The topic of "gendering" is a big one both in society and in the digital world, as we are increasingly committed to inclusive and respectful communication. But how does the gender-neutral form affect SEO? Is gendering in Google even search engine friendly? How does it affect your content and your ranking in Google? We'll show you what's important, what you need to pay attention to and give you useful tips and tricks! It's sure to work! Using examples and useful tips, we will show you what is important when it comes to gendering in SEO.
Description: Gender-neutral language is becoming increasingly important, especially in the digital world and Google
Gendering - What is it and why is it important for marketing and content?
"Gendern" or "Gendering" comes from the English language. It refers to the linguistic consideration of different genders. This promotes inclusive and gender-equitable communication. In most languages, only the masculine form has traditionally been used as a general term. However, this could lead to women and other genders feeling excluded. With the help of gender-neutral language, it is possible to support gender equality and address all people equally, regardless of whether they are male, female or diverse.
In the digital world, especially in online marketing and content creation, gender is becoming increasingly important. If you use gender-neutral terms in both marketing and content creation on your website, you can address your users more effectively on Google.
That's why gendering in SEO is so important for Google!
Before we look at how gendering and SEO in Google are linked, let's take a quick look at the search engines.
An important goal of search engines, especially search engine giant Google, is to constantly improve their search algorithms in order to provide users with relevant and high-quality results. Google and other search engines have focused in particular on improving speech recognition. This has enabled them to better understand the search intentions of their users and deliver better results.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process to improve the positioning or ranking of a page in the search results. An important factor of SEO is to provide users with relevant and high-quality content and to cover the needs and questions of the target group. In other words, one of the core tasks of SEO is to reflect the aforementioned search intent. Here, it is particularly important that the language and content of the website match the users' search queries. As gendering is becoming increasingly popular, especially in the digital world, the use of gender-neutral language in SEO on Google and Co. is indispensable.
The connection between gendering and search engine optimization
Even though female, male and neutral gender play a crucial role in social equality in today's world, this can pose some challenges in search engine optimization. Since Google prefers well-structured and easy-to-understand content, it can be beneficial for better readability and user-friendliness to continue to use the traditionally used gender-inclusive language (in most cases the masculine form) in Google.
How do you achieve gender-appropriate SEO?
Despite the various challenges, we will show you your opportunities and why you should combine the male and female sex with marketing and SEO:
- Expands your target group
Gendering allows you to reach a broader audience and attract new customers who are attracted to equal communication on your pages. - Socially responsible company
If you support inclusive language on your pages and also use it in your marketing, you can present your company as social and responsible. This will help you gain a positive reputation in society.
- Improving visibility in the voice search
When it comes to search engine optimization, it is important to adapt our content to natural language patterns. Gendering can help you to provide your users with relevant results and answers to language-based search queries.
- Increase user engagement
In general, you will achieve higher user engagement if the content on your website appeals to your readers on a personal level. Gendering allows you to create a personal connection with your users.
- Positive effects on backlinks and shares
Respectful content is usually mentioned positively on other sites more often and also shared more often. This gives you valuable backlinks on the one hand and more visibility on Google on the other.
What Google thinks of gender
Dealing with gender-specific language poses an enormous challenge in the field of online marketing and especially in search engine optimization. The reason is obvious. Most users use the masculine form in their search queries. This is not because we are misogynistic, but because the German language has been used in this way for centuries.
Male-oriented content often dominates the online world, and copywriters, SEO experts and online editors are faced with the decision of either adapting to current linguistic developments or focusing on male terms, which have a much higher search volume.
Example:
Tests with gender-sensitive search terms have shown that Google still has difficulties in fully understanding gender-appropriate forms such as the gender asterisk, colon, underscore, slash and inline I.
When searching for "immobilienmakler und immobilienmaklerin", Google does not automatically recognize that both genders are meant, but still delivers meaningful results in the Local Pack.
The situation is similar for search queries with Gender star, colon or other variants. Google recognizes the search intention, but mainly returns results with the main keyword.
When using the internal I, as in "immobilienmaklerIn", only pages on the job description and on female real estate agents are displayed.
Searching for a gender-neutral phrase such as "person evicting houses" shows that gender-neutral language can work well in some cases, but often makes the search query unnecessarily complicated. In many cases, a non-personalized formulation would make more sense.
In short, while Google does not usually fully recognize that multiple genders are meant, it understands that the search intent after the main keyword. Using gender asterisks or colons can therefore be safer for SEO while appealing to a broader audience. However, effectiveness can depend on the subject matter, and Google is constantly improving in its understanding of gender-sensitive language.
Gender forms
- Gendersternchen - Mechanic
Google recognizes the gender asterisk as a space and therefore interprets it as two terms. In our example, this means "mechanic" and "in".
- Underline - Mechanic
The underscore unsettles Google. The search engine doesn't know how to deal with it. Google usually recognizes the word as a feminine form.
- Colon - Mechanic:in
The colon is considered both the most elegant and the most SEO-friendly gender form.
- Binnen-I - Mechanic
Capitalization is absolutely irrelevant when searching in Google. For this reason, this gender form is always recognized as a female form.
- Fit - mechanic and mechanic
In some cases both forms are recognized by Google and in other cases the word is automatically converted to the masculine form by Google.
Useful tips for successful gendering and SEO
We have 3 useful tips for you for gender-appropriate search engine optimization:
- Find the right balance
The biggest challenge is to find the right balance between gender-neutral language and search engine friendliness. You should pay particular attention to ensuring that your text remains natural and fluent, but that you also incorporate gender-neutral terms.
- Keyword research with gender-appropriate expressions
In order to reach potential readers who are interested in gender-neutral terms, you should also use gender-neutral terms in your keyword research.
- Consider the language habits of your target group
Analyze the language habits of your target group. If your target group values gender-appropriate writing, you should definitely integrate this into your content.
Disadvantages of gendering and SEO
If there are advantages, the disadvantages are not far away. Although "Gender SEO" has many advantages, there are also some disadvantages that you should be aware of in search engine optimization:
- Impair legibility
Gendering affects the readability of your texts. Especially with longer content, gendering can make the language more complex and the content more difficult for your readers to understand.
- SEO friendliness and keyword density
If you use too many gender-sensitive formulations, it is possible that the keyword density will decrease and your search engine optimization will be impaired. You should therefore use gender-sensitive formulations and relevant keywords carefully.
- Danger of confusing users
Not everyone is familiar with gender-inclusive writing. The specific spelling may confuse some of your readers. This can lead to them not finding your content relevant or appealing.
- Negative reactions
Not everyone is enthusiastic about the gender-neutral form. It is therefore possible that in some cases you will receive negative reactions and trigger discussions, among other things.
- Cultural differences
Every culture is individual. It is therefore possible that the gender-appropriate form is perceived differently in different cultures. What is considered respectful in your culture may be frowned upon in another culture.
- Translation problems
Not all languages have a gender-neutral form. For this reason, there may be difficulties with translations.
- Cost and time expenditure
If you want to change the gender of your existing content, this can be extremely time-consuming. Please note that additional costs may be incurred, especially for extensive content.
Gendern SEO - Conclusion
We have explained both the advantages and disadvantages of "Gender SEO". How and whether you want to use the equal form and search engine optimization is up to you. But one thing is certain 🡪 Gendering and SEO go hand in hand and have become indispensable in the digital world.
Gendering allows you to address male and female target groups, increase user engagement and position your company as socially responsible in society. However, it is important to find the right balance and take into account the needs of the target group and answer users' questions.
