Loading ...Australia is in a unique position when it comes to the English language. We’re able to select from a number of styles for writing, choosing spelling as we feel like it on the most part. This complicates things, however, when it comes to search engine optimisation.
There are several problems Australian English presents for a website. The first is alternative spelling. When you’re in a country that feels just as friendly about ‘search engine optimization‘ as it does about ’search engine optimisation’, you have a couple of decisions to make. The international nature of most Aussie web-based businesses also means that you have to be careful about terms that are native to Australia.
Avoid Australianisms
If your site offers services outside of Australia, one thing to be careful about is Australian phrases. The smallest of things can cause confusion. It’s a good idea to read the text on other international sites in your industry and avoid any phrases you don’t see.
Decide on a chosen style
Regardless of where a site is based, it needs a set style for writing. Publishing houses and institutions have always set out their selected styles in style guides, some of which, like the Oxford Style Manual, have been picked up by the general public for widespread use. It can help to pick up one of these style guides to get an idea of the sort of things you should be looking for, if you are really uncertain.
Even if you don’t go so far as to formalise your style guide, it’s a good idea to have a short list of rules for your site, particularly if you have a number of people providing content for it. Having a list that sets out your tone, your preferred spellings of words, and the way you reference your company can save time and frustration whenever you source content from outside your business. You can talk to our consultants at SEO Consult Australia about the things you need to think about when sourcing content.
How to get around keyword conundrums
One of the most irritating things to any reader is alternative spellings of words. It doesn’t matter whether the reader is a stickler for a particular type of spelling, or whether they don’t even realise that the word has an alternative spelling, sticking two different versions of a word in close proximity is guaranteed to set off a little alarm bell in a site user’s mind. The result is, they will suspect that your site contains spelling errors, leading to a perception that you are unprofessional.
Sometimes, alternate spellings of keywords are unavoidable, as they will make up a part of your SEO plan. The answer to the problem is to make sure the different versions are as far apart as possible. It’s best to put them on different pages if you can, in different sections if you can’t, and at least several paragraphs apart if they absolutely have to be included in the same piece of content.
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Tags: Keywords, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO Consult Australia, seo plan
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