Different versions of keywords. Which one to optimize?
-
For some keywords, we have slightly different versions available.
For example: people search for 'webhosting', but also for 'web hosting'. Same for 'cloudserver' and 'cloud server'.
I used google trends to compare the keywords and find the more popular one. But in different countries, different keywords are searched more often. So we can't really optimize for the BEST version of the keyword, since there is no real BEST version.
What would you suggest to do? We could also just develop pages for both keywords, but that could end in duplicated content. Would be an option to use canonicalization then, but this would not really improve ranking for one of the versions.
I'm very confused. If anyone has a good idea on how to optimize here, please let me know.
Thank you in advance!
Best regards
Klemens -
There are different types of keywords that have different intent. I'm working with bestcoffeemaker2021.us and I'm using buying intent keywords.
-
Dear Miriam
I will definitely check those Whiteboard Fridays. Thank you!
-
Hi Joe
Thank you for your answer. However, as you can see, the search results are not exactly the same. Still, the difference is not that huge, so I will stick with your answer
-
Hi Klemens,
Joe's advice is right on, and I'd recommend these Whiteboard Fridays to help you get into a powerful mindset about this topic:
https://moz.com/blog/beat-your-competitors-rankings-comprehensive-content-whiteboard-friday
https://moz.com/blog/optimizing-for-rankbrain-whiteboard-friday
Hope you enjoy those!
-
Hi Klemens,
Do not create individual pages for both variations of keywords, this is an old school tactic and hasn't worked well in years. You'll just be creating near duplicate content that does not provide additional value.
I'd optimize for whichever is grammatically correct. Google has come a long way and will understand that people searching for "webhosting" are also looking for the same results as those searching for "web hosting".
Search Results for "Webhosting" - https://www.screencast.com/t/AAEv5f4B6EN
Search Results for "Web hosting" - https://www.screencast.com/t/t3ztacXDCM
Hope this helps!
-
I would recommend using the Google Keyword Planner or Moz's Keyword Explorer to track different search volumes for keyword phrases. I looked it up in the GKP and found the following numbers for searches in the United States:
- "web hosting" = 165,000/mo.
- "webhosting" = 40,500/mo.
- "cloud server" = 49,500/mo.
- "cloudserver" = 49,500/mo.
So they all have a pretty decent amount of traffic and are going to be fairly competitive to rank for I would imagine, however if you are simply wanting to target the keyword phrase with the most monthly searches, do "web hosting" and then whichever version of "cloud server" is grammatically correct. Hope this helps!
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
-
I am wondering if there is a right answer for keywords with alternate spelling.
I work in insurance, specifically CoOp Insurance. I researched on Google trend the 3 different spellings (Co Op, Co-Op and CoOp) and there is search volume for all 3 but no big trends. Moz shows optimization for all 3. Is there a right one to go after? Is the correct spelling the correct one to target, even if it doesn't have the highest search volume? Does going after the misspellings dilute branding, or enhance search visibility?
Algorithm Updates | | Trent.Warner1 -
Exact Keywords Domain name
Hello everyone!, I would love to have your opinion on this matter. I am working on a company e-commerce site; these guys would like to change their domain name AND their company name, so the most logical thing that came to mind was to name the domain after the company name. However, they also bought in the past a domain that have the exact keyword they would like to rank for. I know that keywords in the URL are not as important as they used to be in the past, but nonetheless when I do a Google search for those keywords, 3 domains out of 10 on the first page are slight variations of those same keywords, meaning that they might have a really good domain name (also the other result are government, medical stuff and so on). And, no matter how many times I have read that keywords in the URL are not so important anymore, I still see a lot of sites ranking also because of their domain name (well at least outside the US) So, my question here is: would it be better for them to use the exact match keyword-domain name or should they use their company name for their new site? Or some sort combination of the two? (the keyword-domain that in some way points also to the brand domain). Thanks for your opinions on this; really appreciate it! Cheers
Algorithm Updates | | Eyah0 -
What is the difference between to all Panda updates or algorithm?
I want to difference between to all updates of panda algorithm. How to differ each updates of Panda between to each other?What kind of changes each update Panda.Please reply soon.
Algorithm Updates | | renukishor0 -
Do practitioner listings for the same business need to have different categories?
I'm trying to figure out an issue with practitioner listings, and I wanted to ask more about this because in this Q&A thread ( http://www.seomoz.org/q/multiple-businesses-at-the-same-address-avoiding-google-places-trouble ) it was stated that each listing needs to have a different category. Sorry if this question is redundant, I just wanted to make sure I have a clear understanding before proceeding.... I'm managing local listings for a senior healthcare center that has 4 locations, and multiple practitioners at each location. I'm trying to figure out how to best handle the multiple practitioner listings, most of which appear to be scraped. I was going to claim, verify and begin managing them. However, they all fall under the same category, "practitioner." What I've gathered from the response in the above Q&A thread is that I need to have a different category for each practitioner to please Google Places, despite the fact that "practitioner" is the best/most accurate category available in Google's pre-set categories. Is my interpretation correct? I'm confused because Google's guidelines say you can create a separate listing for each practitioner, which to me implies that it would be ok to use the practitioner category for each one. But then again, I want to make sure before proceeding. Thanks, Kim
Algorithm Updates | | TECHSEO35
#TECHSEO Account Manager0 -
Penguin Update and Long Tail Keywords
Since the Penguin update, organic traffic for our site; oxygenconcentratorstore.com
Algorithm Updates | | chuck-layton
has dropped almost 25%. The thing I cannot figure out is that when I compare April 1<sup>st</sup> to May 15<sup>th</sup> (before the update) and June 1<sup>st</sup> to July 15<sup>th</sup> (after); 8 of our top keywords are up. Our 2 main keywords are up 15% and 11%. Where we lost most of our traffic is from our longtail keywords. We have almost 1000 longtail keyword phrases that we got visits from in the April/May period that we did not get in the June/July period. Is there a reason why our top keywords would continue to improve while we most of the longtail keywords?? If Google penalized us, won’t all of our keywords be dropping and just not the longtail. Any help/info would be awesome. Thanks.0 -
I need help with drastic SERP difference between Bing and Google
One of our sites that has been around for a couple of years has about 60,000 pages showing on google, however, bing only shows 90 pages for the site. This same phenomenon has been happening across the board for our sites. Any ideas to improve our indexing results for bing?
Algorithm Updates | | atuomala0 -
The related: query for one of my urls makes no sense
I'm trying to compete regarding keyword X. Currently, I'm on first page, 7-8th position. If, for each one of the urls listed in first page for such keyword, I search for related:[url], I get similar results for all of them, but mine. Mine shows inconsistent results, none of which related to the same topic as the other 9 in the top 10. Looking at them, the only hypothesis I am able to formulate is that, somehow, google is linking the url to its paid banners in big media. However, such banners go through an adserver and/or are declared as nofollow. Is there any obvious reason that could be causing this? I wonder if we are on page 1 even though we're considered pretty-much 'off-topic' regarding the keyword.
Algorithm Updates | | jleanv240 -
Rankings drop, but only one term
Has anyone experienced a significant drop on just one term? I have about 10 terms that I am constantly monitoring and 9 out of 10 are unchanged or even improved, but 1 term was #1 and is now #11. Curious if anyone has experienced anything similar. I originally thought it was "Panda", but why wouldn't all my terms be affected??
Algorithm Updates | | MNKid150