Is Spelling and Grammar really important in SEO?
This is not as simple as a yes or no answer, Google’s Matt Cutts confirms this in this video that google has found a direct correlation between page rank and the quality of a sites spelling and grammar.
“We noticed a while ago that, if you look at the PageRank of a page – how reputable we think a particular page or site is – the ability to spell correlates relatively well with that. So, the reputable sites tend to spell better and the sites that are lower PageRank, or very low PageRank, tend not to spell as well.”
What the video does go on to say is that the quality and content of a website does have a direct link to how people vie and interact with the website which in turn affects the page rank and how search engines perceive the site.
As always the message is clear that quality content and well thought out constructed dialogue help visitors to understnad your message clearly and affect their deicisions when interacting with your site.
In may 2011 Googles Webmaster Central listed a set of questions site owners and seo experts should consider when looking at content for a website. These questions are based on the type of questions a search engine is effectively asking when it crawls your website.
- Would you trust the information presented in this article?
- Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
- Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
- Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
- Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
- Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
- Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
- Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- How much quality control is done on content?
- Does the article describe both sides of a story?
- Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
- Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
- Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
- Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
- Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
- Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
- Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
- Would users complain when they see pages from this site?
Clearly it is not enough to just stick up any old content on a website and hope by continously adding words you will be picked up and return results, the quality, substance and depth of the articles is all factored in by search engines when they are looking at which order to rank pages in on a give search term.
Quote from Googles Webmaster Central
“We encourage you to keep questions like the ones above in mind as you focus on developing high-quality content rather than trying to optimize for any particular Google algorithm.”
