I’m a strong believer that publications shouldn’t let their standards slip online, despite tighter budgets, which means quality content that’s well edited and factually accurate – and well copy-edited.

It seems readers agree with me, as a recent survey of 175 readers as reported in the Blog Herald shows: “More than 42% said that they had ‘often’ or ‘very often’ left a website upon noticing spelling, grammar or factual errors” and “87.8% of respondents said they find spelling or grammar errors distracting when reading online content,” say the writers.

This is especially important for magazine (and other traditional media) websites, as readers see us as authoritative and are accustomed to reading quality copy from our print products. Poor copy online makes our websites look second-rate.

I know I judge based on spelling and grammar – I’m ready to take a marker to some of the ads on the subway (can we make everyday vs. every day a requirement of elementary school graduation, please?) – but what do you think? Does the average reader care?