Getting your words right is imperative for Search Engine Optimization – but how does Google or Bing (other search engines are available) rank spelling and grammar for SEO?
There’s a phrase out there that defines a particular sub-breed of human; those who take it upon themselves to correct grammatical errors in other people’s digital posts. They are known as Grammar Nazis – and everyone hates them. Even Grammar Nazis hate Grammar Nazis.
Religiously highlighting content errors comes across as snarky, smug, pompous, and self-absorbed. Is there really a need for it?
Does Karen really need to inform the discussion of a spelling error or grammatical mistake?
Does Karen really need to sling insults around just because you missed an apostrophe?
Does Karen have nothing better to do?
Well, Karen the Grammar Nazi does have a point. Especially if you are posting something on behalf of your business.
Karen probably isn’t pointing out your error to help you, as keyboard warriors are largely out to appease only themselves, but you can learn from her insular pettiness before lovingly dispatching a glitter bomb off via recorded delivery.
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If you are heading out into the world of social media and digital posting, it is generally good practice to proofread the material before it becomes publicly displayed.
Unless mistakes are acknowledged, grammatical and spelling errors will continue to appear. So, perhaps Karen does have a place in society.
While getting the intricacies of English (or American English for you ungrateful colonists) correct may seem a tad square and unnecessary, delving beneath the initial surface of ignorant-thought proves the importance of spelling and grammar.
For instance, if you post something that’s unintelligible or riddled with errors (that make the end result difficult to read), how does that reflect your business? Bad copy looks spammy, desperate, and unprofessional.
If your potential customer can’t understand you, they probably won’t become a lead. How can you build trust as a professional (especially in healthcare) when unable to communicate properly? The answer is, nine times out of ten, that you can’t.
As an example, take a gander at these Twitter hashtag fails. A bit of proofreading could have prevented a whirlwind of unadulterated mayhem and bad press for the business in question.
#whoremembers (Who Remembers)
#therapistfinder (Therapist Finder)
#susanalbumparty (Susan Boyle’s infamous Album Party)
We won’t even go into the disaster Big Bus Tycoons avoided.
There is no excuse not to proofread material. Not with the likes of Grammarly and (dare we say) actual human proofreaders out there.
But does the same story apply to SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? Do both spelling and grammar have an impact on your SEO rankings?
It’s time to find out…
Spelling And Grammar For SEO
Ok. Let’s face one big fact. Even native English speakers fail to grasp correct grammar and spelling. When it comes down to searching for aspects that are difficult to spell, people usually fail to search for the fully correct term.
That’s why Google offers their autocorrect suggestion when the algorithm determines a misspelling. If you are struggling with complex words (and there are plenty of them out there in healthcare – Diastasis Recti, anyone?), Google will slap their ‘Did You Mean?’ proposal onto your search.
It has now reached a stage where the algorithm overwrites badly written searches with the correct spelling. Although you can request your original search goes ahead, should you be hell-bent on your incorrect search term. For example, you’ll still find James Corden by accidentally spelling ‘cut’ with an N in ‘A Cut Above The Rest’.
But…hang on. If Google can see through your spelling errors and still provide relevant search results, then surely Google (other search engines are available) won’t rank a page by spelling and grammar for SEO alone?
Correct! Google does not use spelling and grammar as a direct signal for ranking site quality.
That’s quite big news. Google doesn’t judge you on spelling and grammar for SEO. Hurrah! Time to shred that dictionary, and email your proofreader with an insulting Karen-inspired rant. You are free to misspell everything and throw grammar out the window. Yeeeeeeesssssss!!
However….
It’s not that simple.
Glue the dictionary back together and email your proofreader before eating a concrete mixer full of humble pie. You still need solid content with good spelling and grammar for SEO success – here’s why.
The Impact Of Bad Spelling And Grammar On SEO
Although Google doesn’t get all ‘Karen’ on you in regards to spelling and grammar for SEO, the spelling and grammar can influence other factors that determine your page rank.
Think about the experience from a user’s standpoint. If they were to stumble across poorly written content that is lavished with spelling and grammatical problems, they are going to exit your website prematurely.
People cannot engage with content that doesn’t read properly. This process is going to cause havoc with the bounce rate – something that Google draws upon to gauge the health of a website.
If the bounce rate is high, this will contribute towards your ranking decline. Bounce rate is hugely important as it allows Google to determine the relationship between users and your content – usually dictated by the strength of the content itself; that largely comes from spelling and grammar. If this suffers, so does your authority stance with Google’s trust.
Matt Cutts (from Google) confirmed that sites considered reputable and trustworthy by Google tend to have better spelling than poorer ranking sites. There’s more than just the bounce rate to worry about, though.
People are less likely to share content that’s riddled with mistakes, and that’s going to cost you in terms of backlinks. Don’t forget that backlinks remain one of the cornerstones of your entire digital profile. Without strong backlinks, you aren’t going to maintain (or gain) SEO positioning.
And solid backlinks come from well-written content.
Sorry to burst your bubble there. Well, two bubbles actually.
Not only is spelling and grammar for SEO therefore important after all, but it means an urban SEO myth is well and truly busted. As I can now explain.
Spelling Errors Don’t Attract Spelling Error Searches
There’s been a persistent myth doing the rounds for some time now. And, a bit like that conspiracy surrounding Mr Rodgers and his time murdering Vietnamese innocents as a NAVY Seal, it’s been disproven by the experts.
Not only is Mr Rodgers innocent of the foreign murder accusations, but you cannot purposely misspell things in order to benefit from a small number of grammatically crude searchers. In effect, two wrongs don’t make a right.
This tactic was pushed by certain SEO agencies back in the day, long before Google algorithm updates took over the world. While it may have worked once, the overuse of misspelled SEO keywords is now identified as spam. And that’s an online fate worse than death. You don’t want to be branded as spam. Yikes.
Boiled down, misspelling terms and deliberately adding issues around spelling and grammar for SEO was a tactic that once held ground, but now lowers the worth of your website. Especially as Google’s autocorrect procedure has evolved to Karen-levels of Grammar Nazism.
Google’s AutoCorrect Evolution
Google’s autocorrect hasn’t always been around to help with our spelling and grammar errors, but it’s very much changed the way we search – for good – since its conception (on a bus) by Kevin Gibbs in 2004.
Nowadays, Google’s ability to correct errors in keyword searches is uncanny. Before you’ve even started typing, Google has auto-suggest on the go. Then during the search, you’ve got the autocorrect function to lead you along. It’s like having Skynet as an English teacher.
Even though people are misspelling the search terms of their choice, Google displays results with the correct spelling and grammar regardless. The sophistication of autocorrect is beyond anything that we could have imagined. It will one day enslave us and take over the earth.
Until then, AutoCorrect has banished the notion that you need to misspell everything just to gain SEO traction. And, to ensure that particularly stupid tactic never returns, the algorithm updates are getting hotter on spelling and grammar for SEO.
All the more reason to have someone proofread your stuff, or invest in Grammarly (other proofreading software is available)!
In A Nutshell…
While the likes of Google and Bing (other search engines are available) don’t penalize rankings over spelling and grammar as part of the SEO structure alone, it does have an impact on other factors on which Google depends.
It’s reaching a stage now where error-free content is prioritized due to a user’s point of view. A bad user experience, in turn, affects your website’s ranked position on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS).
Poorly written material wastes everyone’s time and is frequently ineffective, but what can you do to change things?
What Can I Do About Spelling And Grammar For SEO?
If you have now accepted the importance of spelling and grammar for SEO, there’s several things you can undertake to rectify the problem.
Firstly, and most importantly, you need to improve the content’s readability! Boil down unnecessary content before tackling your spelling and grammar for SEO, as these aspects are a huge part of good UX.
Secondly, get the content proofread by a professional, or by a system such as Grammarly. A fresh pair of eyes will always pick up on errors that you have missed. It’s simply human nature – you can become so engrossed and tired with writing content that you can’t see the wood for the trees. A fresh perspective from others can make a world of difference.
Finally, get in touch with us! We provide all manner of content services for those in the healthcare industry. You can reach out anytime through our Direct Response PT contact page when the time comes to deal with your content.
I’ll leave you with this quote from hurrdat.com to reassert all that we’ve covered in this article. It should have you fully convinced of the importance of spelling and grammar for SEO.
“When it comes to content, user experience centers on comprehension and readability, the latter of which is where I’d argue spelling and grammar fall. Layout of content aside, if your site visitors can’t read your content with ease—which includes not getting hung up on typos and grammatical errors—then it’s not high-quality content.”
Calum Brown
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