10 Common Blog Writing Mistakes and How To Fix Them
Have you read Shoemoney’s blog? His writing is full of mistakes: typos, grammatical errors, spelling mistakes. Yet he is unrepentant: he reckons the errors just earn him more readers.
Really, Shoemoney?
But he is probably right, in that a lot of people will visit his site to learn how to earn that elusive Google AdSense $133,000 paycheck. I know I do. So I grit my teeth over his fancy-free attitude to the English language and just read for the tips.
Stop: Grammar Time
But there are bloggers who write that they really want to improve their writing and grammar, whether they’re native English speakers or not, and so below are a few common mistakes and tips.
This is my former English Teacher schoolmarmish persona coming out for a bit. Hope the tips help someone, no one in particular. I know other bloggers have covered this topic. Don’t care. It bears repeating.
1. It’s and Its (there is no its’)
It’s = a contraction of it is, or occasionally it has.
Its = a possession of ‘it’. It is a thing, like a sofa or a car. This trips many people up because you say ‘the car’s wheel’ but ‘its wheel’. It is a mean grammar rule. At school I was taught to imagine that an ‘it’ doesn’t deserve an apostrophe.
2. Their and They’re and There
Their = a possession that belongs to them. Their house is on fire.
They’re = a contraction of they are. They’re pretty cool people.
There = where something is. The keys are over there.
3. Weather and whether
Weather = sunny, cloudy, foggy.
Whether = like if. I don’t know whether he loves me or not.
4. Your and You’re
Your = a possession you have. Your blog.
You’re = contraction of you are. You’re awesome.
5. Literally
This isn’t just in writing. I hear it on the news all the time. Literally means it actually happened, it’s not just for emphasis. So ‘I am literally sitting on a fortune’ or ‘I literally lost my head’ are not correct. Well, unlikely anyway. If unsure, leave it out.
6. Increase
I see ‘Increse your traffic’ everywhere. It’s increase.
7. Fewer and Less
Fewer = generally used for individual items you can count. My blog has fewer visitors than John Chow’s.
Less = used for more generic words that you can’t count. My blog has less traffic than John Chow’s.
Ask yourself: does the noun have a plural? If not, use less.
8. Good and Well
Good = good is an adjective which is used to describe a noun. He wrote a good post about spam. (Good describes the post.)
Well = well is an adverb which is used to describe a verb. He writes well. (Well describes the writing.)
9. Should Have, Would Have, Could Have (Would’ve, Should’ve, Could’ve)
Not should of, would of, or could of.
10. Lose vs Loose
Lose = the opposite of win.
Loose = the opposite of tight.
Bonus 11. Share, Shear, Sheer
Share = When you give some of what you have to another person. To share advice.
Shear = What you do to a sheep when it’s too woolly.
Sheer = Thin or unqualified. Sheer stockings. Sheer nonsense.
Cher = A pop diva.
We all make mistakes, but how do you feel about frequent grammar and spelling mistakes on blogs? Does it influence whether you continue reading? Does the writer’s attitude to it count?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted
on
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
under
Nice list. You proved Shoemoney right though, linking to him in the first paragraph :).
June 12th, 2007 at 2:01 pmWell, I do like the guy. I’m just super-pedantic about spelling.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:09 pmWhat Shoemoney means by stating that they typos will make him more money is that spelling and typos are easy keyword, since most webmasters are super-pedantic
a misspelled version of a popular money keyword is easy to rank for. Therefore, if a webmaster is okay with the occasional typo, and they already have a high ranking site, they typos will bring in more visitors…and therefore…more money. Since so many people can’t spell or are careless typists, these people are an underserved niche.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:50 pmMan, I should have proof-read that comment; feel free to correct it!
June 12th, 2007 at 2:51 pmThat’s the danger with these ‘grammar’ posts, there’s always the likelihood of an ironic typo in the post itself or in the comments. Since you’ve already noticed it, and it adds to the topic at hand, I don’t feel the need to change it, but if it really bothers you let me know and I will!
June 12th, 2007 at 3:23 pmNo problem on my end, I’m with Shoemoney on this one… I just didn’t want you getting all super-pedantic on me
June 12th, 2007 at 4:02 pmI still have scars from Grade school.
Funny, Minx I just saw your post now exactly 2 minutes after I read another typo on Shoemoney.com
June 12th, 2007 at 11:53 pmI often make mistakes, but I’m more than happy for someone to point them out. If an article is good quality and interesting then it won’t put people off with the occaisional grammar mistake, but it does make reading an awful lot easier when the grammar is correct.
June 13th, 2007 at 1:56 amYou’d be surprised at how many writing mistakes I have to correct from the writers at my newspaper. One wouldn’t know a comma if it hit him in the face, another submits beautifully written prose with 5 trillion misspellings. I think the conclusion is, writing is hard.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:37 amI guess the question is whether you can do well in the search rankings for weather. Whether wether is more commonly used in searches than whether and whether people worry about spelling when serching.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:38 amThe english language is full of contradictions that most of us will never understand. I guess it will all depend on how important your expected visitors are likely to consider grammar and spelling mistakes.
If your site is about English Language then it will be important but shomoney’s site demonstrates that for most of us content is king.
Did I get my apostrophe right there? :o)
Thanks for the comments guys.
Jon: I guess a strategic use of typos as keywords can be smart but I’m not convinced that’s Shoemoney’s plan since he has typos in so many words. Is ‘teh’ a common search term?
Steve and Site Web Site: I agree that strong content can outweigh the significance of grammar/typos. But I still find it hard to overlook.
Angela: Writing can definitely be hard but I also think it’s about education. I don’t know about here in the US but where I grew up there wasn’t much input at school in terms of grammar beyond learning that a verb is a ‘doing word’.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:10 amIf you’re emo, “teh” is a valid search term
June 13th, 2007 at 12:07 pmPah, emos = recycled goths.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:32 pmI so agree! “Number” vs “amount” is another one.
June 13th, 2007 at 9:40 pmI do find it distracting to read sites with lots of errors, though I can get beyond it if the underlying content is good… and when I’m emailing friends, I get so careless that I’m sometimes shocked at the errors I make myself!
I got so carried away with they typos that I forgot to give you my favorite #11. Advice not advices.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:00 amI even saw a site that had something like MakeMoneyAdvices.com as its domain name.
Correction. Emos = goths lite.
June 14th, 2007 at 5:59 pmMy pet peeve: Than vs. Then. I crinch wverytime I see people misuse them.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:52 pmThe typo that stands out most for me is typing “you” when the writer meant to type “your”. I do it myself a lot.
June 22nd, 2007 at 6:24 am“separated” vs. “seperated”
June 28th, 2007 at 12:28 pmTalk about misleading titles. You should really call this 10 grammar mistakes. Not 10 blogging mistakes.
August 19th, 2007 at 5:37 pm