A Simple Way to Improve Many Websites
This post is going to be about typos and mistakes, so please don't beat me up too much if you find one in here, lol. I also hate the grammar and spelling police, but I think this will help people.
There has been a lot of discussion about the quality of site comments recently. I have been working on getting certified for site comments, so I have been seeing a lot of sites. On a positive note, I see so many hard-working people, I'm inspired by the time and energy everyone puts into their marketing.
However, I think that many sites would see greater success with a little more editing.
Part of Google's ranking includes site quality. Most SEO experts agree that repetitive spelling and grammatical errors can count against you when Google evaluates the site. Part of this is in evaluating whether the site is legit. Part is evaluating whether the site offers a benefit to readers. I understand that some of what appear to be typos is caused by a translate function on the site. I am not calling those sites out. There's not a lot you can do about that except try a few different interpreting plugins.
I will also note that I see A LOT of obviously spun content. Google's algorithm can catch that. Plus, spun content usually looks awkward to readers.
Finally, I have been surprised how many times I have seen content from a fillable form or template that is added onto a site but not completed! I was reading a site's affiliate disclosure the other day that still said [Enter Business Name] the whole way through it and ended with [add your contact info here]. It's obvious to readers this content was not created by you. It also runs the risk of being flagged as duplicate content because the template is likely all over the web.
I know I make errors when I type. I 100% find errors on my own published pages that I have read 500 times. However, here are a few simple things that I do to help catch those errors.
1. I write all copy in Word and then add it to the site. If you are using the content feature on WA, still put the content into word processing software to double check.
I also will run it through Google docs because of my own pet theory that if Google docs flags a problem, so will its search engines.
2. I read each post aloud. Paragraph by paragraph while editing. Then again when adding external links. Then again when adding internal links. Then once more before publishing. Then once again when it's added to the site.
3. I often ask someone I trust to read the content for me. I ask them to read it out loud so I can hear it. If the person struggles with it, there may be places to improve the content. I catch a lot of run on sentences this way. And places where I cut and pasted moving content around.
4. I let posts sit overnight before publishing them. Often, I have read the same copy so many times my mind glosses over the errors. The next day I see a lot I missed.
5. Go through the readability section using the Yoast plugin. I catch a lot of errors in there.
6. Use other content as sources. I don't spin it. Paraphrase and cite.
7. Keep a list of problem words to double check: its vs. it's, there - their- they're, etc.
8. If using a fillable template such as a privacy policy or affiliate disclosure, identify generic words or symbols in the template you can search for to make sure you caught all generic or template text. For example, on the affiliate disclosure mentioned above, a simple ctrl + f search for [ would have found the places where information was missed because the template used brackets around every spot you were supposed to fill in.
Hopefully this comes accross as helpful instead of preachy!
We're all in this together.
Best,
George M.
Recent Comments
3
George, my pet peeve. Oh so true. If people would just take the time to check their post... do what you and I do... do it in Word, then Google Docs, THEN put it in the WA blog template and run the ABC again, then read it again!
Great post... cudos.
Joe
Fantastic website improvement tips, indeed, George! Thanks for sharing!
Be safe!
Jeff