: Is there a way to mark unusual words as spelled correctly so search engines don't think the site has poor spelling? I want to know how to indicate a particular word or work is not spelt

@Samaraweera270

Misspelled words should be enclosed with the HTML <i> Element.

As there is no sic tag equivalent in HTML, in HTML 5 the <i> element has a new meaning replacing the previous non-semantic italic presentational meaning.

According to the HTML5 specification of W3:


The i element represents a span of text in an alternate voice or mood,
or otherwise offset from the normal prose in a manner indicating a
different quality of text, such as a taxonomic designation, a
technical term, an idiomatic phrase from another language,
transliteration, a thought, or a ship name in Western texts.


This differs from its previous consideration:


Changes in HTML5 #

Although previous versions of HTML defined the i element only in
presentational terms, the element has now been given the specific
semantic purpose of representing text “offset from its surrounding
content without conveying any extra emphasis or importance, and for
which the conventional typographic presentation is italic text”.


This semantic usage of the <i> tag fits perfectly for a misspelled or unusual word that a modern Search Engine should understand.

It has been suggested previously that quotes should be enough but I don't think they fit as naturally as the <i> does.

Update

The <u> element in HTML5 is the correct way to go for misspelled words:

"The u element represents a span of text with an unarticulated, though explicitly rendered, non-textual annotation, such as labeling the text as being a proper name in Chinese text (a Chinese proper name mark), or labeling the text as being misspelt".

Unfortunately, this is not the traditional usage of the element in previous HTML versions, so I would think twice before using it to maintain backward compatibility.

Vote Up Vote Down

@BetL925

There is no such semantic markup for misspelled words that I know of.

It isn't something that I would worry about. As long as your users don't think your spelling is bad, search engines are going to be fine with it.

Their "bad spelling" algorithms have to be more complicated than a typical spell checker. Spell checkers in word processors have "user dictionaries" for a reason. There are always going to be words that you use that are not in a standard spell check dictionary.


Last names
Brand names
Industry jargon


Most websites are going to have some of those. There is no way that search engines could penalize for using some words that are not in a typical spell check dictionary.

If search engines were going to penalize for anything, it would have to be for using known spelling errors, typo, and poor grammar.

You don't have to worry about marking the words that you use but which are not in spell check dictionaries so that your site will rank well in search engines.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Heady270

I think the procedure should be like:


implementing a spellchecking library into the website
it checks pages and if found a misspelling adds to the misspelled word an additional css class, which makes misspelled word visible.


Maybe will this do the job: www.javascriptspellcheck.com/?

Vote Up Vote Down