Inclusive writing and SEO: do they go hand in hand?
Inclusive, neutral, non-gendered, non-discriminating writing, ... whatever its name, I debated the subject! Also, after qualifying inclusive writing as a "mortal peril" in 2017, the French Academy finally recognized, in 2019, the validity of female occupation names. Progress is therefore possible! But whether you are for or against it, a question arises when used on the internet: do inclusive writing and SEO go hand in hand? Decryption.
What is inclusive writing?
We call it inclusive writing, epicene language, writing without gender stereotypes, neutral language, ... but what is it? Concretely, this practice aims to write by removing gender stereotypes. This is a set of graphic and syntactic attention that ensures equality of representations between women and men, to avoid any discrimination.
Why inclusive writing? Two postulates. Changing mentalities is necessary to advance equality; to achieve this, we must act on what builds them: language.
Therefore, inclusive writing is based on three conventions:
Grant gender names of functions, ranks, trades, and titles.
Examples: an author, a teacher, a chef, ...
Use the feminine and the masculine as soon as we talk about an individual that can be a man and/or a woman.
Example: a project manager, the chair of the board, etc.
Stop using the prestige capital letter to the word "Man" to refer to all of humanity.
Example: human rights
Note: we speak of "conventions" rather than "rules". This is not an alternative grammar but an egalitarian use of language.
There is much more inclusive writing:
- Parentheses: Musician
- The slash Musician
- The dashes: Musician
- The midpoint or midpoint: Musician
- The point: Musician
- The agglomerate (for "our" / "ice" shapes): electric, Agriculture, ...
Inclusive writing: what impact on SEO?
When using inclusive writing in web writing, the question of natural referencing, or SEO, arises. Google algorithms indeed analyze the keywords present in the texts to position the articles in the search results. The algorithms thus classify the results from the most relevant to the least relevant, according to the correspondence between the searched keywords and the keywords present in the text. This is where inclusive writing and SEO do not agree ... The presence of typographical signs used in inclusive writing (midpoint, dashes, parentheses, ...) Can create difficulties to read for the algorithm, besides makeup only a minority of requests entered by users.
Someone indeed based on the logic that governs SEO on the requests of Internet users. For an article to generate traffic, it must respond to a frequently searched query. And internet users are not (yet) used to doing their research in inclusive writing! In addition, the few users to do so can use the 6 different forms that we mentioned above ... Double problem: the requests in inclusive writing are in the minority, and dispersed.
Olivier Andrieu considered one of the French SEO experts, sums up the question in three points:
[There is] no problem if one writes in inclusive writing and is sought after in inclusive writing, although the practice is in the minority. If you write in inclusive writing, there is little chance of being found with classic queries.
The coexistence of several forms of inclusive writing complicates the research.
Until search engines deal with this kind of query, inclusive writing is not a good SEO idea.
You will understand: inclusive writing should be avoided if you want to position your site at the top of Google search results! As long as search engines don't process this type of query, but as long as users don't type in this type of query - and in a standardized way, inclusive writing and SEO won't mix.
Note: Also pay attention to the use of inclusive writing in newsletters. E-mailing CMSs can generate misinterpretations regarding links with midpoints.
Is the keyword predominant on gender equality?
Since the keyword issue governs the ranking of search results, the web editor can be reluctant to use inclusive writing. Yet there are more and more examples of gender-neutral writing on the web. If they are still isolated, these practices are encouraging ... especially as some behemoths of the editorial staff are getting down to it. Indeed, Le Monde recently introduced new writing rules for its journalists, for gender-neutral writing. This advance is even more significant as the newspaper is authoritative with Google algorithms. The hope of natural referencing based on gender-neutral keywords, therefore, remains possible! The practice of the web may eventually impose non-discriminating writing in the logic of SEO. When inclusive writing is used more frequently, it will gain importance in Google algorithms, which will encourage web professionals to use it ... and so on!
If inclusive writing and SEO don't mix today, a virtuous circle can gradually lead to a helpful marriage. And writing professionals are the first agents of this change! Read by thousands of people, don't they have a duty to spread non-discriminating writing? Are they not the most legitimate to shake up the codes and practices of the language? Pay attention to SEO, yes. Writing for robots rather than humans, no! But how can you work for gender equality without plunging traffic to your website? Do not be discouraged, there are tips!
How to be inclusive without being excluded by Google algorithms?
Tip # 1:
If you want to work directly to advance the virtuous circle of inclusive writing / SEO, you can use inclusive writing in body text. However, ban titles (H1, H2, H3,…) which have a lot of weight in natural referencing. Also, ban curls to avoid errors, and alternative tags intended for the visually impaired. Prefer the midpoint to slashes, hyphens, and parentheses: these typographies are more difficult to read, especially for people with disabilities, dyslexia, or dysorthography.
Tip # 2:
Favor generic and encompassing terms: prefer expressions such as "the editorial team", "the teaching staff", "the medical profession". By referring to the collective rather than the individual, you avoid any qualification of a kind. When possible, use neutral epicene words: "artist", "specialist", "partner", "manager", ...
Tip # 3:
Double the terms, using both feminine and masculine: "the spectators gave a standing ovation (in 2019)".
Tip # 4:
If you feel that tip 3 weighs down the text too much, you can choose to only double the article, when it is in the singular: "The web editor is racking his brains to adopt inclusive writing compatible with SEO ".
Tip # 5:
With an enumeration, favor the alphabetical order: "equality between women and men".
There are many possibilities for adopting the non-discriminating language. It is therefore up to everyone to embrace inclusive writing, using the resources offered by the French language. Use makes the language so change practices, with a view to a fair representation of society!
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