How Spelling, Grammar, and Overall Writing Quality Can Impact SEO and Credibility

Proper spelling, grammar, and writing technique are the table stakes of high-quality content. When writing content for your small business website, it is crucial to satisfy the search intent of readers. However, it is equally important to demonstrate professionalism and quality to improve your content’s credibility and, indirectly, impact SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

How Spelling and Grammar Errors Impact SEO

While Google says that spelling and grammar are not vital ranking factors, we can identify several indirect impacts these blunders can have on your SEO.

Errors Make It Harder for Crawlers to Understand and Index Your Content

For example, bots, including Google’s search engine crawler, that scan your website may have difficulty deciphering what your content is about if your content is written with poor grammar and frequent spelling errors. Additionally, in the age of voice search, Google prioritizes clear sentences and improved readability. Content that is overly complex or difficult to understand may receive lower rankings.

Spelling and Grammar Errors Erode Trust

Moreover, visitors are often less likely to trust brands that make spelling and grammatical errors within their content. If you cannot be thorough with your own website’s content, why should someone trust the quality of your service or product?

A study conducted by Website Planet that tracked visitors for over two weeks found that landing pages with grammar and spelling mistakes had an 85 percent higher bounce rate than landing pages with proper spelling and grammar.

Search Engines Are Built to Emulate Typical Users

While search engines may overlook a few grammatical errors, readers are not so forgiving. Search engines takes the cue from readers. If readers see the content as low quality, search engines will take note and may demote the page.

Google has mentioned indirectly that they can use grammar and spelling as a sub-indicator of overall site quality which is a direct ranking factor. Additionally, some other search engines, including Bing, do use the presence of grammar and spelling errors as a ranking factor. Senior Product Manager at Bing, Duane Forrester, summarized it well when he stated, “…just as you’re judging others’ writing, so the engines judge yours. If you struggle to get past typos, why would an engine show a page of content with errors higher in the rankings when other pages of error free content exist to serve the searcher?”

Tips for Writing Error Free Content

To ensure your content is written well for both readers and search engines, keep these content writing tips in mind:

• Outline your ideas, sources, and key points before starting. This process can improve flow and establish proper support of your content.
• Improve your readability. Ensure your content is structured in a way that is easy to understand, as well as quick to skim or find critical information.
• Properly cite and/or link to your sources, especially when data or studies are mentioned within the content.
• Add supplemental graphics, videos, and more to visually engage your audience. It’s also important that these elements have properly spelled alt tags, file names, and captions.
• Use writing tools such as Grammarly to help check for grammar, voicing, and spelling mistakes.
• Have at least two other individuals proofread your content.

Edit Content with Grammarly

When writing content for your website, we highly recommend using Grammarly. Grammarly is a powerful writing assistant that helps to correct grammar and spelling mistakes, as well as offer suggestions to help you communicate effectively with your audience. Try Grammarly today for free!

Contact Our Copywriting Experts

At Igniting Business, we know finding the time to write quality content can be difficult. Our SEO copywriting services are designed to help you gain more readers through quality, SEO optimized content and reduce bounce rates, improving your search engine rankings and delighting your audience. To learn more about our SEO copywriting services, contact our team today!

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