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  4. Does capitalization matter for SEO?

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Does capitalization matter for SEO?

Intermediate & Advanced SEO
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  • scanlin
    scanlin last edited by Feb 10, 2011, 10:55 PM

    Two places capitalization comes into play:

    (1) on-page use (title, h1, body text, img alt text, etc)

    (2) external anchor text

    I didn't think it mattered from Google's point of view for on-page usage (is this correct?) but I notice that OpenSiteExplorer' s 'anchor text distribution' tab shows different counts for the same keyword if it's capitalized in different ways (eg seomoz.org is listed separate from SEOmoz.org). Is that just OSE or does Google treat the keyword/phrase different based on its capitalization, too?

    And if so, then should I be creating external links to my site with the 'regular' and 'Capitalized' versions of my key phrases?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
    • Deacyde
      Deacyde @WhinClores last edited by Jun 23, 2016, 9:30 PM Jun 23, 2016, 9:30 PM

      It still takes place, and can be up to a page apart in ranking a site for one keyword and capitalized and lowercase as well lowercase results were 1,450,000 and uppercase were 2,430,000 that's kinda offputting since for many keywords, it's going to be a matter of preference of a user on how they will either uppercase or lowercase a search term.

      It's sad 3+ years later it's still the norm.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • topic:timeago_earlier,3 years
      • WhinClores
        WhinClores last edited by Feb 28, 2013, 10:42 PM Feb 28, 2013, 10:42 PM

        I already encountered this since 2004, having keywords with capitalization and non capitalization has different results in Google.

        Deacyde 1 Reply Last reply Jun 23, 2016, 9:30 PM Reply Quote 0
        • topic:timeago_earlier,2 years
        • SeattleOrganicSEO
          SeattleOrganicSEO last edited by Mar 7, 2011, 2:19 AM Mar 7, 2011, 2:19 AM

          So, to summarize, it doesn't matter for SEO 😉

          However, it can matter for URL's, CRO, CTR, backlink juice and a few other possible issues that are more language use related.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • UPform5
            UPform5 last edited by Mar 3, 2011, 12:48 AM Mar 3, 2011, 12:48 AM

            it doesn't matter don't worry 🙂

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • topic:timeago_earlier,19 days
            • Dr-Pete
              Dr-Pete Staff @goodnewscowboy last edited by Feb 11, 2011, 1:55 PM Feb 11, 2011, 1:55 PM

              Agreed - I've seen it cause duplicate content issues with URLs, but I'm not aware of situations where it mattered in on-page keywords. I don't like lower-case page TITLEs, because they look spammy, but that's more a CRO factor.

              One minor exception, but I'm not sure it's in play anymore. I once ran into something where acronyms were pulling up different results depending on what case they were in. Google might have been mistaking the acronym in question for a misspelled word, though - it's a really isolated case.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • ThomasHgenhaven
                ThomasHgenhaven last edited by Feb 11, 2011, 6:31 AM Feb 11, 2011, 6:31 AM

                I agree that capitalization doesn't matter in SEO, and that it can only influence you negatively if you make mixed case URLs as they are harder to link to.

                That being said, I have sometimes observed that SERPS are different on lowercase and higher case queries.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • goodnewscowboy
                  goodnewscowboy last edited by Feb 11, 2011, 1:55 PM Feb 11, 2011, 2:29 AM

                  Hi Mike:

                  Keyword capitlization  makes  a difference is in the URL's. (Personally I recommend sticking to lowercase.)

                  As far as elsewhere on page  as far as I can tell, the search engines don't differentiate.

                  Dr-Pete 1 Reply Last reply Feb 11, 2011, 1:55 PM Reply Quote 4
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