Is it bad to optimize for tier one keywords only?
-
Hello,
My site is about personalized cards, and I have optimized (rank A) each sample page to the main topic of the card (eg: sapo pepe). So when people search for that keyword (sapo pepe), my page ranks high.
Now, if instead of checking the optimization for "sapo pepe" I check for "cards sapo pepe" I get an F, because the keyword is not there. Thing is that people search for different tier 2 keywords, like "cards, models, examples, etc" and I cannot put that many keywords in the page...
My question is: does Search Engines rank you high if you optimize your page for a subset of the keywords people search for? I understand that if someone optimizes for "cards sapo pepe" they would get higher than my site.
Hope I was clear, any comment is appreciated!
Thanks,
MAriano
-
There you see, that's my concern... I do not want that...
ok thanks, makes sense to tune my pages just a bit to include at least one mention to each keyword and make sure I grow my ranks...
Thanks a lot both you for the ideas and experience.
-
When the pairs of pages were first built we simply replaced WordA with WordB. Then ran into a duplicate content problem - lots of pages were being filtered from the search results. We then wrote unique for all pages.
-
Hate to ask this but: did you repeat content in the second page? how you manage to do that?
I am asking because I cannot create custom content for every page, it's a catalog with 400+ models... In my case I would have to duplicate the whole catalog... without adding too much valuable content...
Thanks for the response.
-
Thanks,
Now that you mentioned the keyword tool, I did research that and the number of searches for the tier1 keyword only is 10x, 20x, or more the number of searches for the Tier1+Tier2 keywords
I DO want a uniform criteria for my pages, so thinking it twice now... and making a consious decision, I should optimize for Tier1 only and make slight mentions to the other keywords, betting that they will become visible when needed.
-
I think I built it to show the content properly, but now I need to make it show up in search..
That right there is the key to this thread. You need to first find which keywords are being searched via Google Keyword Tool, then optimize your site for perhaps two of these top terms.
A good place to put those other keywords would be image names and images description copy (if you put copy below the image to describe it). So instead of just Mickey-Cards.jpg you would replace cards with alternate keyword. Image names are not real high on Google's list, but it will help to build out a broader keyword list without messing up the flow of your page. Also, now looking at your site, you have images with item numbers below that. Would it be too much to add some text below the image and above the item number. Smaller font, not bold, but italic?
Also, no-follow links (twitter, facebook, etc) are a good place to put alternate keywords. They don't pass juice, but are still counted as referrals. Use this same logic when building all your links. Very important links use your tier 1 keyword, lesser links, use alternative keywords.
-
I made two pages for each product.
One was highly optimized for the slang name (highest search volume) and lightly optimized for the formal name. The second was highly optimized for the historical name and lightly for the ignorant.
That was a few years ago. Once my site became dominant in the SERPs for all of these terms (for a wide variety of products) I merged the two pages of content and now have just one page highly optimized for the slang name with mentions of historic, ignorant and formal.
I think that google is getting better at associating the usage of these words and today google often changes my title tag to match the query.
-
**When my site was new and weak I had to create special pages in a historical context or slang context to get optimal rankings for those words. As my site grew more powerful the primary pages began to rank well for all of the word variants. **
Great, my problem is that I would need to create pages for each combination of tier 1 and tier 2 keywords (Mickey pics, Mickey pictures, Mickey photos, Donald pics, Donald pictures, etc)... is that what you did?
Thanks!!!
-
Thanks for the details. I understand your problem better now.
I have a site that sells a product that has a formal name, a slang name, an archaic name and an ignorant name. Something like photographs, photos, pictures, pics. Google understands that my site is about all of these - and even related words such as "images".
When my site was new and weak I had to create special pages in a historical context or slang context to get optimal rankings for those words. As my site grew more powerful the primary pages began to rank well for all of the word variants.
-
and I cannot put that many keywords in the page...
I don't know why this is the case but if I was in your situation I would either fix it or change my philosophy about what can be displayed on a page.
[MB] At least in spanish, people use different terms looking for the same thing: examples, cards, models, photocards, etc... (... plus Mickey) If I have to put ALL those keywords in a relevant way on my page, then it would become really ugly to read (I try to write for humans, not for SEs) Hence my question... I've chosen one, but for what I have seen, people sometimes don't even use those tier 2 keywords, they just browse for images of Mickey... so that is why I just optimized for the tier 1 keywords.
I understand that if someone optimizes for "cards sapo pepe" they would get higher than my site.
if you don't have the word "cards" on your page or in link anchor text that hits your page then you page will not be relevant.
[MB] I do have "cards", but I don't have many others (synonyms or similar words), that is why they rank low on them. I've chosen to do so, but I do not know if it was the right thing.
My question is: does Search Engines rank you high if you optimize your page for a subset of the keywords people search for?
Yes, but only if you deserve it. You will not rank high for "cards Mickey Mantle" unless you have a strong site or a number of good links
[MB] My site is small and new, I think I built it to show the content properly, but now I need to make it show up in search... Probably my biggest challenge is to find the proper tier 2 keywords to make it more relevant.
Thanks, your answers are helpful and inline with my ideas.
Best,
-
and I cannot put that many keywords in the page...
I don't know why this is the case but if I was in your situation I would either fix it or change my philosophy about what can be displayed on a page.
I understand that if someone optimizes for "cards sapo pepe" they would get higher than my site.
if you don't have the word "cards" on your page or in link anchor text that hits your page then you page will not be relevant.
My question is: does Search Engines rank you high if you optimize your page for a subset of the keywords people search for?
Yes, but only if you deserve it. You will not rank high for "cards Mickey Mantle" unless you have a strong site or a number of good links
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
-
How many keywords do you recommend tracking?
I am working through thousands of organic keywords and would like to create a list of core keywords. I want the list to be small enough that we can really go after these keywords and track progress. I work for a B2B software company. I am thinking between 20-30 but I would love to hear any tips, opinions and recommendations! Thank you!
Keyword Research | | NikCall0 -
Rank checking tool for keyword analysis
We are looking for an ideally free suitable rank checking tool to perform a keyword analysis. Previously we used Firefox Rank Checker but currently this is not working effectively as it once did. We use Authority Labs as a paid tool to track rankings but this is a rank tracking platform and not so effective for a once-off rank check to perform a keyword analysis. Any thoughts, help or ideas here would be super appreciated!
Keyword Research | | Gavo0 -
Keyword Density and ALL CAPS
Hello everyone, New member and first time asking a question! Having a disagreement about keyword stuffing on a home page. The client has 14 mentions of their brand all IN CAPS. So it's sentences like ... BRAND was established in 1968 and has become one of the biggest leaders in the donut industry. In fact, BRAND has created a strong BRAND community ... etc. [the lead paragraph is three sentences and four mentions of BRAND] A design agency that is also in the picture says that this is fine because the word appears naturally in the sentence. Can you either 1) tell me I'm wrong and explain why or 2) give me some ammo to give to my client to support my argument. Thanks! Lisa
Keyword Research | | ChristianRubio1 -
Keyword Research Local vs Organic
I am curious what tact people take when doing KWR for a local business where regional keywords are important, for example 'Dallas Family Dentist' vs just 'Family Dentist'? It can be challenging to consistently create content for these regional keywords without looking spammy or akward in the wording of titles and copy. Any advice on how you approach SEO research or content creation when these regional words are important?
Keyword Research | | AESEO0 -
Are on-page optimization tools becoming outdated?
So from what I've noticed, Google is using a lot of semantics in their algorithm. When it comes to using a tool to determine on-page, keyword/phrase factors, most on-page optimization tools check exact matches and give you a rating and suggestion based on that. What about synonyms and "natural", related terms? My question is, are these tools becoming more inaccurate by not using semantic/synonym checks?
Keyword Research | | Talooma0 -
Website no.1 on Google for keyword but why?
Hi Guys, I'm trying to figure out why a site is ranking for a keyword. Keyword is "guitar strings" They have only implemented the following techniques: -Chosen keyword is within Meta title -Chosen keyword is used 8 times within content What else would make them rank so highly? Thanks, Dan
Keyword Research | | Sparkstone0 -
Keyword Rank are working Wrong???
hi i am in Argentina, search customize to Argentina in google,yahoo and bing. all my keyword in seomoz go down 10 places. when i click in a keyword , i see that is searching in .com (all the world) . when i do a local search i see correct rankings? thanks for reply Gabo
Keyword Research | | monotero0 -
Keyword Variations?
Hi, can anybody tell me if it is useful to optimize the following keyword in all 3 Versions?
Keyword Research | | mbase22
As I know google separates the 2 words as if using a hyphen - so it would be the same as if just using a space between the words.
But if you search for the different Versions in google there are different SERPS for every of this versions? Not many users will search using a hyphen between the words I guess - butt I saw some few keywords tipped in with hyphen in my google analytics report. And I want to be on top 😉 Piloten Ausbildung Piloten-Ausbildung Pilotenausbildung thx!0