“If you thought that was bad, come and see this one”, Sarah called from the kitchen, as she coaxed the last drop of macchiato from her cup. “The English on the website is just comical. ‘Come and feel the call of nature’ ha ha ha! Do they put laxatives in the water, then? I think we can bin that!”
“Weird, because it looks like a really nice hotel from the pictures.” Mike raised an eyebrow and frowned with the other. “Spa, gym, interesting menu. But written like that, you can’t take it seriously.”
“Exactly. I don’t want to have to struggle to make myself understood.”
“How about this one, though? Great setting, lovely rooms, and the website actually makes sense.”
“Let’s have a look. … Oh, that’s more like it. I think we’ll feel at home there. That’s the one!”
“Cool. I’ll book now.”
Careless copy costs you guests
That’s the moral of this little story.
There are people out there who you want to come and stay with you, and the only way you can reach them is through your online presence. Your website can show them what great facilities and what a beautiful location you have, but it also tells them a lot about your standards. About how much you care. So if your site’s impeccable design and amazing pictures are let down by your foreign-language words, then – without realising it – you reveal more than you intended. That you didn’t care enough.
And that could be all it takes to drive your discerning potential guests away into the arms of your competitors.
Complete your image of excellence with inviting, inspiring, incisive English copy for your website. It’s easy. All you need is the right professional to do it for you.