Should I avoid straight quotes completely?
Not always. Straight quotes are normal in code, plain text, and some editor contexts. For polished content, typographic quotes usually look better.
Copy clean quotation marks for editorial writing, German typography, legal documents, and multilingual publishing.
Straight quotes are not always enough. Proper quotation marks improve credibility in editorial copy, policy pages, legal notes, and multilingual content.
German copy often uses „…“ and ‚…‘, while English uses “…” and ‘…’. French and Swiss typography may prefer guillemets.
Polished punctuation signals care. It will not rank a page alone, but it improves perceived quality in articles, landing pages, and downloadable resources.
Not always. Straight quotes are normal in code, plain text, and some editor contexts. For polished content, typographic quotes usually look better.
Usually German quotes in long-form copy and messages, unless the product intentionally follows another house style.