Should I use US spelling?

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   Baileybearposted 14 years ago

   I've finally hooked up to Google Analytics.  Most of my traffic is from the US via Google.  Does that mean I should use US spelling to attract more traffic?  Or stick to UK spelling (as we use in New Zealand & Australia).  Or does it not really matter?

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      Gail Anthonyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Keep the accent.  How else can I tell that you're a bloody beef eating bloke.  On a serious note, I really do not see where cheque vs check or programme vs program is going to make that big a difference in the body of your text.  However, you might want to consider Americanized spelling in titles and subheadings.

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         Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         well, more like a sheila

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            Gail Anthonyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Greatest apologies, M'Lady.

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      Sophia Angeliqueposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Baileybear, I'm finally going  back to UK spelling. I don't find it makes that much difference. I find that if I combine all my other traffic (UK, SA, NZ,Aus, Phllippines), it outnumbers my US traffic. One is either going to lose one or the other, unless one uses both...

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         Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Is a mixture within a hub distracting?

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            CMHypnoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Not really noticeable to most people. You have to ask yourself what traffic you want?  If I have a hub designed to sell Amazon products, I want US traffic, as they are the buyers.

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            Sophia Angeliqueposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Dont' think so. I've tried mixtures on occasion. The worst I get is Brits telling me I don't know how to spell when I use US spelling and Americans telling me I don't know how to spell if I use Brit spelling. I'll live! Tag both.

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      Wesman Todd Shawposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Doesn't matter at all.  I often use the Queen's English.  I think that makes you look smarter, or at least it makes me look smarter.  Really, the differences are very small.  "Colour" instead of "Color," etc.

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      Bronson_Hubposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      "Flavour", "colour", etc., make you look cool.  Revolutionary war ended years ago, we're cool with Queen's English now.

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   To Start Againposted 14 years ago

   Perhaps with titles or tags if you are getting a significantly larger amount of traffic from US. The text maybe it wouldn't matter as much?

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      Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      my next biggest audience is UK & Australia, which combined are half of US

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   SweetMarie83posted 14 years ago

   I was actually wondering this myself - I tend to use the UK/Canadian spelling because it's just natural for me.  I haven't had to make that decision when it comes to titles yet but I think I probably would use the American spelling in titles and I like To Start Again's idea of using it in tags, too.

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   BenjaminBposted 14 years ago

   I thought we were supposed to do Hubs in pig latin only

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   CASE1WORKERposted 14 years ago

   i have done the odd hub with an american twang but mostly i stick to uk- i guess i write mainly on british issues, history etc so it would sound odd not to use british spellings and expressions.Should i mis spell anything then I have either used american spellings or text speak (that is my excuse anyway)
   Our vicar comes from the states and despite 20 odd years in this country he still refers to football and rugby as the ball game and the shops as the mall, but we all know what he means, so i guess that people will know when they read what you mean. The onl y problem I had was gravy granules- i believe they may be called gravy browning in the rest of the world.

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      Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      that's what I was wondering - if it would come across as odd making references to Australia & NZ with american spelling.  There's different lingo for same thing in UK, NZ & Australia eg flip-flops/jandals/thongs - don't know what US equivalent is.
      
      I prefer US spelling celiac over coeliac.  Spell check is only US?

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         leahleflerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Terms for various items vary throughout the states - I grew up in California and we called flip-flops "thongs." Out here (in the Great Lakes region), thongs are something entirely different! Out west, "Coke" is the universal term for any fizzy soda. In the Great Lakes region, everyone calls it "pop." I find it interesting how much terms can vary even within the US!
         
         If you are writing for a US audience, I would go with the US spelling for the tags and titles (for keyword searches). Personally, I love the UK spelling - I far prefer "colour" to "color" for some reason.

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   David99999posted 14 years ago

   I say, Keep using your British spelling.  First, the differences between how American and British words are spelled are few.  Also, in this linguist's opinion, both are equally valid.

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   CMHypnoposted 14 years ago

   Check out the keyword global searches for the term you want to rank for - for example I tend to use the American jewelry now rather than the English jewellery, as it is searched for a lot more. I will throw in a few instances of jewellery as well, for good measure. You can easily work both spellings into a hub, but for a title or a url I would use the spelling that returns the most searches, which is usually the American.
   
   Also, if you have Amazon capsules, it is US Amazon, so it is American traffic that you want to attract if you want to increase sales

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      Rosie2010posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I do this too, specially for jewellery as "jewelry" ranks higher in global search.

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   IzzyMposted 14 years ago

   I asked this same question in the forum months ago, and was advised that because the main traffic here comes from the US, it is better to write in US English.
   
   I do that but obviously some words slip through and that probably explains why google.co.uk is my second biggest stream of search engine traffic outside of google.com

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   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   The key is to stick to one throughout, mixing and matching looks sloppy. I think as long as you have tags spelled both ways that it doesn't really matter.

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    robie2posted 14 years ago

    I don't think it makes much difference unless you are writing for google rather than people and then it is just a quetion of titles and tags.  As for me-- I'm American so I feel most comfortable with American spelling and syntax even though I get a lot of traffic from the UK both on hubpages and on my blogs-- I figure the American usage is just part of who I am and trying to change it could actually lose me traffic-- sooooooo  I say stick with who you are and the audience will follow :-)

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    Mark Ewbieposted 14 years ago

    The more time I spend on the net the more I use American spellings and phrases.  It's natural when conversing, or as I believe the Americans say "chewing the gravy", to mimic the other person's language.
    
    Whereas I used to say "tally ho!" quite a lot I now say things like "rip you a new hole".

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       shoganposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I definitely have never said "chewing the gravy," nor have I ever heard the expression said by anyone else. 
       
       Oh, and you'd want to say "rip you a new one" instead.  This is more authentic American.

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    Pcunixposted 14 years ago

    If you are writing for an intelligent audience, it doesn't matter because we read widely and are accustomed to seeing both.
    
    If you are writing for the Yahoo types, it doesn't matter because they can't spell anyway.
    
    The only people who would ever be bothered by it are a narrow band of folks who can spell in their native land but have so far managed to insulate themselves from the rest of the world.

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       Rosie2010posted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I like the way you think.  It makes a lot of sense to me.  So funny.. but it makes sense.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       LOL! 
       
       Actually I'm guilty of writing a mixture.  I naturally use British spelling because that's what I grew up with, and what we use in Australia.  However if the HubPages spell checker picks it up as an error, and it's a relevant keyword, I may change it - or I may not. 
       
       I know the variation may look sloppy - but the advantage is that I get my keywords appearing in both spellings, so I cover all bases.

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    Trading Richesposted 14 years ago

    I run a number of websites and have written hundreds of articles elsewhere. However despite the fact that the vast majority of my traffic comes from the US, I have never been tempted to write American English. It's a pride thing and I guess I'm just patriotic.
    
    Anyway I don't think it really matters because I have never had a single comment about any 'spelling mistakes'.

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    Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

    I'm with the folks who think you ought to use the English spellings that are correct, as people in one's own country have learned them.  It's not like your spelling is incorrect, any more than US spelling (when done right, by American standards) is considered, "unacceptable".
    
    If anyone doesn't get, can't read, or doesn't approve of your spelling; they can (as my mother used to say) lump it.  (From the "like-it-or-lump-it" school of thought.    )

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    Rosie2010posted 14 years ago

    This is also a matter of contention for me, as in Canada we use British spelling.  When I type it is just automatic to type "humour" instead of "humor" etc. But as CMHypno had stated, I tend to use American "jewelry" if I'm using the word as a keyword, instead of British "jewellery" because of Google search.  But I agree with everyone to use American spelling on titles and tags, it just makes sense that way. I try not to use "eh" if I could help it. So Canadian, eh?

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       Just Ask Susanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       huh?  sorry Rosie just could not help myself there. Same as cheque, check, colour, color, centre, center.  I went to High School In California and Seattle so I have had the best of both countries when it comes to spelling...The hard part is just remembering which country I am in LOL.

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    Howard S.posted 14 years ago

    Stick with your mother tongue so that it will be in a consistent dialect. (Did you know that Feb 21 is International Mother Language Day?) Write tags spelt in various dialects.

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    NorDacposted 14 years ago

    Try this. put ~cheque (note the little squiggle before the word) in a Google search. that tells Google you want to look at searches "like" the following word, in this case cheque.
    
    You will find that the top two results are wiki results one for cheque and one for check. Google is getting pretty good about relating two words and understanding them as the same.
    
    while you are likely to get a little better results for the exact spelling of the word, or you might get slightly more regional results. You will likely do well with both because Google knows they are similar words.

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