Keyword: singular vs plural
-
Hi,
I've been putting some efforts to rank well for "San Antonio Wedding Photographer". I am ranked ok for that but not so on "San Antonio Wedding Photographers".
My website is http://www.soobumimphotography.com/
So now, I am trying to rank for "San Antonio Wedding Photographers" instead since Google auto fills wedding "photographers" in search term.
Question - Should I change my site title and some post / page title etc? What's the best way to do this? Thank you
Soobum
-
I agree with all the great responses here. Just make sure when you do your keyword research on the Google Keyword Tool or Elsewhere, Choose Exact Match to get a good read on the data.
Keyword Competition Local Monthly Searches <a class="sOL">[san antonio wedding photographers]</a> High 480 <a class="sOL">[san antonio wedding photographer]</a> High 320 -
Soobum,
I think you are worrying a bit about the wrong thing. First, for wedding ... photography is most searched, followed by photographer, then photographers. But, on your site, you have a few minor issues if this is what you want to rank for.
First, multiple meta descriptions. You are probably pulling one from the page and one from the Yoast SEO plugin you are using.Next, when I see you on the SERPS, the first thing I see is San Antonio Wedding Photographer - specialized in blend of photojournalism and.....
For me, I believe the meta description has to speak to the search. So, if I am looking for wedding photos and see photojournalism (think - they are not photographers)... well, there is an issue. But, let's say it isn't and I click on your link (after all, you are first after the 7 pack so 4th organic): I land on a page with possibly a wedding photo in the slider or a lady golfer or San Antonio Spurs, etc. Then the next image on the page is bike riders.
With any site, you need to focus your pages around your search terms. With a site of photography, if you are going to be a generalist, you need to have wedding photographer page, sports photographer page, family reunion page, professional portfolio page, etc. Then focus your on page around each page individually. So, if I want a sports photographer for my son's basketball team, and I search on sports photography, I want to land on sports pictures after being told you have done photos for the Spurs, Michele Wie, etc.
If you follow this convention as opposed to worrying about singular or plural, you will move up in the rankings as your CTR will improve and your bounce rate will improve. Show people what they are looking for. If you want to get photography, photographer, photographers then create individual content for each page around those terms. Create individual meta descriptions around those terms. So, in landing on photography, you might talk about what wedding photography is and how you approach it. For photographer(s) you might differentiate a couple of types of wedding photographers and classify yourself. For photographer...you get it by now I am guessing. So, all fresh content (not the same imgs for each page).
Hope this helps,
-
You migh have a little room in that title tag to get another phrase in there. Title tags are up to 70 characters long
-
Just changed site title to "San Antonio Wedding Photographers"
Thank you all
-
I have good results in the past when I optimize for the plural term - it usually picks up the non-plural term as well.
But I do agree with tomcraig86 that you should go after the terms that highest search traffic. If both the plural and non-plural versions are similar in traffic stats then I would say go with the plural term since the non-plural term is automatically included.
-
Soobum, If I were you I'd go after the search term with the highest traffic volume. Check google Adwords keyword tool to see which is higher. From your description of autocomplete, I would suggest you go after the plural. You won't lose too many positions in the serps for the non plural version, but you should see more traffic coming from the plural keyword. Try changing your title tag and h1 to reflect this, if it's something you want to go ahead with!
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
-
Keyword Planner not showing exact match
hi guys I'm currently trying to optimize a site for 'Recruitment Agency North West' when I enter his term into keyword planner it gives me no results for the exact match, but offers me figures for 'Recruitment Agencies North West' Am I to assume that nobody has ever searched 'Recruitment Agency North West'?!!! and that I should be focusing on 'Recruitment Agencies North West' as my main key phrase? Is there another site other than keyword planner that will give me results for 'Recruitment Agency North West'? cheers M
Keyword Research | | Staunton_Rook0 -
Have question about usage of similar keywords on single vs multiple pages within the same site...
I am working on a campaign with someone and have been talking back and forth about some keyword usage thoughts. More precisely multiple keywords that are similar and how to use them on the page for best results in ranking without diluting our own work to rank well. Example: Keywords:
Keyword Research | | allstatetransmission
Vehicle Wraps
Vehicle Wraps Phoenix
Phoenix Vehicle Wraps
Car Wraps
Car Wraps Phoenix
Phoenix Car Wraps One thought is that the keywords are so similar that it would best benefit us to target one page to the grouping of like keywords and long-tail keywords, and not making separate pages as to create competition for the same keyword within the site itself. Also that Google is "smart" enough to see that car wraps and vehicle wraps are like keywords, and that car wraps when linked to a site from Phoenix, will also pull as Car Wraps Phoenix. The other thought is we target one page for each separate keyword although the keywords are so similar. What are your thoughts? I wanted to ask all of your thoughts as I am sure your feedback will be enlightening. (Always helpful!!) Thank you!0 -
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 -
Plural vs singular keyword usage - on-page optimization
The on-page report card appears to include both plural and singular versions of keywords in reporting the keywords within the body, which results in a keyword stuffing warning. My question is, is it truly keyword spamming to use over 15 instances of a keyword that is spread across plural and singular versions of the keyword? If keywords are lumped together this way by Google's algorithms, why do pages rank differently for singular and plural versions of the same keyword?
Keyword Research | | nathan_lg0 -
SeoMoz Keyword Tool
Hello All, Ive been using the SeoMoz Keyword tool but have a quick question. Im working on a newer site with a DA according to OSE of 35. Im combing through keywords to rank. Although competition is very high I have found a few holes. According to the Keyword tool in SeoMoz a few keywords Im looking at are roughly 50%. Would it be to difficult to rank for this type of term? Ive been using a combination of Google Trends, Adwords keyword tool, and ubersuggest, to try and see whats available. Does anyone use different tools? Thank you
Keyword Research | | TP_Marketing0 -
How should I use keywords in a sentence?
The keywords that I target are phrases that wouldn't ever be used in a sentence... Ex: Stained Concrete Virginia My question is... Is it better to use the phrase, even though its odd? Ex: Stained Concrete Virginia is a great product Or is it better to make it a natural sentence? Ex: Stained Concrete in Virginia is a great product? Im trying to find a way to use my keyword phrases at least 4 times in the content of the pages...but it seems difficult if I have to use such an odd phrase. Thanks! Tim
Keyword Research | | Timvroom0 -
Site Wide Keyword Extractor
I need a tool or a method that will let me know what a search engine thinks the overall theme of the site is about. Sort of like the keyword extractor, but on a site-wide basis. Does anyone have any sugestions?
Keyword Research | | waynekolenchuk0 -
Keyword Targeting
If I am currently ranking well for "Lawn Mowers" and I also want to target "Cheap Lawn Mowers" will it affect my ranking for "Lawn Mowers" if I change my on page optimization by adding "Cheap" to the title, H1, etc. or will it effectively target both.
Keyword Research | | UK2Group0