Why Your Nephew Shouldn't Be Writing Your Content

by Randy Hanskat

As I discussed in my “When Content Became King” blog, ever since Google downgraded the importance of keywords in search ranking in favor of robust content there has been a serious need for this writing. For business owners, there’s a temptation to get anyone to write your content, paying them commensurately. Maybe it’s your nephew who is now writing your page content and blogs. Maybe it’s your intern. Maybe your office manager has volunteered for duty. Or maybe you found someone on Upwork for $5/blog.

(Photo courtesy of Woe Is I by Patricia O'Conner, an awesome grammar book!)

Problem is, now your website is filled with the its possessive having its unwanted apostrophe (it’s). Here and there, their words have contracted into they’re instead. Same with your services becoming you’re services. Complementary products become complimentary, as if asking for praise. It appears your writer’s vaunted Word grammar/spell checker has missed a few items.

It’s usually true with writers, as with most services — you get what you pay for. And, while the writing displayed on your grammar-challenged website now costs you less than a sandwich at the neighborhood deli, there’s a hidden cost. Both Google and Bing penalize bad spelling and grammar in your site’s search engine rankings.

Does this make online writing more exclusive?

There has certainly been a cheapening of English thanks to texting, Twitter, and the like. Acronyms and phonetic spelling provide helpful shortcuts when thumbing away. There are two sides to this trend in writing.

On one side there’s the argument that just because a person doesn’t understand they’re isn’t a pronoun but an independent clause shouldn’t preclude them from getting their thoughts out online. After all, an effect here and there mistaken for affect, what’s the big deal? Who says only professional writers should get to write?

On the other side are those who say the rules of English are the rules of English and should be followed, maybe not to the level of the who vs. whom rule, but at least to the correct use of the possessive of who. The argument would say the reward for good writing is easier reading, which is something everyone wants.

Personally, I feel the quality of the writing on a website or anywhere online is paramount. There isn’t any room for LMAO or “you’re” instead of “your” when it comes to presenting your business through your website. Texting content is a far cry from permanent web content.

Plus, there’s this…

The experience matters

Whether the Google algorithm fully understands the nuances of grammar may not even matter because the company’s Page Experience Update in late 2021 uses a variety of factors such as page load times and page stability to measure the user experience. Google called them Core Web Vitals. The higher the scores across this series of elements, the better the user experience and the higher that site ranks in organic search.

One of those measured elements is bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. You can assume a page littered with poor grammar, misspelled words, and the like is much more likely to be closed by a visitor. After all, if this is how the business or company presents itself on its website, why would anyone have faith in the quality of its products or services?

Have your nephew show you the new Far Cry game, not write your content

When you’re populating your website, it’s important to hire a professional to handle the writing. I’ve been playing with words and concepts in advertising copywriting, content creation, sports writing, and magazine writing for decades. I’m the writer you need.

Let’s talk.