Does US English attract more views than UK English?

1. 87

   JoeYoung22posted 9 years ago

   I have just posted a hub which contains the word 'humour' in the title, and several times in the article itself. This is my natural UK English spelling of the word - but would I stand a better chance of attracting traffic if I used the US version 'humor'?
   
   Do US English words have an advantage over their UK counterparts, or doesn't it matter?

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      sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I can only give you my personal opinion and that is the words being US or UK English doesn't sway my choices to read a hub. Other people may be able to tell you what they prefer if they notice any difference in page views for one versus the other. I have read a few complaints over the past year about people feeling they get lower scores on their hubs if they us UK English.

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      1. 87

         JoeYoung22posted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, sheilamyers - I will continue to write in my native UK English, but I was wondering if US English hubs would be favored (favoured) by search engines.

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   2. 77

      Nesbyteposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not sure it matters. It seems like google is aware of the weird little differences between UK and US English. If I search for "favourite" X, Y, and Z, for example, I tend to find I get results that also include "favorite". Same goes for stuff like the mobile/cellphone thing. There might be a very small difference, but nothing worth worrying about.

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   3. 91

      Susana Sposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      To answer the question in your title, yes, US English does attract more views.
      
      I always try to write in US English, but I often make mistakes. For years I didn't know that theatre is spelled theater in the US!

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2. 89

   Nell Roseposted 9 years ago

   Hiya, I tend to stick to American English purely because I noticed there are more viewers from America than England, so I have got used to writing American style, not sure if it makes a difference, I remember reading a few years back that somehow google redirects the English spelling articles towards England, lol! not sure if its true, but I keep to the America version.

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3. 92

   Jayne Lancerposted 9 years ago

   I use US spelling and vocabulary for my hubs, but only because most of my views are from the US. However, I couldn't bring myself to punctuate according to US style--e.g. commas, periods, question marks etc. that don't belong to a quote placed inside the quotation marks.
   
   I don't think spelling is too important as far as attracting one or the other audience is concerned, but vocabulary certainly is--e.g. 'nappies' and 'diapers'.

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   Thelma Albertsposted 9 years ago

   That is very interesting. I don´t really know if it matters if I use US or UK spelling but I have found myself using UK spelling and vocabulary in my writings although I learned American english at school. Maybe it´s because of my fond in watching UKs telly series and movies.

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      sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting and it brings up something I think about the use of UK English. There are a few UK novelists I've read and I love when they use all of the UK words. Hubs and chat rooms tend to be the same way with me. As I'm reading, I realize the person is from over there and, although I can't actually hear them, I can image the "accent" (go ahead and laugh and say we Americans have the accent) and it's almost as if I can really hear that person speaking. Maybe it's just easier for me because one of my Girl Scout leaders years ago was originally from England and I can still hear that "accent" to this day.

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5. 63

   shelpeareposted 9 years ago

   I usually tailor my spelling to a US reader audience since both my traffic as well as Hubpages traffic is mostly from the US. 38.2 % of HubPages traffic is from the US while only 5.2 % comes from the UK.

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6. 93

   Maffew Jamesposted 9 years ago

   It would make sense that it does, because the US is a larger search audience. Google seems to show both in search results even if you search for a particular spelling, but if you check the actual keywords in the AdWords keyword planner, the US spelling attracts a higher search volume generally. It's possible the planner just shows the most commonly searched spelling variant as having a higher volume, but both variants are shown if you search for either.
   
   Personally, I use US English because my audience is predominately from the US and I don't want to take any chances with search engines. I draw the line at forms of measurement though. The US customary system drives me up the wall.

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