Next time you hear a co-worker say that correct spelling and grammar “don't really matter” anymore, show them this article...please.

A UK-based Web site entrepreneur named Charles Duncombe told the BBC News that “an analysis of website figures shows a single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half.”

The theory goes like this: online businesses hire individuals who are semi-literate or even just poor spellers. Those individuals go on to work on company Web sites, littering them with misspellings, grammar errors or poorly written product descriptions. Customers, turned off by the errors, choose not to buy from that Web site, and instead seek out a company that takes the time to check the language on its Internet portal to ensure that it's correct and professional.

If you think it sounds far-fetched (then you're probably the sort of person who really believes correct language doesn't matter), consider that Dumcombe has data to back up his premise. He measured the revenue per visitor to the Web site tightsplease.co.uk and found that revenue doubled after a language error was corrected on the site.

“If you project this across the whole of internet retail, then millions of pounds worth of business is probably being lost each week due to simple spelling mistakes,” said Duncombe, who is director of the Just Say Please group.

Spelling, Duncombe told the BBC, is important to the credibility of a Web site. Customers are naturally concerned about fraud and safety, and a company with language errors on its Web site does not inspire trust in consumers that their personal information will be safe.

In other words, if you can't be bothered to spell correctly and make sure all your subjects and verbs agree, how could anyone trust you to keep customer information private and secure?

He has a point. Do do your business a favor and hire an editor, or at least someone with a modicum of grammatical skill in his or her professional arsenal. And proofread, proofread, proofread!

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