Misspelled keywords – what is their role in SEO?

What are keywords?

Before we talk about misspelled key phrases, let us take a look at what exactly keywords are and what their role in SEO (search engine optimisation) is.

Keywords inform search engines what a given text, description or article is about. After receiving such information, search engines are able to select the most suitable suggestions for a given recipient. According to the rule, the higher our website is ranked, the more likely it is to be noticed. Thanks to that, it will be easier for users to find our website or offer. That is why it is so important to optimise our content in terms of keywords.

There are different types of key phrases. We can list:

1. general queries (regarding a given type of item, product);
2. phrases containing the brand name;
3. long-tail keywords (more narrowly targeted searches composed of 3 or more words);
4. questions about a given field or market.

Positioning is frequently associated strictly with Google, which is not entirely correct. Each engine has its own rules to gain a high ranking. Although algorithms are typically based on similar mechanisms, every single one of them has its own unique characteristics and works in a different way. Keywords are also significant on e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon or Allegro.

Each type of keyword plays a different role and is equally important. For instance, they can be used to increase brand awareness or improve sales of certain types of products. There is a variety of tools that can be used to generate useful phrases, appropriate for fulfilling your business goals.

Misspelled keywords

While searching for keywords, we can frequently encounter the problem of their misspelling by users. It could be a variety of mistakes:

• a missing or additional letter,
• double letter,
• changed letters,
• lack of or additional space between words,
• incorrect letter in a word,
• omitted or misused diacritical marks.

Such phrases are a natural competition for keywords that are spelled correctly, which is why it is worth taking them into account while planning our SEO-associated activities. We cannot rule out the existence of misspelled phrases. They are mainly a result of users being in a rush, as well as the specificity of mobile devices, on which it is easier to make such mistakes. We should not ignore them altogether, especially since our efforts should always be focused on a user, not on an algorithm. The recipient always comes first.

We already know that misspelled keywords are also significant. But what is the right way to use them? It is not a very good practice to apply them directly in our texts. Fortunately, there are other ways!

Hidden search terms are words that are not available on the website itself. Instead, they are placed in the HTML source, the so-called “storage”. They are not visible for users, but they are visible for algorithms. Although this solution will not work well in the case of Google (bots are not very skilled in looking at hidden content and the meta tag of keywords is entirely ignored by them), it may come in handy on sales platforms. Their internal search engines operate on a different principle; therefore, hidden search terms may prove to be extremely useful, whether used as tags or added to the list in the code.

Misspelled keywords may play the role of such hidden search terms. They are not used directly in a text, so they do not break the rules of linguistic correctness, but they are present. Thanks to that, we are able to benefit from their potential and the movement they generate.

Tools to generate misspelled key phrases

There are specialised tools created to search for keywords that provide a lot of useful data. Among the elite are such programs as Ahrefs, Senuto, SEMSTORM, Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush. How to make a correct use of the misspelled phrases? They may appear in popular tools as well, but we need to consider the specificity of searching. The Google data is different than the e-commerce data. People search differently on Google than on selling platforms. That is why typical mistakes found on Google may vary from mistakes found e.g. on Amazon. How should we handle this issue?

If it is possible, we should take into account tools dedicated to a given platform. A good example is the Helium 10 tool dedicated to Amazon (and until recently to the Walmart platform). It has a number of useful features for sales activities. As one among few, it also has its own program for looking for misspelled keywords – Misspellinator. It is not flawless, but it definitely is an interesting alternative.

Case study

It turns out that Misspellinator from Helium 10 has an issue with reading diacritical marks. Although it skilfully handles languages that do not have special characters, it does not work as well with languages such as German or Polish. When it encounters a diacritical mark, it divides a word containing it into two or more parts.

Let us see what it looks like on the example of a German phrase: eiswürfelform kugel (round ice cube tray). After typing it into the search engine, Misspellinator gave the following suggestions:

The tool is able to find misspellings of these words only on this basis; however, it is not possible if the given phrases are already incorrect.

It looks a bit different for e.g. Italian, a language that has significantly fewer special characters. Thanks to that, typing misspelled phrases with the use of Misspellinator proves to be more effective. After typing in the phrase accessori bagno (bathroom accessories), Misspellinator not only found those words in its base, but also gave many examples of the most common mistakes in this entry.

This tool may be extremely useful in sales activities, although it is definitely not perfect. Perhaps in the future the creators will fix this issue, making searching in languages with diacritical marks equally effective.

RankWatch – an interesting alternative

RankWatch is a less popular tool, but it comes in handy when searching for misspelled key phrases. It handles not only diacritical marks, but also other types of alphabets. In this keywords generator we may also select the types of mistakes that we want to take into account – or exclude.

For comparison, let us look at the previously used German phrase eiswürfelform kugel and see how RankWatch will handle it when we select the “Skip letter” option.

Rankwatch is able to give up to several dozen suggestions for each type of error; however, it is only a tool used to generate different combinations of mistakes. Later on, we should upload phrases acquired in this manner to a keyword searching tool, such as Ahrefs, which will give us information regarding the popularity of a given type of mistake.

Summary

Misspelled keywords may play an extremely important role, but in a slightly different way than their correct forms. They are significant mainly for e-commerce platforms – by taking them into account, we are able to increase a given product’s visibility. By adding them to our key phrases storage, we may position ourselves on the basis of those words, and since companies rarely use incorrect forms, we will have a bigger impact. Misspelled words usually have a smaller competition, which means that even if we base our advertisements on them, we may pay less.

It is worth using tools dedicated to a given selling platform, but it is not a prerequisite. Tools are sometimes imperfect, as they are still developing – but there already are certain benefits from using them. First and foremost, such programs are customised by their creators to individual characteristics of the platforms concerned. They have functionalities relevant for a given online store; therefore, thanks to them, we are able to automatise certain activities. Moreover, they increase productivity, optimise processes and are strictly adjusted to algorithms of selected selling platforms. That is why it is worth using dedicated tools while looking for adequate keywords, since data in these tools is constantly updated, which is why in most cases they provide a reliable representation of reality. They also prove to be useful in the case of misspelled key phrases, since they generate words that are actually typed in by users of a given platform.

It is always the best practice in SEO to use two different tools and compare the results. Then, we have the bigger picture of a given market; therefore, we have more keywords to choose from. The use of different tools is often complementary.

There is no doubt that misspelled keywords are commonly used and there are no indications that it will change in the near future. It is definitely worth using them in our business practices. In that way, we will be one step ahead of the competition.