Creating Subject Verb Agreement: An SEO Copyeditor`s Guide
As a copy editor, it is crucial to ensure that all written content is accurate and effective. One of the most fundamental rules in writing is subject verb agreement. This rule states that the subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number, meaning they must both be singular or plural. Failure to achieve subject verb agreement can lead to confusion, miscommunication, and even affect your website`s search engine optimization (SEO) ranking.
Importance of Subject Verb Agreement in SEO
SEO is the process of optimizing your website to increase its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERP). This involves various techniques, including the use of keywords, meta titles and descriptions, and high-quality content. One of the critical aspects of SEO is creating content that is informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience. This is where subject verb agreement comes in.
Search engines favor well-written content that communicates its message clearly and concisely. If the content on your website is riddled with grammatical errors, including subject verb agreement errors, it can impact your website`s SEO ranking negatively. This is because search engines consider such pages as low-quality and less likely to provide value to users` search queries.
Tips for Creating Subject Verb Agreement
As a copy editor, it is essential to pay close attention to subject verb agreement while editing content. Here are some tips to help you create subject verb agreement:
1. Identify the subject and verb in a sentence: Before editing content, identify the subject and verb in each sentence. This helps you determine whether the subject and verb agree in number or not.
2. Check for plural and singular nouns: Ensure that the verb agrees with the number of the subject, whether singular or plural. For example, “The dog barks” is correct, while “The dog bark” is incorrect.
3. Look out for compound subjects: When a sentence has a compound subject, the verb must agree with both subjects in number. For example, “The cat and the dog run” is correct, while “The cat and the dog runs” is incorrect.
4. Check for indefinite pronouns: Indefinite pronouns, such as everyone, nobody, anybody, and somebody, are always singular. Thus, the verb that follows them should be singular. For example, “Everyone is welcome” is correct.
5. Avoid being misled by prepositional phrases: Prepositional phrases, such as “in addition to” or “along with,” can sometimes create confusion. The verb should still agree with the subject, not the object of the preposition. For example, “The team, along with their coach, is ready” is correct.
Conclusion
Creating subject verb agreement is a fundamental rule in writing that every copy editor should understand. Not only does it make the content clear and concise, but it also helps to boost your website`s SEO ranking. By following the tips highlighted above, you can help ensure that your content is free of subject verb agreement errors, and your website is optimized for search engines` ranking.