Words are the poor relation online and this state of affairs doesn't look like getting better any time soon. Run out and start hiring some great online writers. Oops, hang on. I'm not saying that there are no great writers working on commercial sites, but there are very few. And the reason is simple.
Nobody invests in writers.
They're not paid enough or respected enough. If we don't reward writers at the same level at which we reward designers and programmers, we won't attract new and young talent. And we'll keep on looking and sounding the same - through the miracle of modern technology. Of course, all this is great news for the 0.001 percent of sites that really do take writing seriously. Because their customers will feel a great deal more loyal to a sincere voice they can trust than to a cold technology that they can't.