We don’t know about you, but we’re having a great Labour Day weekend! Or is it Labor Day?
Depending on where in the world you’re reading this, you may spell “Labour” with or without the “u”. What are some other words (and thus, potential domain names) that have alternate spellings based on geography? That sent us down the rabbit hole of American vs. British spelling and domains.
Original image source.
As people in the domaining industry are aware, the radio test is an important factor that may contribute to a domain’s valuation. Different spellings may also impact a website’s traffic. If you misspell a domain, or spell it differently depending on where you live, you may end up somewhere else entirely, which isn’t great news for a company.
If you’re in the U.S. you may visit Center.com, whereas if you’re living in Canada or the U.K., you’d be typing in Centre.com. So if you’re a Canadian company that’s looking to target the U.S. market at some point, and you’re using a domain with alternate spellings, it is worth considering getting the other version of the name to avoid confusing or alienating potential customers. This is true of American companies that may be looking to expand outside of the U.S. as well, although the American spellings of domains have generally been considered more valuable and the use of American spellings are becoming more common outside of the U.S.
Regardless of where you’re based, these variations are worth keeping in mind whether you have an exact match domain with these terms or a domain with these keywords in them.
6 Common American vs. British Spelling Differences:
-our, -or
- British English: colour, flavour, behaviour, honour, humour, labour, neighbour, rumour
- American English: color, flavor, behavior, honor, humor, labor, neighbor, rumor,
-re, -er
- British English: calibre, centre, fibre, litre, lustre, metre, theatre
- American English: caliber, center, fiber, liter, luster, meter, theater
-ce, -se
- British English: defence, offence
- American English: defense, offense
-ise, -ize
- British English: realise, organise
- American English: realize, organize
-ogue, -og
- British English: analogue, catalogue, dialogue, monologue,
- American English: analog, catalog, dialog, monolog,
Dropped “e”
- British English: ageing, routeing
- American English: aging, routing
Phew, what a list! It’s not a complete or exhaustive one as there are more “rules” and exceptions that haven’t been mentioned, but this gives a few examples of what to watch out for. It’s also worth mentioning that these aren’t hard and fast rules. Sometimes, you’ll see Americans using “catalogue”, for instance, although “catalog” is more common. The simplest solution may be to avoid these words altogether. But if that doesn’t work, it’s important to at least be aware of these differences and how they may impact your website.
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