How much does correct spelling and grammar matter when blogging?

Words, grammar, and spelling are the tools of of the trade and should be used correctly. Using them incorrectly is like a carpenter using a sledgehammer to drive in finishing nails. It can be done, but it will leave big marks in the wood and leave the user's hands bruised and battered.

If the blogger does not take the time to edit his piece thoroughly, does he really care? I agree with Mr. Brown if an article is full of basic mistakes, is the blogger credible?

I agree with the consensus that spelling and grammar are hugely important. But let's add some hard data to the discussion as well. A study recently cited by the BBC quantified the cost of typos to online retailers; revenue more than doubled after typos were corrected:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14130854

Jack Malcolm

Our grade school and middle school teachers were right! Spelling and grammar count in all aspects of business, and in life generally.

Mis-spell and/or compose poorly in a blog or post and the party could well be over ... especially when trying to engage with executives.

You may recall the guy who posted a Focus answer a couple weeks ago and wrote that he would be "consultanting" (sic) about the topic later in the day. So much for credibility ... wonder how much business that cost him.

The Sad Story of John and Gloria

Poor John and Gloria are destined never to get together! After years of cultivating their from-a-distance, romantic relationship, it all came to an end due to the "love letter" that Gloria sent to John using email. Like so many people these days, in her haste, Gloria tossed aside rules of grammar, capitalization and use of punctuation when she sent John an email conveying (what she thought was) the following message:

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is all about.

You are generous, kind, thoughtful.

People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior.

You have ruined me for other men.

I yearn for you.

I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart.

I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours?

Gloria

Unfortunately, here is the way John perceived that email message:

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is.

All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you.

Admit to being useless and inferior.

You have ruined me.

For other men, I yearn.

For you, I have no feelings whatsoever.

When we're apart, I can be forever happy.

Will you let me be?

Yours,

Gloria

In my mind, spelling mistakes in blogs and tweets (and Focus posts) are less critical as they tend to be 'stream-of-consciousness' writings and are proofread by the person who wrote them. We all tend to see what we want to see and not necessarily what is there.

Web pages, literature, newsletters, etc., are different and errors here are an indication of carelessness and/or incompetency. Whenever I come across these types of spelling errors I think, if they can't get this right, what kind of quality control do they have on their product?

As both Michaels have pointed out, spelling errors = lack of credibility. I agree.

Where do we draw the line? website, email, blogging, tweeting, texting. I am particularly close to this subject because I struggle with spelling and grammar (my gifts are elsewhere). As a result I must have things reviewed which cost me time and money.

There is always this site: http://www.grammarcheck.net

Depends on how seriously you want to be taken when blogging. One thing I would add beyond spelling and grammar is that your points are backed up. If you just throw your opinion out on a lot of subjects, you will have more difficulty in being taken seriously. If you write about things you know about, and back it with references and such, people will take you seriously.

Not only is language evolving, education is too. I taught from 1997-2005 in two of the largest for-profit universities. As Chair of a graduate school department, I tried to establish a standardized written work grading rubric for our faculty that included grammar weighted for 20% of the paper's grade. During that time, students repeatedly brought their papers to me from other classes to "prove" I was the only one holding them to such meaningless criteria. To my horror, most papers were given a grade at the top or bottom, with not a single mark/correction on them. When I asked some of the faculty how this could be, they replied they didn't have the time or get paid enough to correct grammar and punctuation. Sad, but reality, I fear.

I agree with the majority that spelling and grammar are important in blogging, let alone in other forms of writing and communication. These greatly reflect one's knowledge and credibility. On the contrary, it is difficult to always put a standard to one's correct use of spelling and grammar especially given a circumstance such as being in an international environment. I have experienced many mistakes, committed by both Western and non-Western individuals, simply because these people had no knowledge of the correct use of the word or phrase (that, or simply because it was an honest mistake). So, being correct with the use of spelling and grammar should not be coupled with one's egoistic trip of making fun with others who make similar mistakes.

There are also blog sites that address more casual issues, which leads me to say that incorrect spelling and grammar in these venues are more forgivable. One may even use colloquial language in these venues, which, at times, neglect correct spelling and grammar to put across one's views.Essentially, spelling and grammar are dependent on the type of dialogue one is involved in.

Personally, correct spelling and grammar should be practiced no matter what the circumstance to avoid any misinterpretations or potential conflict.

every1s' A kritick,

It's old school, for sure, but I attach no credibility to anyone (or any organization) that allows writing to convey the appearance of illiteracy - even in tweets and blogs.

Good writing, either formal or informal, reflects good thinking. Not so good writing, even merely cosmetically not so good, presents the very real possibility of terrible thinking.

That said, "purism" can be overdone by those really old-school types who think that English must conform to the structures of Latin. And, yes, we should cut a little slack for the occasional awkward phrase from a non-native speaker.

Like Steve, I'm spelling and grammatically challenged and I cringe at some of the emails I've sent out. Even though I read them three times, I still see what I think I wrote and not what is there.

My newsletter articles, ebooks, blog posts, important emails, etc., are all proofread by my partner before I send them anywhere.

I don't want people to know how stupid I really am! :)

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. If you are blogging, you are instantly evaluated by what you write, perhaps more than by what you say in your writing.

Not much to add here - we all agree that spelling and grammar MATTER. Basically, for anyone from the pre-Internet generation, you're preaching to the converted. I'm more interested in hearing from Millennials on this topic. They tend to be the guilty party here, and I'm not really sure why this is or if they even care. Any takers?

The discussion doesn't really have anything to do with the evolution of language (or the evolution of the "rules" of grammar). It has everything to do with sloppiness, inaccuracy, appearance, attitude, and quality of thought.

OMG, IMHO, LOL, BTW, FOTFL and all such as that have legitimate places in appropriate venues for acceptable quality of written communications. "Loose" for lose, "atypical" for typical, "irregardless" for regardless, "there" for their, and "Cincinatti" for Cincinnati are all taken to be positive indicators for the terminal disease of ignorance.

Further, this is not - my opinion - a generational thing. In my experience, Millenials recognize appropriate expression when they encounter it, whether or not they are capable of responding in kind. And, my generation (Generation "C" - Codgers) is infested with people who can't even speak literately, let alone write clearly and "correctly."

To be fair, though, this is a slippery slope. As one of Lady Gaga's Little Monsters who was born this way, I've leading the charge for a more flexible formal grammar, with the inclusion of new words and contemporary usages, for some years. These shifts are somewhat usage-driven (which can be a little dangerous), but have real roots in the Celtic structure of the language, which is much different from the structures of both the Romance languages and the Teutonic tongues from which we have taken so much vocabulary (without adopting the structures).

All that aside, though, there's still no excuse for the lack of attention to detail in communications that gives the appearance of stupidity.

It's important to realize that when we use language to express our ideas, we are, in effect introducing ourselves to the reader or listener. First impressions matter. Poor grammar and spelling, word choices that are the obvious result of using a thesaurus: these mistakes are the linguistic equivalents of uncombed hair, dirty fingernails, and bad breath. It may not be fair, but it's the truth.

In addition to owning and operating a company here in town, I write for two different blogs (one personal and one business).

On the personal one (but especially on the business one) I feel that spelling, grammar, and proper sentence structure are extremely important.

Really, in any sort of communication you should strive for the best you can in those areas. Even in a text message to a friend or business contact.

Unless U wnt 2 look like U R 13yrs old and failed your elementary & middle school spelling/grammar classes.

Just had to post this in answer to your questions. Maybe we are focusing on the wrong thing. (From a person who flunked both English and Spelling.)

Only great minds can read this

This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too.

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht20I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

I strongly agree with one of the least liked comments...they even have negative likes. Why? Because I agree with their point that spelling and grammar are mistaken for communication. "Quality of thought" is not the same as great grammar and no misspellings. I see this exact tendency in discussions on data quality...to place more value on mechanics, techniques and methods (is that redundant?) than on the more subjective views like "wow, this is amazing thinking" when someone "communicates" a brilliant thought....regardless of misspelling and grammar. I guess that is why publishers have editors and software have spell checking...so the writer can focus on "quality of thought" and not the spelling and grammar. Surely this comment is low quality to many because my grammar surely sucks. Now if this comment box only had a "thought check."

From a marketing perspective, it's the perception of you and/or your company that is the issue. And perception depends on your particular audience.

It's true that poor spelling and grammar create a perception of an individual with poor attention to detail, or a company that perhaps isn't as accurate or careful as they say they are. If your website says your product or service is highly accurate, typos and grammar problems will contradict those claims.

It's also true that the "3 C's" determine how critical this perception is for your company:

1. The more Costly your product or service . . .
2. The more Competitive your industry . . .
3. The closer to a C-level title your buyer is . .

the more critical your perception.

Some here have claimed that typos and grammar don't matter, and one company claimed they intentionally included a typo. But the key thought isn't, "well, people can figure out what I'm saying," but rather "how easy is my writing to read for my target audience." In fact, typos and grammar problems tend to slow readers down. Typos, in particular, tend to cause a break in Comprehension -- and that's the key. I might be able to struggle through your writing, but I might not comprehend what I read. So the message isn't effectively communicated.

To add to this discussion is the issue of reading level. USA Today, the nation's most popular consumer newspaper of its day, was written at a 7th grade reading level. The Wall Street Journal, the nation's business newspaper, writes their front page at a 15-year-old level (to draw in readers), but writes the rest of the paper at a 17-year-old level.
The lesson? Simpler writing is better because it's easier to get through and draws in your audience. But anything that makes it harder to read -- including typos that stop the reader and reduce comprehension -- typically will greatly reduce your audience, as well as comprehension of your readers.

As for the millennials, they merely need to focus on better writing. I tell the undergrads in my Internet Marketing classes that they MUST read their papers word for word AFTER running spell- and grammar-check. I emphasize they just need to take the time to CAREFULLY re-read. When I don't remind them of this, I get papers that, in fact, contain too many typos and grammar problems for me to realistically correct. But when reminded, I am impressed with the quality of writing the millennial generation can produce. Now, if only they keep being pushed to produce their best work on a daily basis . . .

Correct spelling and grammar makes reading easier to understand. For instance, if you cannot spell then you cannot look up a word in the dictionary to find out the meaning when you do not know the meaning of the word.
A blog is mainly writing about different topics so it will be more enjoyable if it is written with correct spelling of words and proper grammar to better understand what the writer is writing about. Plus you get more traffic if the writing is well done and the message is understood.

Spelling, grammar and attention to detail are very important. If you can’t be bothered to check spelling and ensure everything makes grammatical sense then why should anyone believe what you say, it affects your credibility.

But more importantly, what about pride in all you do!

I will say that I agree with the previous posts.

However, I have a client who worked with a national advertising company. This company produced newsletters for this particular industry and the newsletter always had a least one misspelled word in it. I had caught the misspelling and brought it to my client's attention and they said it is intentional. Supposedly, it makes the reader pay more attention after they caught the mistake and it also makes the reader feel like the are better than the person who wrote/distributed the newsletter, which is a sales tactic...to make the other person to feel like they are better.

This is an interesting thread and I found myself totally leaning towards the "good grammar and correct spelling equals enhanced - or at least not diminished - credibility" camp. Kim's post was shocking to me. The thought that grammar and spelling would be intentionally compromised to make an unwitting audience feel better about themselves is both devious and disappointing. What does that say about the target audience as a whole? I believe it but I do not like it! In my view, presenting ourselves in the best possible light as professionally as we can is important. On the other hand, Brian's post caused me to think about people who are not native English speakers and often have spelling or grammar issues in their posts. Does that make their comments any less valid? Probably not. I suppose the underlying point is that our words speak for us - whatever it is that we may wish to say directly or indirectly - and that we should use care before submitting "stream of consciousness" and hastily posted thoughts.

I agree. Everyone makes a mistake now and then, but proper grammar and spelling are highly important and indicate professionalism and intelligence. I am concerned that social network communication with short twitter and text messages will make proper grammar and spelling a thing of the past.

It's good to see fine grammar is back in style. Centuries ago, writing was the most efficient and powerful means of communication. Then came the telephone. While grammar did not directly suffer, it's importance was diminished. Years later we saw the rise of instant messaging, the number one culprit in the crime against our fair language. There was a speed of communication bubble that was so appealing to the busy professional and lazy teen. It was, however, but a portion of how we communicated.

I believe that bubble has burst. We now rely heavily on information we find on-line and we use it to make decisions that effect large scale decision making. Your professional brand is tied heavily to your ability to use and leverage your grammar skills.

We've been told never to put anything in writing you do not want on the front page of the newspaper. If it does end up there, make sure you at least can be proud of your grammar!

Here's hoping this post was absent grammatical shortcomings!

From the response thread, it's clear that for any business communication, grammar and spelling matter. I emphatically agree. In fact, I won't read past the first paragraph of an online post or other communication if it's riddled with 'it's' in place of 'its', 'their' in place of 'their,' 'loose,' instead of 'lose,' along with thousands of other mistakes that by themselves aren't major, but when they're consolidated in a small space, make the writer seem downright stupid.

A related blog I wrote might be of interest: "Before Salespeople to Blog, We Must First Help Them to Write," http://www.customerthink.com/blog/before_salespeople_blog_we_must_first_help_...

In response to Jon Arnold's question, the post-Internet, social media infused, generation seems to have abandoned any interest in spelling and/or grammar and have generated a language of their own based, apparently, on phonics and acronyms.

This process was aided and abetted by them being bombarded from birth with marketing messages and signs with misspelled words such as Quik-print and Nu-vue. When their adult world doesn't seem to care about spelling, why should they?

And let's not go to the world of social media, Tweeter texting shortforms that require a dictionary to decipher the code.

It's a different world out there today.

How much do your values mean to you? If you are a professional and earn your living through effective communication, then to present messages that are misspelled or grammatically incorrect in my opinion reflects a gap between your behaviors and your beliefs (values).

Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Author of Be the Red Jacket

If it's worth doing in the first place, then it is worth doing right!

IMO, the answer depends on who the audience is. Younger folks pay less attention to spelling and grammar. They have been raised on texting and abbreviated words and use them all the time. In fact, some feel more comfortable using texting lingo than proper English. So on many social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, you will see many mistakes, which certainly has not deterred use of these tools.

Middle aged and up individuals place much more of an emphasis on proper spelling and grammar. In the Old School days, such mistakes were taken seriously and illustrated a shortcoming from the writer. So you don’t want to use IMO in a cover letter.

Lost in the debate is the reality that language is dynamic and ever evolving. We do not talk like Shakespeare any more even though he wrote in English. We constantly add new words to the vernacular. If you check the latest dictionary, words like LOL and OMG, are now included and technically considered proper English – although there are many individuals who still consider them slang. Every time a new edition comes out, new words are included; however, some do not stand the test of time: Have you heard anyone use the term “groovy” lately?

In sum, the dividing lines are more arbitrary and evolving than some might think. The taciturn English teachers who drove home points by “You never this or that” did not have a strong a grip on the language’s evolution as it may have seemed when you were sitting at your desk in middle school.

I agree with Paul's argument that language changes. (I only use "groovy" if I want to see my kids roll their eyes.) ... With each edition, changes are made to the AP Stylebook and The Chicago Manual of Style.

All said ... When I write for public consumption, I'm careful to write professionally (whatever that means for the time period). The only exception is when doing live blogging. With live blogging, it's more important to get it out there than to proof for editorial correctness.

I believe that blogs are in a way representing your company or company website, hence you should be paying attention to the grammatical errors. I mean, if the blog has any mistakes then you are automatically giving the impression that the company is not worth your attention. I am very particular about grammatical errors as the blogs or websites are representing a certain standard of the company so one should be very careful about mistakes. I may sound old school here, but what is the point in going to school for all these years and still making mistakes.

Yes, it is important, if for no other reason than most anything you type is out there forever. While I see the easy out saying that this is a generational problem, I must disagree. I worked at IBM for 12 years. In that time, I received hundreds of communications from presumably educated folks, all of which could have been written by a 12 year old.

Come on, people - spellcheck is everywhere. Not much excuse for misspelling in nearly any context.

As in all communication, it depends on your audience and just how bad your grammar and spelling is. Talking with a less educated group, to foreigners, tweeting to your friends, the loss may be less. But by always putting out your best, you can't go wrong. As long as your best is good enough.

In developing adult training material, I like them to keep it at a 12th grade level to better insure no one gets lost. Which also results in slightly less grammar errors. I think one could increase one’s credibility by nit picking others, but lose some of the friendship or business, which is more important most of the time. Remember we are a global community now. People in the UK spell some words differently than the USA, but that doesn’t make it spelled wrong. Also should we push someone away who might have a million dollar idea, or great wisdom, just because they didn’t master grammar? (That is a rhetorical question. :)

(God I hope there are not too many errors in this post. How embarrassing. Ha ha)

Apologies for spelling Millennials incorrectly.

To me and people around me, it matters very much, form is the clothing of your ideas and messages, would you get out to the world in dirty clothes?

I do not normally read blogs - for different reasons. But it does not matter whether the author looks at his blog as an opportunity to do stream-of-consciousness writing or is presenting his thoughts in a more formal manner: If he considers his thoughts to be worthy of sharing and wants them to be taken seriously he ought to pay attention to grammar, spelling and punctuation. As for deliberately dumbing down one's writing because the writer does not want to insult his (supposedly) less-literate audience, that's just a bad idea: That implies that it is wrong to keep to a higher standard and ignores the opportunity to raise the level of the quality of communication. As you can probably tell, I'm from the Old School, and I continue to show my appreciation - even 45 years later - to my teachers at Boston Latin School by writing and speaking correctly. It has benefited me in many aspects of life, not just business.

Correct spelling and grammar always matter - in all communications.

In general, I believe we have to accept the fact that we are humans and do make mistakes, so a grammatical issue, one that is, may really not be that big of a deal. What I look for is a pattern of grammatical/spelling issues, or let's say it happened once, then I take into consideration the severity of the error and the impact the error has caused. Otherwise, I accept the fact that clerical error mistakes happen. Look at each one individually and decide is this clerical error worth me completely disregarding this person's credibility. maybe... or maybe not. Look at the patterns and severity of an isolated incident.

Grammar and spelling standards should never be lowered just because someone is publishing online. With that said, you can communicate in an easy manner that still gets the point across via your vocabulary and writing style.

Know your audience and remember what you post online is there for the world to see. You may never know what those careless mistakes may cost later on (possible job offer, business opportunity, etc). Save those spelling grammar errors for when you are texting (People are more accepting when it's SMS errors).

Spelling and Grammar have a strong impact on Blogging - because it is the way you communicate that determines the level of trust your audience has regarding your thoughts. You care about spelling; and the audience believes you care about the subject. You know ... Perception is Reality!

In my opinion, correct spelling and grammar send a statement about the quality of your work, your attention to detail and the overall pride you take in doing things right.

The problem is that "correct spelling and grammar" are somewhat in the eye of the beholder. I'm an ex-pat Brit living in the US. Growing up, I always received top marks for spelling and grammar exams in school.

However, I just completed the manuscript for my first published book, and the copy editor tore it to pieces! The biggest issues are punctuation differences - these are much more subtle, since most people recognise common spelling variations. I even had one reviewer comment on my punctuation (before the copy editor got to it).

Since our blogs are intended for an international audience, how do you satisfy all possible visitors?

It matters a great deal Unfortunately, we are losing the rules of "proper writing, grammar and English"-- right before our eyes. We live in an age of acronyms... and abbreviations.

We hear things like our CEO and CFO are soliciting RFP's for CRM systems ASAP to help our ROI. Not only does this make a statement hard to follow but in most cases there are grammatical errors, typos in such statements as well.

When I am teaching college students (many working adults) they tell me that "the reason" they have typos and grammar errors on their papers is that spell/grammar check "did not catch it and it is supposed to".

So, yes in all aspects of life, including blogs, this is an area of concern. My blog www.ryansauersblog.com is one where I try very hard, with every post, to adhere to the rules of good grammar and spelling... no matter who the audience might be. Great question! Ryan

Here's a wonderful website that provides a guide to grammar and writing. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

Grammar and writing do matter, yet we are all human. If I'm reading a blog and the content is informative and educational, then a misspelled word will not cause me grief.

Grammar is not my strength. When I proofread what I just wrote, I often misread my own mistakes.

Thank You! to the interent and the way it has evolved through email, chat, SNS. People have moved away from the idea of hand written letters or mails. I have always believed when you "pen your thought" you weave grammatically correct sentences.

Yes! the reason for direct online input is, it saves time and chances of smugging up the paper with corrections. However, we should ensure we practise writing complete words and avoid short-formats e.g. lol, tk cre, regds, etc. which defeats the beauty of the English Langauge.

Now, coming on the point of writing grammatically correct English, yes it is important for any format of formal communication whether a business letter or blogs. You need not advocate or write Shakesperean English, but you should write grammatically correct sentence. It's just that the content increases the excitement and makes reading an enjoyable experience.

I too tend to make mistakes in my sentences. However, after reviews I make necessary alteration and stand corrected. For formal communication, its better to keep few templates handy. At times, you loose sight of correct sentences and make silly mistakes.

Thank You!

It will be a good idea to have the spelling and grammar checked while blogging which goes a long way in attracting and retaining readers.

Blogs which do not follow these have fewer takers !

I agree with those who beieve that spelling and grammar are important in written communications of any kind, but I think my reasoning may differ from that expressed in most of the responses I've seen so far.

The purpose of most networks is to exchange information, knowledge, ideas, and inspiration. In my view, trust is the critical lubricant of this exchange, enabling its effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. I've come to believe that taking the time to check the spelling and grammar in my messages, is an investment in network trust-building.

Well,

If the same blogger who has spelling and grammar mistakes on his blog applies for an executive position at your company, and his cover letter and resume have spelling/grammar mistakes, what would you do?

Hmmmm.....

I do a fair amount of writing. Many of my errors are due to keyboarding (my new verb). When using some devices, I often get the characters juxtasupposed, or even worse, a wrong letter or ommission.

My second point is that my mind ofen races ahead of my typing. I find that on the first pass of my writing, I frequently omit a word. And on the reread, I notice the omission.

My third point is that it took training to learn good grammar, and it took training to learn to prune the text from non-essential phrases.

I would prefer to spell words the International way, as is done in countries other than the USA. Thus, I spell color without the 'u'. Where you live has an influence on your spelling and use of expressions.

Regards

Leslie Satenstein

I believe too many "writters" are worried about their credibility--falsely thinking that perfect spelling and grammar will somehow make them *more* credible voices. I'm of a strong opinion that "content" is far more important than spelling words correctly and using ultra-proper grammar. Nonetheless, stumbling across mispelled words and awkward grammar can be frustrating to a reader like myself; this creates friction and may distract the readers' mind. So, my recommendation is to respect your readers' time by asking a friend (or colleague) with a colege reading level (or type-A personality) look over your work--especially if it is a longer piece. Also, most computers have a voice narator built into the operating system (see accessibility options of your pc); have the computer read the document back to you. Personally, I will print the peace or send it to my phone (where the formatting is different then the screen) where I find 90% of my mistakes. I hope this helps. [I've intentionally placed at least six mistakes in this post...can you spot them?]

Being "old-school", grammar and spelling mean a lot to me. Failure to use them correctly almost alway indicates carelessness or lower intelligence and leads to reduced credibility.

Coming at this from another direction, which might offend anyone who thinks the universe ends slightly past Long Island, we shouldn't forget that the de facto lingua franca of international business is English - predominantly, but not exclusively, American English.

There are a number of reasons for this, not least that English is a near-universal second language around the globe. That said, clear communications in a globalized economy, and in global supply chains, demand the use of slang-and-idiom-free English.

Importantly, credibility in the international arena is vital, and error-riddled writing by a native-speaker can only diminish the writer in the eyes of colleagues, customers, and collaborators from other lands (even if their English might not be perfect).

Further, native-speakers gain respect when they gracefully accommodate slight errors on the part of others. Frankly, these are lessons usually learned (or learnt) the hard way, as I discovered during my six years as Chair of an international consortium.

Yes, it matters. Just like the way that you dress influences people's instant but lasting impression of you, the way that you spell or construct sentences fundamentally gives people an impression, whether favorable or not, that I think sticks with them.

There may be instances or occasions where it's less significant -- for instance, if the content is SO compelling, and there may be times when less attention or focus is placed on grammar or spelling for a strategic purpose.

However, I'd say that it's safe to say that generally speaking, stick to the safe road and double check it. People do judge and dismiss content based on the words that are used to express it and how that language appears. If it's found lacking, people assume the content must also be inferior.

Sorry, I think this is a stupid question.
Correct spelling and grammar are always important.
There are neither reasons nor excuses for anything less.

Not much.

Too much emphasis on grammar and spelling.

Einstein's theory would still be as powerful with few typos and awkward sentences. Michelangelo's Pietà, would still stir souls of art lovers for centuries even if it is chipped a bit. Citadel of Athens would still reverberate in the hearts of those who love Beauty. And Swiss cheese would still exude its native smell with so much of it missing.

If a mute can communicate and live a productive life, so can someone who is a bad speller and grammatical philistine.