Matt Cutts Google Webmaster Help video “Do spelling and grammar matter when evaluating content and site quality?”

Well, Matt is NOT saying Google ranks pages based on spelling … But rather he is saying there seems to be a correlation of higher PageRank/Reputation for websites/pages with proper spelling. While he states very clearly that “last time he checked” it was not used as a “direct”  ranking signal, however, it does seem obvious that some signal is picking this up. He even goes as far as to suggest it should be a ranking signal.

Turns out, in our experience, the more reputable pages do tend to have better spelling and better grammar.

I think Matt hit on a couple of key things on this subject that easily translate in to our current experiences with the Panda update. Using words like “trust” and “user experience” tell me that while it may not be a direct ranking signal…. It is being signaled from other relevant areas such as we see in the quality guidelines Google has given us in regards to Panda.

I endeavor to spell correctly…. Check my work and ALWAYS view every page I publish in the strictest of view, but I make spelling errors occasionally and my grammar sucks. I actually had a customer report a spelling error on a page recently that was 3 years old! UGH

So, in closing, I think this is just another thing you should not stress over, but do make an effort to use better spelling and grammar as I am certain in the current climate of Google it IS being signaled from somewhere. It’s much easier to fix one big thing than to chase 200 little things, but as Google knows, it’s the little things that make the best search experience. If I were you, I would try to see things in that light and fix what you can, as you can … instead of picking one tiny piece such as speed or spelling and obsessing over it.