Bare with me is incorrect, but using the phrase is a common mistake.
Bear with me dates back to Elizabethan times, if not earlier. Shakespeare was a big fan.
Bear and bare are homophones (two words that sound alike but mean different things).
Bear ? is a noun that refers to an animal.
Bear can also be a verb. Literally, it means to carry a heavy burden. Figuratively, it means to endure or suffer through something.
Bare ? is a verb that means to uncover to to reveal. It can be an adjective that refers to nudity, vulnerability, or minimalism.
You can use a mnemonic device to help remember the difference between bear and bare. Just remember that “bare” is embarrassing and something to be avoided.
Bear with me for just a second while I verify your credentials.
I know you’ve been waiting for hours, but please bare with us one more minute.
You didn’t really see a bear while hiking through the pass, did you?That would be more than I could bear!
Her grandfather built that house with his bare hands.
The freshly whitewashed walls looked completely bare without any paintings, photographs, or shelves.
It’s really hard for me to bare my soul like this, but I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you.
.Bear and bare are homophones. This means that they sound the same when you pronounce them but they have different functions and meanings.
In this post, we’ll discuss how to use each word properly. We’ll also give you the best tricks for what to do when you can’t remember which is correct. Finally, we’ll look at the origins of the phrase bare with me.
Is it Bare With or Bear With?
The correct phrase is bear with me. This is because the verb bear means to carry a heavy burden or endure something. For this reason, when you ask someone to bear with you, you’re asking them to bear the burden of interacting with you. In short, you’re asking someone to be patient with you. An example sentence is “bear with me while I try to remember where I put my keys.” Conversely, if the phrase were bare with me, it would be a strange way of asking someone to be nude with you!
You might use this phrase if you’re searching for paperwork or trying to explain a particularly complex concept.
Pleasebare with mewhile I finish up with another client.
We’re experiencing computer problems. Pleasebear with meas I locate your reservation.
You’ll have tobare with meas I find the right form.
Can you pleasebear with mewhile I make a few copies?
What’s the Difference Between Bear and Bare?
Bear and bare are homophones, or two words that have the same pronunciation but mean different things. On one hand, bear is a noun that refers to a large mammal. It can also be a verb meaning to carry, support, tolerate, suffer, or put up with something. On the other hand, bare can be an adjective meaning exposed, naked, or lacking in decoration. It can also be a verb meaning to uncover or expose something or someone.
Like to vs. too or its vs. it’s, bear vs. bare is easy to confuse because they sound similar.
The Best Ways to Remember the Difference
If you need help to remember the difference between the two, consider using a mnemonic device. Mnemonics are little tricks that help us connect information using tools like imagery, music, and abbreviations.
If you’re meeting someone and you’re running late, make sure to send a message and ask the person you’re meeting with to bear with you.
Here are the top 3 ways to remember that the correct phrase is bear with me:
Picture a big bear being extraordinarily patient while waiting for spring (hibernation can be so boring).
Think about about how patient you’d have to be to play cards with a bear. He’d say, “Bear with meas I try to shuffle this deck without thumbs!”
Associate the BAR in bare with embarrassing. Asking someone to bare with you might be embarrassing.
What can I say Instead of Bear With me?
Here are alternatives to the phrase bear with me:
(Formal) Please be patient with me
(Formal) Thank you for being patient with me
(Formal) Please wait a moment
(Formal) Thank you for waiting
(Formal) I’ll be right with you
(Informal) Hold on
(Informal) Please stand by
(Informal) Thanks for putting up with me.
Where Does the Saying Bear With me Come From?
The saying bear with me most likely stems from what bear means. Literally, the verb to bear means to carry a heavy burden. Figuratively, it’s come to mean to endure or suffer through something. As a result, we probably get the phrase from sharing a burden or an unpleasant experience with someone. We can’t be sure who first used this “beary“ tricky phrase. However, we do know it dates back to at least around the year 1600. That’s when Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar and included this passage: “Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar.”
You say “bear with me” if you’re asking someone to be extra patient with you.
Shakespeare also used forms of this phrase as dialogue in other works, including King Lear, As You Like It, and Richard III.
This suggests that the phrase didn’t originate with Shakespeare but was rather a normal part of the everyday conversation at the time.
Other Idioms With Bear
There are other ways to use bear in a non-animal-related sentence.
When you’re planning your route to the airport,bear in mindthat there’s a lot of traffic at that time of day.
Even though it was her son who asked for a puppy, Mary had tobear the burdenof daily walks and regular vet visits.
I couldn’tbear to watchas my favorite team squandered their 10-run lead.
My mother’s lectures are annoying, but I love her so much I’ve learned to justgrin and bear it.
A mnemonic would work with all of these examples, too. “Grin and bear it” would be easy to remember if you thought about a polar bear wearing a big cheesy smile.
Unsure whether it’s bear in mind or bare in mind? Just think of a grizzly doing the Macarena inside your head.
Bear With Me or Bare With Me Infographic
Bare vs. Bare Recap
There are a few frustrating things about the English language—silent letters and contronyms, anyone? But there are some wonderfully fun aspects to it, too.
For example, some idioms conjure up hilarious images. If you’ve ever stumbled across the phrase bare with me and wondered whether you should embrace a clothing-free future, you’re not alone.
Or, this error might call to mind a bad dream where you get up in front of your class to give a speech and realize you’re nudie. Clearly, this usage is a nightmare, and therefore not the one you want to use!
Maybe you’re staring at your email, wondering whether you should be using bear with me or bare with me. We’ve been there!
The correct expression is actually bear with me. And no, it has nothing to do with big furry animals or nudity.
Ready to Avoid EmBARassment? Test Your Skills
Bear With Me or Bare With Me Question #1
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is FALSE. Although bear and bare have the same pronunciation, they mean different things.
Bear With Me Question #2
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is A. Bear with me is the correct way to ask someone to be patient with you.
Bear vs. Bare Question #3
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is TRUE. Imagine bear with me as a grizzly bear that's patiently waiting for spring.
People say blondes have more fun… but do they mean blonds? Deciding when to use blond vs. blonde gets tricky. This easy guide clarifies the difference so you can correctly describe men and women’s hair color.
Main Blond vs. Blonde Takeaways:
👱🏾♂️ Males are blonds with blond hair.
👱♀️ Females are blondes with blonde hair.
The words blond and blonde refer to fair hair.
The difference between the two comes from French.
Blond is the gender-neutral term.
Blond and blonde can be used as adjectives or nouns. As adjectives, American English generally prefers blond while British English typically prefers blonde.
Caffeinated drinks like coffee are blonde, not blond.
Adding the letter ‘s’ at the end of the word typically creates a plural version of blond/blonde.
My niece was completely blonde when she was a child.
He thinks that all women are beautiful, but prefers blondes.
Mr. Swanson is the tall, blond man on the left.
Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Swanson, the blonds on the left, are both tall.
James and Sophie are fraternal twins but they are blondhair.
(US English)Bernard, the New York stylist, prefers platinum blond to traditional golden highlights.
(UK English)Richard, the London stylist, prefers platinum blonde to traditional golden highlights.
Stella orders a blonde espresso every morning before heading to work.
Blond is to a man, while blonde is to a woman. As much as possible, avoid using these two as stand-alone nouns since some people find these terms, particularly “blonde,” sexist.
What is the Difference Between Blonde and Blond?
As nouns, the difference between blond vs. blonde is gender. Men are blond while women are blonde. Someone who identifies as neither male nor female is a blond with blond hair. Aside from gender, blond and blonde have the same meaning. Both words describe someone with light hair. What’s more, there is also a regional difference. As adjectives that describe things generally, American English prefers blond while British English prefers blonde.
A man has blond hair, and a woman has blonde hair.
Determining the difference between blond and blonde can confuse anyone unfamiliar with giving words genders. For example, American English speakers typically do not assign feminine or masculine genders to anything except humans.
Interestingly, things get a bit trickier when describing objects. For instance, some light-colored beverages, desserts, and building materials have different spellings. It’s important to note that this difference often stems from personal preferences, not grammar rules.
A café owner may sell blonde cappuccinos, but that doesn’t mean the drink is feminine. Likewise, a chair constructed from blond wood is not a masculine object.
Here are some examples of how to use blond vs. blonde as adjectives for inanimate objects, not as nouns for people:
Wood(grains): blond
Cupcakes: blonde
Beer: blond
Coffee: blonde
Blond and blonde are French words that became standard English terms in the 17th century. The French often assign different spellings to feminine and masculine words. That’s why there are two different terms for people with fair-colored hair.
Some gender-specific French words find a home in American English dictionaries. Over time, words often evolve and become interchangeable, even when it’s not grammatically correct.
Some said “blond” was derived from the old French word “blont,” while others said it’s from the old Latin word “blundus.” Both foreign words mean pale yellow.
Is Blond in the English Dictionary?
Yes. The term blond appears in both British and American English dictionaries. Below are the definitions for blond, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (American English):
Adjective: of a flaxen, golden, light auburn, or pale yellowish-brown color.
Noun: a person having blond hair
(Spelled blond when used for a boy or man and often blonde when used for a girl or woman.)
The following are the definitions for blond, according to the Collins Dictionary (British English):
Adjective: of a light colour; fair
Noun: A person, especially a man, having light-coloured hair and skin
As you see, there’s no difference at all when it comes to the definition or how blond is used in both forms of written and spoken English. Blond is technically considered a variant of the more popular term blonde and is commonly used as an adjective more than a noun.
Why is Blond Spelled Two Different Ways?
Blond is spelled two different ways because the difference between the nouns blond and blonde is gender. This difference has roots in the French language, which typically has masculine and feminine nouns. On one hand, blondeis the feminine noun; Women are blonde. On the other hand, blond is the masculine noun; Men are blond. The gender neutral version is blond. In other words, both blonde and blond are words, but using them correctly as nouns depends on gender. What’s more, the difference is regional when referring to general adjectives. For example, British English prefers blonde while American English prefers blond.
These rules apply regardless of whether someone has naturally light locks or bleaches their hair. You should also remember these rules when describing someone with highlights.
1. Feminine Noun: Blonde
Women have blondehair. A woman with light-colored hair is a blonde.
2. Masculine Noun: Blond
Men have blond hair. A man with light-colored hair is a blond.
3. Gender-Neutral Noun: Blond
Someone with an undetermined gender is a blond person with blond hair.
4. US Adjective: Blond
American English speakers and style guides opt for the gender-neutral term blond. Since objects do not usually have a gender in English, it makes sense to use the gender-neutral word.
5. UK Adjective: Blonde
British English speakers and conventions tend to use the feminine term blonde.
Is Blonde American or British?
When you want an adjective to describe an object, blonde is more common in British English while blond is more common in American English. However, when it comes to nouns, the difference between blond vs. blonde has to do with gender. For example, in the U.S., the AP Style Guide instructs to use blond (without the ‘e’) to describe a male with fair hair. Conversely, it calls for using blonde for a woman with fair hair (blonde). The gender neutral term is blond.
Blonde roast coffee, anyone?
What Does Blonde Mean at Starbucks?
When discussing coffee, use “blonde,” not “blond.” This adjective often refers more to the flavor than the appearance of the coffee. A blonde roast is light, smooth, and flavorful. But it may have the same hue as a medium roast. Therefore, at Starbucks blonde means lighter in flavor.
I ordered ablonde espressoat the café.
I requested ablond cup of javafrom the barista.
Coffee is always classified as blonde, not blond. As such, you can order a blonde roast, espresso, or latte. However, you cannot order a blond coffee.
What Is the Plural Form of Blond vs. Blonde?
The plural form of blond is blonds. Similarly, the plural form of blonde is blondes. This is because Blond and blonde typically take an ‘s’ when becoming plural. An apostrophe is not necessary unless you are conveying ownership.
Blondeshave more fun.
Blonde‘s have more fun.
An ‘s’ isn’t necessary when describing a group of similar men or women.
A trio ofblonde womenauditioned for the cheer squad.
Look at thoseblonds hunkson the swim team.
Use an apostrophe when showing that a blond man or blonde woman owns something. Place the apostrophe before an ‘s’ unless you are referencing multiple people.
Check out thatblonde‘s purse.
I love thatblondesshoes.
Tress Stress: Other Hair-Related Grammar Rules
Deciding between blond vs. blonde isn’t the only dilemma you may face when describing hair. Here are some other confusing words:
1. Gray/Grey
The rules for gray hair are less complicated than blond hair. When using American English, use gray. On the other hand, grey is the correct spelling for writers who use British English.
Remember: Blond is masculine, while blonde is feminine.
2. Hair /Hairs
Hair and hairs are both plural terms, but hair is also singular. You have a head of hair, but you can pluck out a strand of gray hair. If you remove several strands, you will end up with a collection of gray hairs. Therefore, do not add an ‘s’ to hair when describing a full head of hair rather than a few strands. This is because a head of hair is treated as a single item; It’s a collection of hairs. Since we’re referring to a singular object in this case, we need the singular noun hair, not the plural hairs.
She has naturally red hair, but she discovered three gray hairs last night.
Her entire head of hair is red except for the three gray strands she found.
She brushed her hairs.
3. Brunet vs. Brunette
Like blond/blonde, brunet and brunette are also French terms. A brown-haired man is a brunet, and a brown-haired woman is a brunette. However, brunet isn’t commonly used in American English, so you can get away with using brunette for either gender.
Brunette is typically a noun, not an adjective. In fact, in American English, the term brunette usually isn’t used as an adjective. Instead, it makes more sense to say someone has brown hair.
She is a brunette.
She has lovely brunette hair.
With Knowledge Comes EnLIGHTenment
Now that you know the difference between blond and blonde, the next time you read a joke that starts with “three blonds walk into a bar,” you’ll have a new perspective to consider.
Should you use Blond or Blonde? Take This Quick Quiz to Test Your Blond vs. Blonde Skills
Blond vs. Blonde Question #1
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is C. “Blonde” can work as a noun or adjective. It describes someone with light hair.
Blonde or Blond Question #2
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is B. Men are blond, and women are blonde.
Blond or Blonde Question #3
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is BLOND. The gender neutral terms would be a blond person with blond hair.
Blonde vs. Blond Question #4
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is B. Coffee is always classified as blonde, not blond.
Blonde vs. Blond Question #5
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is A. Light-colored wood is blond, not blonde.
Nowadays, LOL means “laugh out loud,” not “lots of love.”
Respond with LOL to show that you think something is really funny.
LOL is usually stronger than a simple “ha” or “haha.”
You mostly see LOL in online conversations like texts, chats, and on social media.
LOL can be a verb or an interjection.
There are no capitalization rules for LOL.
LMAO, LOLZ, hehe, haha, and the crying face emoji ? are alternatives to LOL.
Even though it’s an official word, it’s more appropriate for casual conversations and not formal settings.
That video you sent was hilarious!
LOL I know! I watched it like 20 times ??
LOL is a social media and text message staple. It’s also one of the most used expressions in this Digital Age. Ever wondered why? We’ll break down the LOL meaning, including when it is okay to use it in your conversations and when it’s not.
What Does LOL Mean in a Text?
LOL stands for “laugh out loud.” It means that the person found something so funny that it made them laugh out loud. Even if you don’t literally laugh out loud, you can still use LOL to show that you think something is particularly funny or amusing. It’s considered text speak or textese because it usually only appears in digital communications. For example, this acronym is popular in social media posts and text messages. Because LOL is a slang term, its appropriate for casual conversation and not formal settings. Grammatically, LOL is classified as a verb and an interjection, or a word that expresses strong emotion.
LOLZ is a popular LOL alternative that can be used for genuine amusement or with sarcasm.
Most often, LOL is something you see in writing and don’t say. But, some say LOL out loud sarcastically or when making fun.
LOL is often pronounced by spelling out the letters. When you say LOL aloud, it sounds like el-oh-el. Some people also say loll. This pronunciation has a long ‘o,’ and it rhymes with poll and troll.
What is the Meaning of the Word LOL?
The meaning of LOL is laugh out loud or laughing out loud. This word is a verb and an interjection, meaning it’s often used to show the action of laughing out loud or to show a strong emotion. LOL is appropriate for casual conversations online or in text messages. Use this abbreviation when you find something funny. Even if you just smile or giggle, you can still use LOL. Nobody expects you to laugh out loud when you say LOL, but it’s okay if you do.
It’s important to note that even though LOL is an official word, it’s not usually appropriate for many professional or educational settings.
What’s more, some might also use LOL in a passive-aggressive way. More and that a bit later.
Can LOL Mean Lots of Love?
The most common meaning of LOL is laugh out loud. When you use LOL, the majority of people will understand it to mean laugh out loud and not lots of love. Less common uses of LOL include lots of love and lots of luck. However, these two uses might be considered old-fashioned or outdated. To avoid a misunderstanding or seeming sarcastic, we recommend only using LOL to mean laugh out loud or laughing out loud.
LOL was first coined in the ’80s on a bulletin board system called Viewline in Calgary, Canada.
How to Look Good When you use LOL
When you find something mildly amusing to outright hilarious, use LOL.
Since there are no capitalization rules, feel free to write lol in all lowercase letters, LOL in all uppercase letters, or LoL in a mix of the two.
You might add one or a few crying face emojis ?. Or, replace LOL with emojis all together.
Another option is to type LOL multiple times when you find something hilarious.
OMG that’s hilarious, lol lol lol
When to Use LOL
Usually, you use LOL in response to something. This might be in text message to a friend or loved one. Or, as a comment on a social media post.
Here are some situations when responding with LOL is appropriate:
Viewing a funny meme
Reading a joke
Watching a funny video
Reading a silly story
Seeing a funny photo
Just make sure you use LOL during appropriate times. When a boss or client says something funny, you may prefer to respond with “haha.” You can also reply with a sentence, such as “That’s funny.”
LOL is a slang commonly used in casual digital conversations like in text messages, on social media, and in chats.
LOL is generally not appropriate for more formal settings like at work or at school.
Here are some situations when textese is appropriate:
There are no hard grammar rules for the capitalization of LOL. Since it’s an acronym, it’s traditionally represented in all caps.
However, it’s mostly used in informal context. This means you’ll most likely see it written in lowercase letters as lol or as a mix of upper and lowercase as Lol.
When something is particularly hilarious, many add extra letters to make varieties like Lolz or LOLLLL.
All of these capitalization approaches are acceptable:
LOL
Lol
lol
You can also add extra letters to LOL. Some people do this to show they find something hilarious.
LOLLLLLLLLL
LOOOOOOOL
lololol
LOLZ
LOLZ also expresses sarcasm, but some texters use it when they are genuinely amused.
Sarcastic LOLing and LOLZ
Some people also use LOL to be passive-aggressive. For example, you might see this kind of sarcastic LOL when someone makes a self-deprecating comment or bashes an ex.
You can also respond with LOL when someone makes a ridiculous request.
You think I’d date you again? LOL!
You want me to stay late when Marco gets to leave work early? LOL, no thanks.
LOL, the bank just repossessed my car. Got me!
Technically, LOLZ is more appropriate than LOL when using sarcasm. LOLZ was created for this purpose. However, many people still prefer to use the traditional version of the word.
“Haha” is an LOL alternative you can use in writing to express genuine amusement.
What can I use Instead of LOL?
Some LOL alternatives include LMAO, or laughing my ass off. Another is LMFAO, which stands for laughing my f**cking ass off . These two can be a little stronger than LOL and are definitely not appropriate for formal settings. A more PG version is LMBO, or laughing my butt off. Other LOL alternatives are haha and hehe. The funnier you find something, the more letters you can add, as in hahahahaha or hehehehehe. Similarly, you could just forget words all together and go with one or multiple crying laughing emojis ??.
1. LMAO
This means “laughing my ass off.”
PG Version: If you are uncomfortable using profanity, type “LMBO” instead. It means “laughing my butt off.”
This option is the same as LMAO, but with the f-word.
PG Version: LMFBO is a cleaner term that can mean “laughing my freaking butt off.”
3. KEK*
Some gamers say “KEK” when they find something funny. KEK is the Korean translation for LOL. The acronym often appears in World of Warcraft and other online games.
*But, be careful when you use this one. In recent years, the meaning has changed from an LOL alternative to a political statement. As a result, it’s taken on a negative connotation.
This is because some started to associate it with a popular Internet conspiracy. It’s also been associated with Alt-Right politics.
Armed with this knowledge of laughing with letters, you’re now free to respond to all jokes, memes, and videos confidently conveying the appropriate reaction. You don’t have to laugh out loud to use this acronym.
Ready to use LOL Like a Pro? Test your Skills With a Quick Quiz
Question #1
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is A. LOL is an acronym commonly used in texts and social media posts, and it means “laugh out loud.”
Question #2
Please select 2 correct answers
Correct!Wrong!
The answers are C and D. We can use LOL as an interjection — for example, LOL! That’s really funny. It can also describe an action — for example, I LOL at his jokes.
Question #3
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is B. LOL is generally not appropriate for professional communication like work email.
Question #4
Correct!Wrong!
The answer is FALSE. There are no capitalization rules for lol.
Increasing your position in search engine results goes beyond publishing content and hoping for the best. Regardless of how optimized your content is, numerous factors can prevent your website from ranking on Google SERP. Some reasons why your content fails to rank might be:
Your Site Isn’t Indexed
The Page Loading of Your Site is Slow
Your Content Doesn’t Match Search Intent
Your Target Keyword is too Competitive
You Don’t Have Many (Quality!) Backlinks
You Have Duplicate Content
You Don’t Publish Consistently
If your content fails to rank, ask yourself these questions:
Is your site indexed?
How fast is its loading speed?
Is your your Domain Authority too low for the keyword you’re targeting?
Is your content relevant to what people are searching?
Are your pages too similar to one another?
Are you publishing often enough?
Not sure what some of these questions mean? No worries. In this article, we’ll break down each one into 7 clear reasons.
Why is Your Website not Ranking?
SEO can take longer to work than other tactics. Sometimes, it can take several weeks for Google to notice your site or a new page (index you). SEO is not just about content. Optimizing things on the web page like metadata, readability, headers, and topical relevance are all part of On-Page SEO. Also, beyond optimizing your content, or what is on the page, there’s Technical SEO. This relates to how quickly your pages load. And, how strong your site’s digital reputation (Domain Authority) is. While SEO takes longer to work, it tends to deliver consistent traffic over time.
Waiting for Google to index your page is like waiting in line for a table at an exclusive restaurant | cornfield / Shutterstock.com
According to Backlinko, Google uses as many as 200 factors in its algorithm for ranking websites. These include user interactions, backlinks, brand signals, and more.
However, a handful of culprits are most likely hindering your website.
Let’s take a deeper look at 7 reasons why your content might not be ranking well in search engine results:
7 Reasons Why Your Content Fails to Rank in Google Results
1. Your Site Isn’t Indexed
If Google doesn’t index your website, it won’t appear in search engine rankings.
What is Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking in SEO?
Google is constantly scanning the web for new pages. This is called “crawling“. Then, once Google finds the page, it will add it to its library of pages, or index it. Finally, Google begins to send test traffic to indexed pages to see if they are relevant to what people are searching for. If the page meets Google’s criteria, Google will rank the page.
Think of an index in a book. It’s a list of names and their location inside the book.
When a new website goes live, Google won’t index it immediately. In fact, it might take a while for Google bots to crawl its pages.
With thousands of new pages published every day, it’s no wonder it can take Google some time to get around to indexing each one.
If you want Google and your target audience to notice you, aim to create authoritative content that stands out. | Roman Samborskyi / Shutterstock.com
Why Google Hasn’t Indexed Your Site
1. You’re Using a “no-index” tag in your metadata: Using a “no-index tag” prevents Google from crawling specific website pages.
For example, many websites prevent search engines from crawling “thank you” pages.
However, doing so could unintentionally de-index pages that you want to rank. As unlikely as it sounds, it happens.
2. It’s Really New: It’s also possible that Google hasn’t indexed your website yet, especially if it’s new.
Although the timeline is up for debate, reports suggest that it takes four days to four weeks to crawl and index a new website.
How to Fix This:
Check your metadata. If the page has a “no-index” tag, remove it.
If your website is new, you can make the indexing process faster by submitting a site map via the Google Search Console.
Also, consider sharing your articles across social media networks.
2. The Page Loading of Your Site is Slow
Slow page loading time is also a reason why your content fails to rank. Remember, no one wants to wait forever for a page to load. People searching for answers want them now!
Bloated sites and heavy pages can take several seconds to load. Often, large images and other media are the reasons a page may load slowly.
Why do site speed and page speed matter?
Waiting for a page to load… | Knumina Studios / Shutterstock.com
Content that takes too long to load can frustrate readers. This means that slow speeds can create a negative User Experience. Since Google aims to make the Internet as accessible as possible, slow sites don’t tend to rank well.
It takes about 10.2 seconds to fully load a web page on a desktop. Meanwhile, the average load time on mobile is as much as 27.3 seconds.
Unfortunately, most users don’t stick around that long for a web page to load. At best, we’re looking at three seconds.
Expectedly, this could harm your bounce rate — a metric that reveals how visitors enter your site and leave. The logic is if people find your site valuable, they’ll stick around for a longer period.
Meaning, if your website appears to be valuable to the search engine, it’ll help your ranking and vice versa.
The solution is to work on your page speed.
How to Fix This:
Make sure you size images appropriately. You want to strike a balance between the ideal quality and size. We designed INK to automatically compress image imports to help with this.
Also, take advantage of caching to avoid users reloading things they don’t have to
Avoid too many redirects
You should also use a content distribution network
Improving browser response time
3. Your Content Doesn’t Match Search Intent
Understanding intent is crucial to ranking well in search engines. If your content doesn’t satisfy the intent of your readers, they will go somewhere else. In other words, if your page content is not relevant to your target users, it won’t rank well.
Understanding User Intent boils down to understanding what your target audience is looking for when they google something. Are they looking to make a purchase? Are they trying to answer a specific question?
What is User Intent?
We like to think that optimizing a page is like putting together an outfit. A well-optimized page ranking #1 in search results is like being the best-dressed for the occasion: all eyes can’t help but notice you.
But, in order to be the best dressed, you must first understand the occasion. This is the same as understanding user intent.
Optimizing a page is like putting together an outfit. | MS_studio / Shutterstock.com
For example, even though it might look amazing, a fur coat and pearls just aren’t the best match for a Fourth of July BBQ. You probably wouldn’t just rush outside in a bikini during a snowstorm, either.
In this way, the occasion is the “user intent,” or the intention that someone has when they search something in Google.
Understanding what people expect to find and how they are searching for it helps you understand the occasion.
Once you understand the user intent, you can start to put together the ideal outfit. Or in this case, craft the ideal page to satisfy the user intent.
How Keywords Relate to User Intent
Keywords are no different than regular words. They are only important because they symbolize ideas. Therefore, your keywords should represent the key ideas in your content.
If the keywords don’t appear on the page, don’t use them in the metadata. Otherwise, that would be keyword stuffing and search engines do not like that. It just doesn’t work anymore.
Intent Misalignment
Let’s say there is a topic you’re really into. And, you want tons of people to know about it. You decide to write an article to get the word out. Of course, you want it to be at the top of search engine rankings so more people see and learn about it. How do you choose the right keyword?
Before you even start writing, imagine what someone might search to find your article. Make a list of those words, phrases, and questions.
This exercise gives you insight into the user intent, or what the person searching a keyword expects to find in search engine results. Just like keywords represent ideas, they represent intent.
Your content should match the intent of your target audience. Your content and search intent should fit together perfectly like two puzzle pieces. | Isaeka11 / Shutterstock.com
Google your keyword ideas and see what kind of results you get. Do they match your expectation? Are they similar to the article you want to write? If not, there might be some intent misalignment.
Imagine you didn’t go through the above exercise. You just found a great keyword opportunity and used it to write an article. What if your article doesn’t have anything to do with your keyword?
That’s another example of intent misalignment. If someone is searching for “best garden tools,” what do they expect to find? Why would someone search this keyword?
Most likely, the user is looking to buy new garden tools and is researching the most quality options. They expect to find a list of garden tools. They expect to find comparisons of different tools and reviews of each. This would help the user make the most informed decision.
If your article doesn’t include the above information, you won’t have the best chance of dominating search engine rankings.
How to Fix This:
This is exactly why we designed INKPro to help make sure your content is relevant by identifying the main topics for your keyword. Then, INK helps you cover each topic completely.
INK Pro’s Topical Completeness feature provides real-time topic recommendations to help improve the relevance of your content.
4. Your Target Keyword is too Competitive
Using a highly competitive keyword is another reason why your content fails to rank on SERP.
But, what makes a keyword competitive?
Just like your ranking position, there are tons of factors that determine how difficult a keyword is.
Your Domain Authority is Low
One key factor is your Domain Authority, or DA (Moz). This is also called a Domain Rating, or DR (Ahrefs). This is a measure of how much of an authority your site is on the subject you’re targeting. DA is measured on a scale from 0 – 100, with 0 as the lowest DA and 100 as the highest.
Some keyword research tools take into consideration the Moz’s domain authority metric to predict the competitiveness of a keyword. Sites with lower DA may not have the best chance of ranking for competitive keywords. New sites tend to have a lower DA.
In contrast, sites with higher DA have a better chance of ranking for competitive keywords.
Forbes’ domain authority (Moz) is 95, making it one of the most authoritative sites today.
While it’s not a ranking factor, you can think of domain authority as your site’s reputation. It’s a measure of your credibility. A high DA means you are an authority on the subject. Therefore, you have an authoritative site.
Take this real-world example to help explain this digital version:
A new sandwich shop opens in your neighborhood. This new spot is next to the corner deli that’s been around for 50 years. The historical deli is an established business that everyone knows and loves.
If the Classic Deli had a website, it would probably have a high DA. It’s been around for decades. And, it’s proved that it makes good sandwiches.
If the New Sandwich Shop had a website, it would probably have a low DA. It’s brand new and opened last week. It hasn’t had a chance to prove it makes good sandwiches. It hasn’t had any customers to validate them.
As a beginner, it’s expected that you would want to target keywords with the most search volume. Unfortunately, the difficulty may be too high for your current domain authority.
The solution here is to pick the right battle.
Strategize and target the right keywords. | madpixblue / Shutterstock.com
How to Fix This:
Go For Easier Keywords: Target keywords with a Difficulty Score under 40. If your site is brand new, choose keywords with a Difficulty Score under 30. Start with the keywords that are easy to get, even if they have a low search volume. Then, work your way up to the more competitive keywords as your website grows.
Give it time: Once your site is indexed, it will gradually build authority over time. This is only if you prove to the community that you know what you’re talking about. You can do this by continuing to produce content that is relevant to your site and what people are searching for on that topic.
Build Backlinks: You can increase your DA faster by building quality backlinks. We’ll dig a little deeper into Backlinks in the next section.
5. You Don’t Have Many (Quality!) Backlinks
Think of backlinks like the digital version of social validation. Backlinks are like street cred. The more you prove yourself as a valuable and trustworthy source of information, the more credible you become.
When you apply for a new job, you often provide references. You might give a killer interview. And, you might have an impressive resume. But, your potential employee might ask for references to help validate what you say.
Backlinks are like references. Backlinks are other sites that link back to yours. They link back to your site because your content says something that they found valuable, useful, or credible.
It’s like a citation or a reference in an academic paper. In fact, back links are closely related to Referring Domains.
Let’s go back to our neighborhood example with the New Sandwich Shop versus the Classic Deli.
Stellar online reviews could help improve your site’s credibility and authority. |linksTierneyMJ / Shutterstock.com
Stop a neighbor on the street and ask where to eat? They’ll tell you to go to the Classic Deli. The deli is so good, people know it by word-of-mouth.
Plus, the deli has hundreds of positive reviews on Yelp. On the other hand, the New Sandwich Shop doesn’t have any reviews yet.
Word-of-mouth recommendations and stellar online reviews are like backlinks for the Classic Deli. They help increase the deli’s credibility or authority on the subject of sandwiches.
How Strong is Your Website’s Backlink Profile?
According to a Backlinko study, the number of domains linking to a page is the most important ranking factor. A site at rank one has nearly six times as many links as a website at rank ten.
It’s not all about the number of links. Quality matters, too. Who cares about 1,000 Yelp Reviews if the majority of them are spam?
The phrase “guilty by association” is one way to describe how search engines view website linking.
Screenshot of a high-authority site’s DR rating, backlinks, referring domains, and organic keywords.
If you get links from high authority websites, your content looks more is trustworthy to Google’s Ranking Algorithm. In turn, Google is more likely to rank your content.
Conversely, if you get a link from a spammy site, it could hurt your chances of ranking well. The same thing applies to links that came from sites not related to your niche.
This is where using SEO link building software can make a significant difference, ensuring you acquire quality backlinks from reputable sources. By leveraging these building software, you can streamline your efforts and focus on securing high-value links, ultimately improving your site’s ranking and visibility.
How to Fix This:
Quality over Quantity: Focus on building legitimate editorial backlinks from relevant authoritative websites in your industry.
Some ways to do this effectively include:
guest posting
creating infographics
link sharing by reaching out to relevant, high authority sites in your industry and asking them to include your link in their content
The right ecommerce or SAAS link building strategies not only enhances your website’s credibility but also improves its search engine ranking. Remember, the goal is not just to accumulate links, but to secure high-quality ones that signal to search engines the value and relevance of your content.
6. You Have Duplicate Content
This refers to page content that is either:
an exact match or copy of the content on another page, or
very similar to other content
Duplicate content doesn’t always mean plagiarism or have malicious intent. With so many pages on the Internet covering the same topics, some content might be similar. It can be an honest mistake.
However, some sites may use this technique to deceive search engines and manipulate rankings.
Whatever the case, duplicate content can only hurt your SEO. Instead of getting high SERP ranking, your content might fail to rank at all.
Why?
Let’s say Google encounters several pages that are similar. As it analyzes them, it might have trouble deciding which one is more relevant to a user’s search.
If it can’t decide, it may stop considering your content and move on to analyzing other pages. This means that Google wouldn’t rank your page for this search.
Two virtually identical pieces of content vying for audience attention may end up invisible. | Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
Some adverse effects of using duplicate content include:
Your rankings may suffer: This would make your content less visible to the audience it was created for
Google ranks the “wrong” page: Imagine you wrote an article targeting a competitive keyword when you were just starting out. Then, a year later your authority is a little stronger. You decide to write a new article targeting the same keyword instead of updating the original article. Chances are you want Google to rank the new and improved version. But what happens if Google prioritizes the original article instead? This is a risk you take if you have duplicate content on your site.
Google removes your site from its index altogether: In this case, your site will no longer appear in search results
How to Fix This:
Understand if you Have Duplicate Content: Consider using this tool to see if there is any duplicate content on your site.
Use Meta Tags: Set a canonical URL to tell search engines which page to rank — tons of WordPress plugins can help here. The canonical should be the URL of the page you want Google to rank. First, Google crawls your page and sees the canonical is different than the current page URL. In this case, it knows to go to the canonical URL and consider that one for ranking instead.
7. You Don’t Publish Consistently
We’ve heard it a thousand times: consistency is key.
This old adage is as true for SEO as it is for life in general. It’s not enough to publish content every once in a while.
Publishing regularly can help increase your rankings by:
Giving Google more opportunities to find and rank your content. The more you put out there, the more likely it is that Google will find you.
Helping increase your site authority
Remember: Google tends to reward authoritative sites that contribute to the most valuable resources over time.
In this way, the Authority isn’t just about age or backlinks. Those are just a measure of authority.
Being a true authority is about knowing your topic inside and out. It’s about building a strong reputation as an expert over time.
If you want to be an authority in your chosen field, make sure that you stay on top of everything. Create a content calendar! | zaozaa19 / Shutterstock.com
When we say someone is an “authority on the subject”, it means that they know a lot about the topic. And, that the person has actively studied and discussed it for a long time. The person might regularly give talks at conferences or publish books on the subject.
A website is no different. It’s a digital extension of your expertise.
To help ensure you publish relevant content regularly create a content calendar. Use a detailed content calendar with due dates to help keep a rigid schedule.
This doesn’t mean you have to publish 100 articles per day. Whatever your frequency, the most important takeaway is to be consistent.
We totally understand that creating content can be challenging — roughly 57 percent of B2B marketers in a survey attested to that. And that’s understandable since it takes a considerable amount of time to produce quality content.
However, publishing articles regularly increases your likelihood of ranking well on Google.
How to Fix This:
Use a Content Calendar: apps like CoSchedule can help keep your publishing schedule on track. And, help automate social posting and re-posting.
Consider Hiring a Content Agency: if constantly coming up with new ideas and keeping up with programming isn’t for you, an expert content creation agency can take care of this for you.
How to Check if Your Website is Ranking
Image Credit: janjf93 | pixabay.com
Several tools can tell you whether or not your site is. These can also let you know which keywords you’re ranking for.
Some of these rank tracking software options include SEMrush, AccuRanker, Ahrefs, etc.
SEMrush is one of the most popular professional software for keyword checking. Aside from helping users to find and analyze relevant keywords, this tool also offers a position tracking feature.
That means you can add keywords for rank tracking. Simply connect your Search Console and pull up the keywords from there. After that, SEMrush can send you weekly notification of ranking changes.
Accuranker is a dedicated keyword position checker. Not only does AccuRanker help you track keywords on Google Search, but you also have the option of Bing and Yandex.
AccuRanker is fast and accurate. What’s more, it allows users to check keyword ranking in a target country or city.
Google Search Console is an easy-to-use tool that explains how a search engine sees your website. Aside from search engine ranking details, this tool also offers PageSpeed Insights.
How to Check if Your Site is Ranking
You can use the “site” search operator to check if your site is on Google. It’ll also show the number of pages on your website that Google has indexed.
A search operator or parameter is a string for narrowing the focus of specific search queries. By including the “site” directive, you’ll have an estimated figure of the number of pages that you have on Google.
How to do This:
Option 1: Enter the URL of the domain name and include the directive without adding space
Example: site:domain.com
The number of pages indexed pages should appear at the top of the search results.
Option 2: Combine the “site” search operator with keywords your pages are targeting. Search for site:domain.com + keyword.
You’ll find all the indexed pages on your site that contain that specific keyword.
