The Turner Ink blog contains rants, bloopers, observations and opinions. It also has handy tips on grammar and punctuation such as colons: semicolons; and full stops. As well as some very useful ‘how tos’. Feel free to leave comments. Be nice though.

Turner Ink

Copywriting Services London

A sign of the times? Bloopers from around the UK

10th
Feb
by Sarah Turner

Friend and SEO colleague, Rob Dobson, emailed me this pic this afternoon from the Fulham Road, London. Hmmm…nice shop. Poor sign.

Window of La Maison Coloniale in Fulham

But La Maison is in good (bad?) company. Take a look at these corkers that have been sent to the MSN News site recently. 

Do not climb sign

Do not cling? Do not climb? Or what the heck. Let’s have both.

Help us reduce crime sign

Yeah, help us reduce crime against the English language.

Oxford Dictionary sign

I wonder if there were enough Ofxord Dictionary’s left to be handed out as leaving presents.

Waitress or waitor sign

We hope you’re fluent in English ‘cos we’re not. Although we make awesome stuffed olives.

 Tomato sign

You say tom-ah-to we say to-may-to. Let’s call the whole thing off.

Sue's Snax's sign

My personal fave. Sue’s Snax’s. So wrong. So very wrong.

Ladies powder room sign

I sort of love this sign. I like the fact the loo is referred to as a powder room. And it’s only 5p to have a tiddle. That’s a bargain.

What I especially like is one of the comments left on the MSN News site.

Also, in number 17, the apostrophe is not superfluous, merely in the wrong place as the word “ladies” is a plural, and the toilets are “ladies’ toilets”.

Oh, so it’s merely in the wrong place. That’s ok then.


Tags: apostrophes
Posted in Bloopers, Grammar tips, Punctuation tips | comments icon 1 Comment »

A footballer, a judge, and a bunch of legal stuff

5th
Feb
by Sarah Turner

I have a sneaky regard for Mr Justice Tugendhat. Not least because I once stayed in his villa in France.

The esteemed Tugendaht, you may recall, last week revoked an injunction granted to England football captain, John Terry, blocking newspapers reporting his alleged affair with an England team mate’s Mrs. Waving the flag for free speech, Tugendhat decided it was in the public’s interest to know every vulgar detail about the loathsome Terry’s off pitch dalliances.

And to be honest, the sooner this lying, cheating, despicable oaf is ousted from his position as captain, so much the better. (There, I said it.)

But I do hate how legal types insist on making everything totally incomprehensible.

Take this, as reported in this week’s Private Eye.

“Notice has not been given to any newspaper when it should have been, and, as a result, I have not had the benefit of arguments in opposition to the application, which might have assisted me to be satisfied of the matters of which I am not satisfied.”

Now, when you read this about 15 times you eventually get the gist. But isn’t it about time the legal profession made a concerted effort to stop speaking in ‘legalese’?


Posted in Word stuff | comments icon No comments yet »

Need any stationary?

2nd
Feb
by Sarah Turner

Business Stationary posterI spotted this on the Holloway Road this week.

Well we have just had a recession. So I guess some businesses may be stationary. But I don’t suppose this is what they are talking about.                                               

Come on people. This is a schoolboy error. The easiest way to remember the difference:  stationers (with an E) sell stationery (also with an E).                                


Posted in Bloopers, Grammar tips | comments icon 4 Comments »

Personalised Search: Good or bad for SEOs?

28th
Jan
by Sarah Turner

I was chatting to friend and colleague Matt Hodkinson from YourSeoConsultant this week. And we were talking about Google’s introduction last month of personalised search for ‘everyone’, and whether or not it would have a detrimental effect on search results.

Google personalised search works like this: if there’s a site you frequently visit, Google is more likely to show you this site at the top of the organic listings than some other site; even if another site has better content and better links. So for instance, if I’m looking for hard-to-find books, The Book Depository would rank higher on my search engine results page than Matt’s because I’ve visited their site frequently in the past.

Now, as a customer I’m thinking ‘great!’ Google’s giving me more relevant and accurate listings. Although it could be argued I want Google to find me sites I haven’t visited before – not show me ones I already know.

But from an SEO perspective haven’t things have just got a whole lot trickier? Not only does a site need to be fully optimised and have oodles of links coming in, it’s now competing with a potential customer’s previous shopping habits. And the Search Engine Result’s page will now look different for everyone; The Book Depository site will rank high on my results but not on Matt’s.

There’s been a bit of a hoo-hah about privacy issues as well. Google will now keep a record of a user’s browsing history for up to 180 days; unless of course you opt out. But, let’s be honest, most people won’t bother.

And it’s received a fairly lukewarm reception from SEO types, although Matt doesn’t feel there’s too much to be concerned about.

“Because it is personalised search, and the results will be relevant to the user, there’s much more chance that a user will click through.

The caveat I suppose is that a customer may visit a site a number of times and still not find what they want which is why they keep looking – and of course they’ll keep being shown the same site.”

Matt continues “Google’s not here to make life easy for SEOs. It’s here to give a user the best results and experience possible. And it’s up to good SEOs to make the best of the opportunities that present themselves.”

This will be an interesting one to watch.


Tags: seo company, seo writing
Posted in Website & SEO copywriting | comments icon 3 Comments »

Get Off Your A*** by Brad Burton – A review

26th
Jan
by Sarah Turner

It’s a rare occasion where I finish reading a business book and say ‘brilliant!’ (In fact, I rarely finish reading a business book at all.)

Brad Burton - Get Off Your ArseBut Brad Burton’s Get off Your Arse is unputdownable (yeah, I know it’s a made up word).

The pace of the book is frenetic and not for the faint-hearted. And Brad, who hails from a tough area of Manchester, tells it like it is: yes, being self-employed is scary, difficult and sometimes you want to chuck the towel in. But ultimately, it’s a fantastic ride. You’ve just got to get off your arse and get on with it.

I’ve met Brad. And he’s what you’d describe as a diamond geezer. But don’t let the cheeky chappy northerner act fool you. As Brad himself says ‘I’m not as thick as I look.’ Ain’t that the truth. In just a few short years Brad’s gone from delivering pizzas for extra cash to heading up the UK’s fastest growing business networking group. (4Networking.)

Part coaching, part biography, part humorous, part inspirational, GOYA is packed full of advice, tips, and success stories about business, networking and life. (Without being all you’re-so-awesome-you-totally-rock American.)

If you’re running your own business, or thinking about getting out of the corporate rat race, buy this book. It’s essential reading.


Tags: 4networking, brad burton, get off your arse, GOYA
Posted in Book reviews | comments icon No comments yet »

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