It seems most of Terrakon’s search engine marketing competitors choose to use the term “Web site.” Terrakon, on the other hand, uses the term “website.” What’s the deal? Are we a rebel organization just trying to be different? Do we just not know what we’re doing? Who’s right?

Like many controversial issues, it depends upon who you ask. Most style guides, like the AP style guide that newspapers use, say the correct spelling is “Web site.” Dictionary.com lists “Web site” and then “website” as an alternate spelling. Sometimes, though, it takes awhile for these style guides to catch up with new trends that become fixtures in our society.

One of the keys to successful search engine marketing is understanding the number of potential prospects who search on a keyword phrase that describes the products and services you offer. In our case, we selected “website” because that is how most people spell the word – at least when using Google.

Using Google Trends, you’ll notice that “website” is used far more often than “Web site.” If you look at the bottom graph labeled “news reference volume,” you’ll notice that even news organizations have started to use the official “Web site” term less often – notice how the gap between the two has decreased between 2004 and 2006?

I think it’s just a matter of time before the style guides and other SEM firms “catch up” with how most people think about the “website” term. Kind of like “email,” instead of “e-mail.” Oops, that’s another issue…