run it through spell checker. It's not that difficult. I rarely continue reading anything that has misspellings. It just drives me crazy.

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The Copy Nazi

Banned 13 years ago

The one that really gets my goat above all others is "your" instead of "you're". I see it every day.

For the love of God..."your" denotes possession. As in "your command of the English language sucks".

You're is the abbreviation of "you are". As in you're a dill if you don't know the difference.

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Hugh Thyer

13 years ago

If anyone's questioning the seriousness of this thread then listen up.

I was at an event I was going to write copy for. And the presenter mentioned that the sales brochure he put together did have a couple of errors in it.

One girl said these minor errors almost put her off attending.

So yes, people DO get put off by these things. Even if you or I don't mind, some people will decide not to buy because your professionalism is questioned. Even minor mistakes can be major roadblocks for some prospects.

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WordsofWorth

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Hugh Thyer

If anyone's questioning the seriousness of this thread then listen up.

I was at an event I was going to write copy for. And the presenter mentioned that the sales brochure he put together did have a couple of errors in it.

One girl said these minor errors almost put her off attending.

So yes, people DO get put off by these things. Even if you or I don't mind, some people will decide not to buy because your professionalism is questioned. Even minor mistakes can be major roadblocks for some prospects.

Absolutely; I may have been slightly comedic with the nature of my post but this is completely true. Poor use of grammar and spelling errors stand out like the proverbial sore thumb and make you look unprofessional.

You could 'perhaps' forgive it when a local bar writes a sign in chalk and incorrectly uses apostrophes, but a national UK supermarket called Asda (owned by Walmart) actually had an aisle named 'stationary' a few months ago. This was a printed sign above the aisle, letting all of the customers know that the aisle wasn't going anywhere.

There's no excuse for that, none at all.

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Bruce Wedding 13 years ago

The only copy errors which seriously bug me are my own. It seems I can re-read something I wrote in the past and always find something and it ticks me off. I'm an excellent grammarian and know the rules of English quite well but we all make mistakes.

I've been guilty of the "your" vs "you're" mistake and it is NOT because I don't know the difference. Its because I'm typing fast and my brain just falls asleep or something and the muscle memory in my hands just takes over. I hate when I do that because people like the copy Nazi think I don't know the difference

I will NEVER use loose for lose though.

It's lose, not loose.
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perryny

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Hugh Thyer

So yes, people DO get put off by these things. Even if you or I don't mind, some people will decide not to buy because your professionalism is questioned. Even minor mistakes can be major roadblocks for some prospects.

A while back I was promoting to my list an interview between Tony Robbins and Jay Abraham. The included transcript provided by Robbins has the following headline:

How To Get Any Business Going and Growing
Tony Robbins, the nation's busines and personal peak
performance expert interviews Jay Abraham, America's
leading business growth advisor

Notice the missing "s" in the first line of the deck copy? I didn't, but at least three people on my list did, and told me they had no interest in listening to the interview because of the "lack of professionalism." This was a freebie!

Also, I'm convinced not 3 people in 10 know how to spell "defanitley."

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abugah

13 years ago

Interchanging....
Then and Than
I.e and E.g
Lay and Lie
Effect and affect

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Daniel Scott

13 years ago

On the flip side, I've heard Mike Filsaime (I think?) used to deliberately put in spelling errors - it became almost his "trademark".

Personally, I figure if people are going to make that kind of snap judgement based on a simple spelling error, they're probably not the ideal kind of customer you want to attract.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying it's "okay" to have poorly written copy. But hypothetically, if you had a chance to learn from a guy like Tony, who (regardless of what you may think about him) has made millions and is super successful... would you really brush him off because of a typo or an ugly tie?

For my part, occasional errors don't bother me. But people using "leet speek", using all caps, not using line breaks or whatever irritates me no end.

We're not all writers, but anyone can use some white space and take the time to at least try and make their post legible.

-Daniel

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Steve The Copywriter

13 years ago

I would prefer not to make any copy errors - but have you noticed the more times you edit a piece the more you find?

On John Carltons' courses he says typo's (and even "missing" pages in promo's) actually increased the response.

You'll always get pedantic readers who'll moan about them but as Daniel said they probably won't become your best customers.

A glaring "typo" may upset a few, but they do stick in your mind and if the overall copy is good - I can see why you might get a bump in the results.

Steve

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MissTerraK 13 years ago

Also, I'm convinced not 3 people in 10 know how to spell "defanitley."

I defiantly declare it is definitely!

Terra
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MoneyMagnetMagnate

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Steve Copywriter

On John Carltons' courses he says typo's (and even "missing" pages in promo's) actually increased the response.

A glaring "typo" may upset a few, but they do stick in your mind and if the overall copy is good - I can see why you might get a bump in the results.

Steve

I know I'll get flack if I dis John, and I do read and respect his learned opinions, which are based on vastly more experience...but I really do fail to see how typos can increase response unless as you say, the overall copy is great, or unless they ARE glaringly obvious enough to think they were deliberately intentional to attract attention, or elicit humor.

Otherwise, it always gives me a glaring impression that the producers of the ad did not pay attention to the details, and brings other aspects of the product into question. A few small typos in copy is one thing, but I'm talking about the blatant ones...the OMG's.
(And I do welcome and would appreciate any examples on how a typo can be used to create a positive impression.)

(*And no, Ray - I don't have OCD...it's just about presenting a professional impression -

)

JMHO -

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Steve The Copywriter 13 years ago

I wouldn't risk doing an intentional typo.

Because as you've all pointed out they look very unprofessional.

The upside is - they do get your attention, and stay in your mind.

Again providing the copy, the offer and everything else is good - you might as Carlton said get an increase in the response.

So, if you're copy creates that "itch" that your audience has got to "scratch" - and the only way they can do it is by buying your product - I don't think a "typo" is going to cause any real problems.

Steve
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Chris1212

13 years ago

I'm with you guys. The mistakes mentioned drive me absolutely nuts. I'll add this one: Years ago there was a daycare on a prominent street where I lived that had a large sign out front that said: Children is our business.

That sign stayed like that for over 5 years before someone finally changed it. Drove me crazy. This was long before I became seriously interested in copy/copywriting etc.. So it didn't bug me because of my work, it bugged me because it was just wrong, and I couldn't imagine anyone being dumb enough to put up a sign like that and for no one to point it out or bother to fix it for 5 years!

Along this line of discussion...

Is anyone else ALARMED by the serious decline in proper spelling and grammar that bombards us daily? Where is this country headed? Is the overall intelligence level of our nation declining?

I, for one, am completely turned off by 2 or more mispellings (it grates on me, but I will generally overlook one spelling error, however, that depends on the source). Improper use of words makes me stop reading (your/you're, etc.). I've been to websites of supposedly large companies that had errorS in the first paragraph on the main page... click... I'm done.

My .02

Chris

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abugah

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Chris1212

.

Is anyone else ALARMED by the serious decline in proper spelling and grammar that bombards us daily? Where is this country headed? Is the overall intelligence level of our nation declining?

My .02

Chris

Texting is contributing to the poor level of grammar. If you read SMS between the younger generation you would realize that that grammar rules are totally thrown out of the window.

Yet, in a recent AOL survey, 68 percent of respondents said E-mails with spelling and punctuation errors annoyed them. Which can be interpreted to mean that grammar errors seriously annoys people.

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Raydal

13 years ago

A lot has to do with personality and not professionalism.

Generally speaking people who get twisted over some
spelling errors are first-borns and sticklers in other
areas of life as well--such as their rooms have to
be clean, orderly and grocery alphabetized in the
cupboards. These people make good pilots,
accountants, engineers but annoy the rest of
us.

Nobody is perfect so why should a website be?

-Ray Edwards

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abugah

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Raydal

A lot has to do with personality and not professionalism.

Generally speaking people who get twisted over some
spelling errors are first-borns and sticklers in other
areas of life as well--such as their rooms have to
be clean, orderly and grocery alphabetized in the
cupboards. These people make good pilots,
accountants, engineers but annoy the rest of
us.

Nobody is perfect so why should a website be?

-Ray Edwards

I like your perspective of the debate. I had not looked at it from the angle.

It looks like the sticklers need to give a 1% allowance of errors. I mean it
would be insane to decline to buy a good product because the sales letter missed a comma after the word however. Or i.e was interchanged with e.g

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WordsofWorth

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Raydal

A lot has to do with personality and not professionalism.

Generally speaking people who get twisted over some
spelling errors are first-borns and sticklers in other
areas of life as well--such as their rooms have to
be clean, orderly and grocery alphabetized in the
cupboards. These people make good pilots,
accountants, engineers but annoy the rest of
us.

Nobody is perfect so why should a website be?

-Ray Edwards

I have to disagree with this. I'm the fourth of four children, and my room (and indeed entire house) is a bloody mess, yet typos annoy the monkeys out of me.

I'll agree that nobody is perfect but, in our industry certainly, we should at least attempt to cultivate a society that treats copy as sacrosanct. If I see a company that can't even correctly use punctuation on their website, how can they expect to offer me whatever service they're supposed to be offering? Their attention to detail is clearly lacking, so I worry their service levels would too.

For example, there's a UK delivery company called HDNL (recently rebranded to YODEL due to a very bad reputation) and the homepage of their website (myyodel.co.uk) reads:

Tracking Number Start's with JD?

I know for a fact that their attention to detail is poor, and their website reflects this perfectly.

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Steve The Copywriter

13 years ago

I was working late last night.

Around 12.30 am, I slumped on the sofa and flicked the wrong button on the TV remote.

And inadvertently began watching a home shopping "Jewellery" channel.

I watched the presenter do 2 "pitches" - on and on they went - taking ages for the "bids" to arrive and eventually 3 items sold.

Next "pitch" was for a japanese watch more or less the same price and quality as the previous stuff.

The screen description misspelt "japanese" saying "japaneese"

The presenter joked about it and apologized.

Almost instantly 3, 4, 5, 6 bids came in.

And the watch sold out in seconds.

I couldn't help but wonder if the result would have been the same without the "typo"

Steve

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MoneyMagnetMagnate

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Steve Copywriter

I was working late last night.

Around 12.30 am, I slumped on the sofa and flicked the wrong button on the TV remote.

And inadvertently began watching a home shopping "Jewellery" channel.

I watched the presenter do 2 "pitches" - on and on they went - taking ages for the "bids" to arrive and eventually 3 items sold.

Next "pitch" was for a japanese watch more or less the same price and quality as the previous stuff.

The screen description misspelt "japanese" saying "japaneese"

The presenter joked about it and apologized.

Almost instantly 3, 4, 5, 6 bids came in.

And the watch sold out in seconds.

I couldn't help but wonder if the result would have been the same without the "typo"

Steve

L-O-L!

:rolleyes:

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Treborrevo 13 years ago

I've made most the copy errors - their/there/your-you're.

One of my lead gen pieces pulled a million bucks for a client - had 2 typos. Pretty good for only a page!

So, I don't get bugged by other's typo's -- they make me feel better

The copy mistakes that DO bug me are strategic...

...Talking about the product/service and not the reader's interest/problems/desires drives me nuts and is one of the most common corrections I make to other's copy.

... Starting the headline/hook too far away from the actual product in an attempt to capture reader interest. Creates a long warm up that loses the prospect.

...And my most hated: Big-Sounding-Buzzwords. Some folks just feel the copy exist to make them sound important even if they say nothing.
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Raydal

13 years ago

Originally Posted by WordsofWorth

I have to disagree with this. I'm the fourth of four children, and my room (and indeed entire house) is a bloody mess, yet typos annoy the monkeys out of me.

It's not an exact science--no social science is. At least I was right
on your room being a mess.

-Ray Edwards

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Bananaprod

13 years ago

Misspellings irk me the most. Only shows that whoever wrote them doesn't care at all about the copy produced. Also, I agree with abugah that that SMS texting has seriously impacted how grammar is treated by the younger generation.

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Keeslover

13 years ago

"Irregardless", "rediculous", and misplaced apostrophes.

And I don't think I'll ever be on board with always putting quotation marks outside punctuation. Depending on the usage, it looks funny to me.

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tylerjaysen

13 years ago

Ah ha what a great thread. Yeah the "they're or we're or we've sayings are always comedy. My favorite is also the misuse of too..as in also. I cringe whenever i see that typed out....like... hey I like that icecream to. What? As if they've forgotten the rest of the sentence.

Also, whenever I see or hear someone say "supposedBly" with a "b". Ugh. Is that acceptable correct English here? Last time I looked in dictionary it says "supposed" with a "d"..so you say supposedly...the adverb of supposed.

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GenerousBoy

13 years ago

'your' instead of 'you're' has got to be one of the worst - and most common. I particularly don't like apostrophes thrown in at random after plurals. Like, Oh, we haven't had an apostrophe for a while, I'll just throw one in here... lol.

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specialized

13 years ago

Count me among the pathologically intolerant where typos are concerned! Feels good to be here, I didn't know there were so many like me out there.

These errors bug me so much that I'm planning an article on the subject. I've got a list of 17 of them so far.

In many cases, I think the writers making the errors simply don't know that they're making any errors. They have no idea. I find that a little scary. Then in many other cases, I suspect that people do realize that they're probably making errors, but they just don't care enough to worry about it for even a second. This is is just inconsiderate.

The thing that people are consistently failing to do is GO OVER and proofread their own writing before posting---word by word, line by line. Sure it may be a pain, but it's the ethical and polite thing to do. It's MANNERS. I personally cannot imagine NOT doing this... I literally don't know how not to. Even as I write, I'm constantly doing it, inspecting it as I go along. I can't fathom doing it any other way! How is it that anyone could do it any other way...??

Call me weird, but to me, thrusting mistake-riddled written material out to the world to read without having gone over it with a fine-tooth comb is nearly as antisocial as bursting into a room where a genteel gathering is taking place, without having bathed for a few days, wearing dirty clothes and with fleas jumping off you, knocking over vases and crystal and yelling "Duh, hey evwybuddy, here I iz!!"

Okay, maybe I overdramatized a bit there, but you get my point...

And yes indeed, whenever I see people write "defiantly" when they are trying to write "definitely" (at least once daily), I could just about tear my hair out and twist off a bunny's head... okay not really, but let's just say that the hapless speller should be very glad they're not actually in the same room with me.

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Quality Copywriter

13 years ago

One thing you might find interesting is that
spelling errors in testimonials are proven to increase sales
as far as sales copy is concerned.

I recently got an sales letter from Alan Forrest with two mistakes in the letter so go figure i guess ...

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RHert

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Quality Copywriter

One thing you might find interesting is that
spelling errors in testimonials are proven to increase sales
as far as sales copy is concerned.

I recently got an sales letter from Alan Forrest with two mistakes in the letter so go figure i guess ...

Spelling errors in testimonials are different. People know others are going to make mistakes. Too much perfection in testimonials makes it look as if they're made up. But the rest of the copy is a different story. You need to at least take the time to go through. I'll forgive small errors once or twice, but the glaring ones... Sorry, if you can't pay attention to those you've lost me.

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Copy errors that seriously bug me

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