There was a Business looking to put in place an SEO strategy to drive more sales. So it decided to visit the blog sections of the SEO Provider to understand How the process works? But after visiting the blog, it could not understand the Content because of spelling or grammatical errors.
Due to this very experience of the Business, it decided to opt for other SEO Providers. So, with the above story, it is clear that bad Content can result in a high bounce rate from your website.
This can be further validated by a statement given by John Mueller – A webmaster trends analyst at Google. He said, and I quote- “ I would almost say …like… spelling and grammar is probably for most websites a higher priority than broken HTML. by John Mueller – Webmaster trends analyst, Google.”
Let us discuss in detail how spelling and grammar typos can cost you your potential customers:
Common Mistakes to Look Out for When Writing SEO Content
Below are some of the common mistakes that people commit while writing Content. Let’s start with the following:
- Between vs Among : Most people do not clearly understand the difference between these two words. And often make mistakes in using them in their Content. For most people, both may sound similar to them. But in reality, they are quite different. How?
Between is used where two things are clearly separated.
For Example- There were two houses with a narrow path in between.
Among is used to denote things which are not clearly separated as they are part of a group.
For Example- I saw a few familiar faces among the audience.
- Semicolons: This ; is what a Semicolon looks like. It is used between two independent clauses in a sentence closely related to each other. They sound better in your head when joined together in a sentence. It makes the sentence easy to read and understand for the users.
For Example, She was determined to succeed; failure was simply not an option.
- Commas: It is a mark to separate parts in a sentence. We use commas for the following purposes:
To separate Independent Clauses joined by connectors such as BUT, OR, NOR, SO etc.
For Example– I want to go to a party, but I have homework to do.
To Separate Examples or elements in a sentence.
For Example- I went to the store to buy milk, eggs, and bread.
To Separate an Introductory word or phrase.
For Example- After a long day at work, I like to unwind by taking a walk in the park.
- Lose vs Loose: These two words may sound similar to many, but they are different words.
Lose is used in the sentence to indicate that you have lost something. For Example– If you don’t stop eating junk food, you will lose your good health.
Loose is used to indicate that something is not tightly hinged with other things. For Example– The loose screws made the cabinet door rattle.
- A lot vs alot vs allot: If you are confused between which is right among A lot or alot, it is the former one that is right. Alot is an incorrect way to write a Lot. Whereas, Allot means to provide something to someone.
For Example- I like to play Basketball a lot. - Affect vs Effect: Affect is a verb. It is used in a sentence to indicate an influence on someone or something. For Example- The disease only affects cattle.
Effect is a noun. It is used in a sentence to indicate an effect on something or somebody. For Example- The new policy had an immediate effect on employee morale. - Possessive Noun: Possessive Nouns are the nouns that are used in the sentence to show ownership. It is used differently with regard to Singular nouns or Plural nouns.
Singular Nouns: If the Noun is singular in the sentence, we put the apostrophe before the s. For Example- My friend’s car is parked outside.
Plural Nouns: If the Noun is Plural in the sentence, we put an apostrophe after the s. For Example- Readers’ books are on the shelf.
Note: If you have a singular noun that ends with s, you should also put the apostrophe after the s, just like plural possessive nouns. For Example- I was amazed to see Brussels’ Beauty.
- Dangling Modifiers: This is literally the fanciest word for grammatical errors that I have come across. This type of grammatical error occurs when the subject of the modifier is missing from the sentence and is followed by another subject. Whereas, The Subject modified should immediately follow the comma after the modifier.
The Incorrect One– Having finished the book, the television was turned on.The Correct One- Having finished the book, I started to read another one.
- Passive Voice: You might have used a typing assistant tool at some point, such as Grammarly, to write high quality Content. If you have, you might have noticed that every time the tool comes across a passive voice, it suggests you change it to an Active voice. Why? Because it is difficult to read and understand compared to an active voice.
- Passive Voice- It is a form of a verb where the action or verb, or Object, is emphasized more rather than the subject. Here the Object or thing comes before the verb rather than the subject. For Example- John painted the House.
- Active Voice- It is a form of a verb where the subject is emphasized more. For Example- The House was Painted by John.
Few Tips to Help Avoid Mistakes
- Carefully Proofread your Content once you have completed your Content.
- Ask someone else to read your work. Why? Because it helps you to gain insights from other people that can help you improve your Content. Who knows? You might learn some new grammar rules.
- You can use tools to check for any grammatical or spelling errors till a certain point. Make sure that you do not become habitual with the tool. Paying attention to the mistakes that occurred and rectifying the same in your next Content is the way to go.
- Brush up your Grammar skills by watching informative videos or blogs.
Problems Posed by a Content with Grammatical Errors to the SEO
- Backlinking Problems- If your Content is full of typos, the third party websites will not provide you with a backlink to your website. Which in turn can hamper your different SEO strategy to success.
- Blog Post Problems- Every online Business wants to maintain a blog section for its customers to read about its services. But a blog with grammatical errors can lead to potential customers turning up to its competitor’s website.
- Email Marketing- Businesses want to keep in touch with their valuable customers by sending emails to tell them about their services or product. It is an excellent way to attract new customers and retain existing ones. But a poorly written Email will not be able to inspire the same thought about the product as the Company hoped for.
- eBooks- eBooks are the type of Content that informs potential customers about the Company and the services and products it offers. They also contain information that can be of value to the customers. So, you want to make sure that the eBooks you as a Company publishes should be error-free to make new customers.
- Landing Page- A Landing Page is a specific page of your website for advertisement purposes. This is where you collect the visitor’s information by providing sources like Ebooks. It helps the business to generate leads to its websites. So, businesses should make sure that their landing page is error free to generate more leads.
Wrap Up!!
The impact of spelling and grammar errors on SEO ranking success cannot be underestimated. The use of correct spelling and grammar is crucial to ensure that your Content is easy to understand. These mistakes affect not only your website’s search engine rankings but also its reputation.
Thus, it is essential to focus on spelling and grammar when creating Content for your website. Use tools such as spell and grammar checkers to help catch errors and ensure your Content is error-free. Doing so can create a positive online presence, build a strong brand reputation, and achieve SEO success.
