When I do a link search on MSN for my personal blog, I always get that starred question Were you looking for . . . ? The same thing happens on Google, Yahoo, and most search engines.
I find it useful when I mistype a word, fun to follow when I’m on a link search, and funny when it’s unconnected to what I’m searching for. I didn’t think much about it, except to notice the number of listings under misspelled words.
In an October post written by Jamsi at Workboxers, The Overlooked Optimization Technique, Jamsi tells how with the Overture Keyword Tool, he used an alternative spelling as Search Engine Optimization. By removing a space and a capital letter from a keyword, Jamsi achieved a top three rank in the listings at Google, Yahoo, and MSN for an obscure blog.
The logic is simple and compelling.
It’s the big fish in a small pond strategy. Choose the less preferred spelling, and you’ll get more attention. Use the Overture Keyword Tool to make sure that you still have an audience. Then tag your post with keywords that will get you a higher rank in a shorter listing.
–ME “Liz” Strauss aka My Lis Straus
Liz,
I can second that – it works.
Just the other day I had a commenter tell me I had screwed up my spelling in a post title and technorati tag.
The error was “instant messenging” when the right way was “instant messaging”.
After giving myself a slap around the head because of my error (I’m one of those that just has to get it right grammar/spelling wise .. I usually don’t) I decided to check it out at Google.
“instant messenging” – the error, returned 167,000 and I’m at number 5.
“instant messaging” – the right one, returned 25,400,000 and I’m no where to be seen
Obviously, I let this error slip by 🙂
Hi Martin,
As an editor, it’s a technique that you have to use carefully, I would say that white type on white might be the best way to go if the word is misspelled. But so many words have alternative spellings: catalogue, dialogue, and so on.
Oh by the way, have you done a link search that way? Did you know that it changes based on whether there’s a space after the colon? It depends on the search engine how much of a change that it makes, but it usually picks up a few links.
Liz