What Are the Best Practices for Ranking for Synonyms?
-
This topic has me entirely confused, and unsure if we should keep a website focused on one keyword group, and using synonym contextual links to rank it for other keyword synonyms. We simply have not seen enough data or run enough tests to find our answer, and wanted to reach out to the community to see if anyone has. I have seen Google rank a synonym to my search query on the first page, and is why we are confused.
Let's use an example:
We'll use "Industry" as the main keyword for our page. "Company" or "Companies" is viewed as a synonym by Google of this keyword. When we query "Industry", "Company" and "Companies" are also found in bold.
1.) Is it best practice to also create a unique page targeting synonyms? Our thinking is that it would be best to try and target exactly what the user is looking for rather than having a synonym to their search for better conversions, but as mentioned above we feel it's best to hit exactly what they query because that's their way of thinking. That they're looking for that exact match.
2.) Have the page "Industry", but do some link building using contextual links "Company" or "Companies" pointing back at our "Industry" page. Would this help rank our "Industry" page for "Company" or "Companies" even though the main page is "Industry"? Just not sure we want to do this as the reasoning explained in #1.
Thanks for your help!
-
Vary your anchor text - A LOT. Use as many synonyms as possible. This helps with Latent Semantic Indexing; once you start telling Google a page is about these synonyms, it will start to imply other synonyms as well.
-
The best bet would be to use the words semi-interchangeably on that page (don't over do it) and then just grab some links with anchor texts of the various synonyms. Single page is going to be the stronger bet.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What you think is thje best way to build links for my site?
I heard different opinions all over the web, some people said don't do 100% just anchor texts with the keywords you want to rank with, and they suggest 60% brand anchor text and the rest for the keywords i want to rank for. what do you guys suggest?
Link Building | | arango200 -
Best way to get a Linking Root Domains
Hello, What is the best way to get a Linking Root Domains to my websites? Fore example: www.i-phony.com
Link Building | | iphony0 -
Ranking Multiple Domains Simultaneously
What kind of strategy would one implement to rank multiple domains in SERPs? (One domain per keyword) I am looking more into link blocking and that, but I don't know the effectiveness and consistency of the strategy. Does anyone have any recommendations? I really can't be arsed giving every single site it's own full SEO treatment 🙂 Thanks very kindly and in advance for your thoughts 🙂
Link Building | | Ultra_Valves0 -
Smart optimization strategies to increase website rankings and Organic traffics
I have Got A Grade in On page Analyse from SEOMOZ . I want to get Top rank for " Healthy Breakfast " Keywords.. for this page http://ahealthybreakfastfood.com/category/healthy-breakfast/ I am new in SEOmoz and also SEO world. Actually i want to know "Smart optimization strategies to increase website rankings and Organic traffics " thanks
Link Building | | seolearner0070 -
What is the best way to get unique links?
I do SEO for an online store that sells vacuum cleaners. I write a lot of articles for yahoo, hub pages, etc as well as promoted press releases. But I'm looking to get some more unique links. I'm looking for any tips I can get. I've done tons of directories that have actually got a couple keywords on the front page of google but I'm looking to shy away from link directories. I write a few articles every week. I also try and create new social networking sites for the business. Does anyone have any new ideas?
Link Building | | evacuumstoreSEO0 -
Best way to use a cartoon as linkbait
I have an idea for a cartoon that, once created, is likely to be shared a lot in my niche. I'm currently hiring someone to draw the cartoon. My question, though, is the best way to get SEO benefit out of this. If you had a cartoon that was likely to go viral would you publish it as a blog post on your site? People tend to like sharing things that are on imgur or flickr, but these won't help my seo. (Other than perhaps if I end up getting good PR on a flickr image and then link back to my site.) I'm likely going to just publish this as a blog post on my site, but I thought I'd float this out there for other people to give their input. Have you ever used a cartoon or image for linkbait?
Link Building | | MarieHaynes0 -
SEO Optimization is causing rankings to drop
The more I improve my site and the more links I try to get it seems that my site is just ranking worse and worse. Any ideas? domain name: www.musillawfirm.com Top Keywords wanting to rank for: Melbourne FL DUI lawyer Melbourne FL immigration lawyer cocoa FL DUI lawyer cocoa FL immigration lawyer
Link Building | | musillawfirm0