It might seem like a lesson on spell checking and grammar wouldn't be an integral part of SEO. So why would I talk about such a seemingly mundane topic here? Because even the most well-optimized website can still have minor mistakes such as misspellings of common terms and improper grammar. And improper spelling and grammar can ruin your credibility in a flash.
Consider for a moment that you're website sits in the number one organic position at Google for the term "family photography". You've researched the term, know that the term gets fantastic traffic but you're not seeing the high levels of traffic you expected.
One red flag might be to take a look at your site logs. Of the traffic that does come to your site, where are they exiting? Does it appear to be quite common for traffic to exit on one page in particular?
It could be that the page itself has a word or two misspelled or it's grammatically incorrect.
Consider these two phrases for a moment:
"Smith Photography has been in business for over 50 years. We've searved generations of familes and would love to be you're photographer of choice."
"Smith Photography has been in business for over 50 years. We've served generations of families and would love to be your photographer of choice."
Can you spot the differences?
In the first sentence two words, "searved" and "familes" are misspelled. Also, did you notice the improper use of "you're" in the first sentence?
Would you do business with you if you came across this website and read that first sentence? Probably not. You might wonder if they put as much care into their photography services as they do their website and if so, you'll do business elsewhere.
Spell check is a great tool and available for everyone so make use of it when you're writing the content for your website.
Grammar on the other hand can be a little bit tricky. Here are two of the most common mistakes most often made when it comes to grammar:
Not using "their", "they're" or "there" properly.
"Their" should be used when talking about two or more other people. "Their luggage was lost at the airport." "Their car broke down on the freeway."
"They're" is actually a contraction of two words; "they" and "are". "They" being someone else you are referring to and "are" as an action. For example, "Let's get moving, I'm sure they're already waiting for us."
"There" is most often used when you're referring to a place. Either something physical such as a building or something more abstract such as a corner in the room.
Not using "your" or "you're" properly.
First, the word "you're" is a contraction of two words; "you" and "are". A test to see if you've used the term properly is to simply use the sentence without the words contracted and see if it sounds all right. For example: "You're hair looks nice." If we take that contraction and instead say "You are hair looks nice." we see it doesn't work, instead you would then use "your".
Use "You're" whenever you could safely use "you are" in a sentence.
"You're going to the movies also right?"
"You're the most wonderful babysitter."
In both of these cases, we see that if we substitute "you are" for "you're" the sentence will still read well.
When you use the term "your" you are referring to something that the person you are talking with or someone who is involved in the discussion has possession of.
If we use the same example as above, we see that the sentence "Your hair looks nice." works well because the person's hair we're referring to is owned by that person.
These are just a few examples of what to look out for when you do optimize your site. Nothing hurts more than to have the best site around and have people leave because a word is misspelled or there are grammatical errors that are causing you undue scrutiny by your potential customers.
Don't let all of your efforts go down the drain for a simple fix.
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Contributor's Note
I've spent 7 years in the SEO field helping small businesses gain exposure for their websites. Now, you can learn the same information and tactics that I used to teach my clients most often, for free.
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