Special Characters in SEO Keywords: Do Diacritics and Accents Affect SEO?

Should your website copy use diacritics like á, í, ú, ü, or ø when targeting international markets? The short answer is yes: always use the correct spelling in your content. Some outdated SEO advice suggests mimicking user search queries by omitting accents, but this approach ignores how modern search engines work through semantic search, not rigid keyword matching. Misunderstanding this difference can cost you search rankings, user trust, and conversions.

Let’s explore why correct diacritic use is essential and why following old SEO practices may do more harm than good.

In this post:

What are diacritics?

Diacritics are special marks added to letters to change their pronunciation or meaning. They are common in many languages and play an essential role in ensuring words are correctly understood. Examples include:

• Acute accent (´): á, é, í, ó, ú
• Grave accent (`): à, è, ì, ò, ù
• Circumflex (ˆ): â, ê, î, ô, û
• Diaeresis (¨): ä, ë, ï, ö, ü
• Tilde (˜): ñ, ã
• Cedilla (¸): ç
• Ring (˚): å
• Slash (/): ø

Common examples by language:

These marks are essential for distinguishing words with entirely different meanings. In Spanish, “año” (year) and “ano” (anus) differ by a single tilde. In Italian, “papà” (dad) and “papa” (the Pope) differ by a grave accent. Omitting diacritics does not produce a neutral spelling variant – it can produce an entirely different, and sometimes embarrassing, word.

Queries vs. keywords in SEO: what’s the difference and how does it relate to diacritics?

It’s important to distinguish between search queries and targeted keywords:

• Search queries are what users type into a search engine. These are often informal and may exclude diacritics due to typing speed or lack of language-specific keyboards. For example, someone may type “resume tips” instead of “résumé tips.”
• Keywords are the terms website owners use to optimise their content. Unlike queries, keywords need to be spelled correctly because they are part of a strategy aimed at user trust and search engine performance.

The semantic search capabilities of search engines like Google allow them to bridge the gap between user queries and correctly spelled content. In other words, Google uses semantic search to understand the relationship between misspelled or non-accented queries and correctly spelled keywords. This ensures that even if users omit diacritics, they still find relevant content.

Expanding on the importance of correct keyword use

Misinterpreting the difference between queries and keywords often leads to misguided SEO practices. Some marketers believe that mimicking user queries, including their errors or omissions, will improve rankings. However, modern search engines have moved beyond exact-match keyword dependency. By using semantic search, Google can interpret intent and match it to correctly spelled content.

Thus, instead of cluttering your site with inconsistent or incorrect spellings, focus on accuracy and trust that Google will do the heavy lifting when it comes to query interpretation.

How Google handles diacritics in search queries

Google’s own documentation on search results and accented characters makes the mechanism clear: when a searcher enters “México”, Google returns results for both “Mexico” and “México”. The reverse is also true – a query for “Mexico” surfaces results containing “México”. The searcher’s interface language is taken into account during this process, and the set of accented characters treated as equivalent varies by language.

So Google does bridge the gap between accented and non-accented queries. What this means practically:

• Write with correct diacritics and you will rank for both accented and non-accented queries.
• Write without diacritics and you may rank for non-accented queries, but you introduce meaning errors, reduce credibility with native-speaking audiences, and potentially confuse the search engine about which variant of a word you intend.

The semantic search capabilities of modern search engines understand the relationship between misspelled or non-accented queries and correctly spelled content. The old SEO logic – replicate what users type, including errors – belongs to the era of exact-match keyword dependency. It has not applied for years.

Google’s John Mueller gave his opinion, and we don’t fully agree

To understand the nuances, let’s consider the comments of John Mueller, Google’s Senior Search Analyst / Search Relations team lead. During a discussion on how to handle brand names with accented characters in an article by Search Engine Roundtable, Mueller suggested that in the case of 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, like maybe Škoda Auto via Skoda Auto, including both the correct and commonly used non-accented forms might be beneficial. (Side note: the article’s title. “Google Suggests Use Both Accented & Not Accented Versions In Content” is slightly misleading. The advice isn’t about content in general, but specifically about brand names. But we digress.)

However, this advice should be applied with caution. Here’s our take:

When John says: “𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯”

• We say: ✅ 𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. Spelling words correctly is critical to maintaining trust. When users see spelling mistakes or inconsistencies, they question the credibility of the source. Is it legitimate? Does it care about quality? Trust, especially in digital spaces, is fragile. Get one thing wrong, and you risk losing it.

But when John says: “…𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.” John hypothesises that “𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦” when typing the accent is something that like fewer people do over time.

• We say: 🔴 Careful. Fair enough if you want to go to with the incorrect, yet commonly used spelling of a brand name, like Skoda Auto instead of Škoda Auto. But please, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐱 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡. Inconsistent spelling signals a lack of attention to detail.
• And also, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬. For all other words, always use the correct spelling. It may seem harmless, but to users, spelling errors are red flags – especially in industries like finance, health, and professional services, where 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. In industries where trust is critical, this confusion can cost you conversions.
• Some marketers ignore accents and diacritics because 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬. But they don’t. As John explains, Google understands and accounts for alternative spellings and variations, so skipping the correct version offers no SEO advantage. The only thing you gain is the risk of losing user trust.

Why ignoring diacritics is a risky SEO tactic

Some marketers still avoid using accents and diacritics, believing search engines rely on exact keyword matches. Take a look at what one of our clients said to us a few months ago:

Transcription: Hi Maria Scheibengraf, this slipped my mind during our sync yesterday, but our SEO agency said they recommend removing the hyphens from (primary keyword) everywhere it appears on the German website. They said there is search volume for the non-hyphenated version from Germany – do you have any strong objections to this?

Needless to say, after our initial shock when we realised the SEO agency in question is the UK’s leading agency (a mammoth company that should know better), we clarified that this advice is outdated and potentially harmful.

By prioritising incorrect forms, companies risk more than rankings: they risk losing user trust. Users expect professional websites to reflect linguistic accuracy, especially in high-stakes industries like health, finance, or tech. Sloppy spelling undermines credibility and conversions.

Diacritics in URLs: a separate consideration

Content is one thing. URLs are another, and this is where many international SEO implementations go wrong.

Search engines can technically handle diacritics in URLs through Unicode and percent-encoding, but there are practical reasons to use ASCII-only URL slugs even when your content uses diacritics. A URL like /munchen-reisen/ is safer than /münchen-reisen/ because:

• Some browsers, older systems, and third-party tools still mishandle encoded Unicode in URLs
• Unencoded diacritics in URLs can create copy-paste issues when shared as plain text
• Certain CMS platforms and server configurations strip or misinterpret special characters

The standard practice for multilingual websites is to use ASCII slugs (so munchen rather than münchen, or espanol rather than español) while using correct diacritics in all visible on-page content. Your SEO translation and technical setup should treat these as two separate layers.

Google has a page devoted to URL encoding where the explanation is quite straightforward:

Some characters cannot be part of a URL (for example, the space) and some other characters have a special meaning in a URL. In HTML forms, the character = is used to separate a name from a value. The URI generic syntax uses URL encoding to deal with this problem, while HTML forms make some additional substitutions rather than applying percent encoding for all such characters.

And the page then proceeds to explain the detailed workings of URL-encoding or percent-encoding:

You may think that a “valid” URL is self-evident, but that’s not quite the case. A URL entered within an address bar in a browser, for example, may contain special characters (e.g. "上海+中國"); the browser needs to internally translate those characters into a different encoding before transmission. By the same token, any code that generates or accepts UTF-8 input might treat URLs with UTF-8 characters as “valid”, but would also need to translate those characters before sending them out to a web server.

What subset of ASCII characters does Google’s URL enconding allow?

Google transforms special characters because all URLs need to conform to the syntax laid out in the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) specification. This means that URLs must contain only the below special subset of ASCII characters:

Because valid URLs can only contain the characters shown in the table above, and you may want to use characters that exist outside of the above set (or within the above set as reserved characters), Google will either omit or subtitute the special character in question. All characters to be URL-encoded are encoded using a '%' character and a two-character hex value corresponding to their UTF-8 character.

Examples of URL encoding

• Foreign language characters: Characters in foreign languages, such as 上海+中國, need to be encoded using the above ASCII characters. By popular convention, spaces (which are not allowed within URLs) are often represented using the plus + character. For example, 上海+中國 in UTF-8 would be URL-encoded as %E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%2B%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B.
• Reserved characters: If your URL contains a reserved character such as ?, you’d need to encode it. The string ? and the Mysterians would be URL-encoded as %3F+and+the+Mysterians or %3F%20and%20the%20Mysterians.

Common characters that need encoding

Some common characters that must be encoded are:

So how can you handle special characters in URLs?

The key lies in balancing readability with technical constraints by converting diacritics when possible and reserving percent encoding for unavoidable cases. Convertimg diacritics to language-specific equivalents is generally the best advice.

To create clean and readable URLs (and to avoid your URLs looking ugly if users ever try to copy and paste to share them), convert diacritics to ASCII-friendly versions. For example: In German, ü should be converted to ue (e.g., bayern-muenchen). In Spanish, ñ should be converted to n (e.g., espana). In most languages, characters with accents like á should be simplified to a.

By following Google’s guidelines and balancing diacritic conversions with URL encoding, you can create URLs that are SEO-friendly, user-friendly, and compliant with web standards.

The correct approach to special characters moving forward

Here’s what you need to remember when it comes with keywords with accents or diacritics in SEO:

1. Consistency first: Always use the correct spelling consistently throughout your website. If you include variations for brand-specific terms, do so within structured guidelines.
2. Trust Google’s capabilities: Google’s semantic search can interpret variations in user queries, so you don’t need to compromise your content by omitting diacritics.
3. User experience matters: When users encounter misspellings, it’s a red flag. Correct usage enhances professionalism, making your website more trustworthy and authoritative.

By following these best practices:

• You maintain accuracy and professionalism.
• You ensure that your content ranks for both accented and non-accented queries.
• You prevent confusion among users and improve conversion rates.

In conclusion, always prioritise correct spelling and diacritic use in your SEO strategy. Trust the search engines to understand variations, and focus on delivering a consistent and credible experience for your audience.

What this looks like across languages

The practical implications vary by language. Here is what correct diacritic use means for the markets Crisol works in most frequently:

Spanish

Spanish has a comparatively simple diacritic system: the acute accent (á, é, í, ó, ú), the tilde (ñ), and the umlaut (ü, rare). All of these carry phonemic and sometimes semantic weight. The most consequential from an SEO perspective is the ñ: “año” and “ano” are completely different words, and ranking for the wrong one in body copy signals poor content quality to both Google and native readers.

Spanish-speaking users search both with and without accents, partly due to keyboard habits and mobile input. Google’s interface language setting affects which accented variant is prioritised in results for Spanish-language searches. Using correct accents in your content means you are well-positioned for both.

German

German presents a more complex case. The umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and the eszett (ß) have standard ASCII substitutes that are widely used: ä → ae, ö → oe, ü → ue, ß → ss. These are not informal workarounds – “Strasse” for “Straße” is an accepted alternative in contexts where ß is unavailable, and “Mueller” for “Müller” is standard practice in international contexts.

This means German queries do show meaningfully different search result rankings depending on which form is used – a Search Engine Journal analysis of German keyword variants for “Rucksäcke” found different rankings across “Rucksäcke”, “Rucksacke”, and “Rucksaecke” on Google.de. For content targeting native German speakers, use the correct umlaut form. For content targeting non-German speakers searching in German (such as tourists), the ASCII substitute may warrant coverage.

French

French accent usage in search queries is inconsistent. Native French users on desktop and mobile drop accents more often than speakers of most other European languages, partly due to keyboard layouts. A study cited by Search Engine Watch found French users apply accents in search only about half the time they should. Google accounts for this, but it underscores why correct spelling in content matters: your content should be authoritative regardless of how queries arrive.

Why correct diacritics matter beyond SEO

The SEO case for using diacritics is straightforward: correct spelling ranks for both accented and non-accented queries, so there is no SEO advantage to stripping diacritics from content. But the case extends beyond search rankings.

User trust. Native speakers notice misspelled diacritics immediately. An accented vowel used incorrectly, or missing where it should appear, signals that the content was produced without genuine language expertise. In markets where purchase decisions depend on credibility – SaaS, fintech, healthcare, legal – that signal is worth taking seriously.

Meaning accuracy. As the Spanish año/ano example shows, diacritic errors can change the word entirely. This is not an edge case; it is a feature of how inflected languages work. Multilingual keyword research for any of Crisol’s core markets must account for diacritic variants, not only because they affect search behaviour but because the wrong variant can target a completely different concept.

Conversions. A visitor who notices multiple diacritic errors in copy will question whether the business actually operates in their market. Trust erosion at the content level reduces conversions regardless of how well the page ranks. Getting the language right is not a cosmetic concern – it is part of the website localisation work that determines whether visibility converts to revenue.

A quick decision guide

Working with international SEO and diacritics in practice

For teams managing multilingual websites, diacritic handling should be part of the brief from the start – at the keyword research stage, the content production stage, and the technical implementation stage. Treating it as a post-publication fix is how errors accumulate across a site.

If you are working with SEO translation for Spanish or German-speaking markets and are unsure how diacritics are affecting your rankings or user experience, get in touch to discuss what a technical and content review would involve.

Frequently asked questions about diacritics and accents in SEO keywords

Do diacritics affect SEO rankings? Yes, but not in the way outdated advice suggests. Google treats accented and non-accented versions of a word as related, so correct spelling will generally rank for both variants. However, this equivalence is not always exact – German umlauts in particular can produce different ranking results across their various forms. The safest approach is to always use correct diacritics in content and let Google’s semantic systems handle query matching.

Should I include both accented and non-accented versions of keywords in my content? For general content, no. Duplicating keywords with and without accents clutters copy and provides no meaningful SEO benefit. The exception is brand or product names with diacritics, where John Mueller recommends including both versions so Google can confirm they refer to the same entity.

What happens if I omit diacritics from Spanish content? At minimum, the content reads as low quality to native Spanish speakers. At worst, missing diacritics change word meanings entirely – “año” (year) without the tilde becomes “ano” (anus). This is the kind of error that damages credibility immediately and is very difficult to recover from once content is indexed.

Should URLs include diacritics? Standard practice is to use ASCII-only URL slugs to avoid encoding issues across browsers and systems, while keeping correct diacritics in all visible on-page content. So /munchen/ rather than /münchen/, but “München” wherever it appears in headings and body text.

How does Google decide which version of an accented word to return? Google uses the searcher’s interface language to determine which accented characters are treated as equivalent to non-accented versions. When the interface language is set to Spanish, for example, more results with accented characters are returned even when the query omits the accent. Results also vary by location and personalised search settings.

Does machine translation handle diacritics correctly? Generally yes for common diacritics, but machine translation is not reliable for the semantic distinctions that diacritics create. A machine translator may render “año” and “ano” correctly in isolation but miss the distinction in ambiguous context. Any machine-translated content targeting diacritic-heavy languages should be reviewed by a native-speaker editor before publication.

Why do French users search without accents so often? Largely due to keyboard layout. Standard French keyboards place accented characters in positions that require additional keystrokes, and many French speakers use workarounds or simply omit accents in informal contexts. This does not mean French content should omit them – it means Google has become particularly good at connecting non-accented French queries to correctly spelled content.

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Author: Maria Scheibengraf

Maria Scheibengraf is an award-winning marketer, multilingual SEO specialist, and English-to-Spanish translator specialised in software, including SaaS, martech, and fintech. She is the co-founder and Operations Manager of Crisol Translation Services and the author of The SEO Translation Bible.