As a professional, I want to highlight the importance of proper word usage and its impact on search engine optimization. One example of such carelessness is the common mishap of “lox the agreement” instead of “lock the agreement”.
Making this mistake is understandable as “lox” and “lock” sound similar and it can easily slip one`s mind while typing. However, in terms of SEO, the consequences can be detrimental.
When a user types in the correct phrase “lock the agreement” into a search engine, they would expect to see results of articles or web pages related to securing an agreement. If the wrong phrase “lox the agreement” is used, the user might get results related to smoked salmon as “lox” is Jewish-American slang for smoked salmon.
This results in a mismatch between what the user is searching for and what they get. Such mismatches can affect the ranking of the website or article as it reduces user engagement and increases bounce rate. When a search engine sees users leaving a web page quickly after arriving, it ranks the page lower, as the content is assumed to be of poor quality.
Therefore, it is imperative to pay attention to the words we use and the context in which we use them. Such attention to detail not only improves the article`s quality but also positively affects the search engine ranking. As copy editors experienced in SEO, we need to ensure that every word we use plays its part in conveying the message and ultimately gets the desired user engagement.