Bad style and grammar reflects badly on you – The importance of native speaking writers
If there’s one thing that will scupper your attempts to create engaging copy, it’s bad use of style and grammar. It might seem like a minor thing to some, but to UK businesses, a good grasp of the English language is an absolute must.
“Oh no, it’s the grammar police!”
Some people may use the phrase above when a bad piece of grammar is pointed out to them, but everyone would agree that badly written text reflects poorly on the business it is written by. To get a good reputation in your chosen field, you must portray an image of authority on the subject matter that is being written about. This perceived authority is tarnished somewhat when otherwise knowledgeable and informative content is either littered with spelling/grammatical errors or simply written badly.
Native speakers
The subtle nuances displayed in the work of a good native speaking content writer will shine through. Simple things like sentence structure and colloquial vernacular will set apart this text from that written either by a non-native speaker or processed by one of many forms of “content spinning” software applications available online.
That’s not to say that there aren’t good non-native speaking writers out there, but little differences like personal knowledge of how everyday people who live in the UK speak will be evident to a native English reader.
Don’t use a “spinner”
There are 101 content spinning software applications out there and in our experience, we haven’t found one that cuts the mustard (Ed: a good example of colloquial phrasing that someone based outside the UK would not necessarily know). Finding alternative verbs and adjectives to spin someone else’s content to your own, is not an exact science. What tends to come out the other side of the process is close to gibberish. Not forgetting also, that it is also plagiarism (a good tool to use to check for duplicate content versus unique copy is www.copyscape.com).
“Native Speaking writers cost more”
This may be technically true, but the copy produced when you employ a native speaker tends to be much more engaging and much more likely to pique the interest of the reader.
When you consider that on average, you can get a good 300-500 word, keyword rich blog post or page of website content written for between £20-£50, you soon realise that it’s not that much more expensive than foreign outsourcing. Also, the initial cost is only one aspect of value for money. Good content gets your social media strategy moving and the “buzz” created drives customers to your site, which in turn leads to conversions and profit. Badly written content doesn’t provide this but does still cost money to outsource.
Conclusion
You need your audience to trust in what you say. In a recent survey run by Leeds based firm, Search Laboratory, over 95% said that good, well-written content is both essential in business and also indicative of a company that provides quality services. Just 2% felt it didn’t matter.
So, in a nutshell, it all boils down to what you want to achieve.
Q: Do you want engaging, authoritative content that grabs the attention of your target audience?
If your answer to this question is “yes”, then using a native speaking content writer is a must. It may cost a little more, but your return on investment and interaction with your clientele is likely to be much, much higher as a result.
You don’t take our word for it either. Another survey conducted in 2014 by UK company Global Lingo, showed that 74% of potential clients consider good grammar essential in business and 59% wouldn’t even bother contacting a company that would allow such obvious oversights.
With current UK internet sales at a staggering £527m every week (according to the Office for National Statistics), can you afford to be one of those being ignored by your audience?
If you’re looking to outsource your writing, see our content writing services.