How many websites does it take to spell the word chocolate wrong? The answer is 42,800 according to Google. If you search for dark chocloate you will find 12,000 websites that contain a typo of the word chocolate spelled incorrectly as chocloate. I am sheepishly willing to admit that you will find Mr. Besilly neatly nestled in at number (4) four in those Google search results for dark chocloate. Had I spelled the word correctly in my post back on March 26th, you would have never discovered my article buried somewhere around the eight thousand mark. My misspelling of the word chocolate quickly placed me at the front of the entire cyber classroom with chocloate egg on my face wearing that big pointed cap.
I was flabbergasted to find this little known oddity about the word chocolate on the world wide web. I fancy myself to be a meticulous spell checker, but in my post "Dark Chocolate: Love At First Site" I found the word chocolate perfectly misspelled in the body of my post. I figured this out when I saw a Google search that lead someone to my article, they googled "dark chocloate" and blammo! My article appeared at number four in the list. The same search on Technorati for dark chocloate in blog posts produces results with my article at number fifteen in the list of 103 blogs. Wow! I'm now an infamous amateur typo artist.
I immediately went back to my post and made the proper correction only to realize that there were 11,996 other chocloate typos following mine in the Google search results. How could this be? Can 42,800 people really spell the word chocolate wrong? Yes! They certainly can. Google the word chocloate and see the results for yourself. I am convinced that this typo has reached epidemic proportions. I have unwittingly discovered a spell check disaster in the world of chocolate. The Craftables website in the UK offers Chocloate Bunnies for sale. Bed and Breakfast.com offers their recipe for Chocloate Decadence. A website called Waymarking posts a picture of Hershey's Chocloate World and Powell's offers a Robert Smith booked titled Chocloate Fever. I'm not making this stuff up either.
It's amazing what an optical illusion is created when the word chocolate is spelled incorrectly. It takes a moment to realize that choc-lo-ate has nothing to do with that delectable edible saviour of all humanity. It's dark chocolate that is uniquely esteemed with that distinguishable honor. The next time you set out to write an article, blog post, recipe or to sell your book, you had better spell check carefully or you may end up at the top of a saerch engine for the worng reason. An achievement no true writer wants to celebrate. On the other hand, if you're looking for a way to boost your site traffic, consider the appropriate typo your new key to success. Cheers!
Ewe had me in stiches reeding this poast.
Thanx. Totelly luvd it.
Fownd this peace, related to Google AdWords, at http://blog.1stpromotion.com/?p=54
"As a precaution until you know what you are doing you are better off not to bid on the major keywords in your niche because you will spend a small fortune in a matter of minutes. Bidding on lesser searched keywords, mispelled words and variations is a great way to get very specific traffic for a fraction of what you would spend on higher searched phrases."
Namaste,
Thea
Posted by: Thea Westra | April 23, 2007 at 07:08 AM
Great little lesson on SEO. I run Google Ads at work and I use misspellings as much as properly spelled words. Quite a serendipitous event. Enjoying your site. You've got a great mix on design, wit and solid content.
Posted by: Phil | April 24, 2007 at 04:45 AM
Chocloate sounds rather mysterious and South American, somehow... I may just have to go devise a recipe for a decadent gooey bittersweet dark chocloate mole-type sauce, in honour of your Googlumptious achievement.
Posted by: domestika | April 24, 2007 at 10:54 AM
No matter how you spell it...it's the best stuff on earth! Think of all the chocloate loving people who have found a home here...at Mr. Be Silly!
HA!
Love your writing.
Posted by: margot | May 03, 2007 at 10:52 AM
What that's Mr. Besilly...geesh. Isn't it ironic?! Don't you think?
Posted by: margot | May 03, 2007 at 10:52 AM