Keyword Research: Does Google view the word "and" as an "or" statement
-
I'm doing keyword research and one of the terms I have found that work for my website are "exercise and vitamins". One of my colleagues told me that Google views searches that contain the word "and" as an "or" statement (i.e., the searcher is looking for either "excercise" or "vitamins"). My understanding of the word "and" is that it is a stop word, which is ignored by Google.
Which is correct?
-
Eric, you are absolutely correct - "and" and "or" are stop words and are ignored by Google. While doing the keyword research you will come across key phrases consisting of stop words because they were searched for.
What Spencer has written is absolutely correct but i feel that here we are merging two different things.
You can definitely use "exercise and vitamins"
-
Just to clarify, if I'm trying to optimize a page for people interested in learning more about how vitamins impact on exercise; then would I be correct to use the "and" (as in "exercise and vitamins")?
-
Just to clarify, if I'm trying to optimize a page for people interested in learning more about how vitamins impact on exercise; then would I be correct to use the "and" (as in "exercise and vitamins")?
-
The and operator is an and operator, not an OR. It works like you would think it would.
Straight from the mouth of Google:
"The OR operator
Google's default behavior is to consider all the words in a search. If you want to specifically allow either one of several words, you can use the OR operator (note that you have to type 'OR' in ALL CAPS). For example,- [ San Francisco Giants 2004 OR 2005 ] will give you results about either one of these years, whereas [ San Francisco Giants 2004 2005 ] (without the OR) will show pages that include both years on the same page. The symbol | can be substituted for OR. (The AND operator, by the way, is the default, so it is not needed.)"
Link to the operator page:
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=136861
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 do I do keyword research when search volume is unknown
Hi Mozzers! I do a lot of work in niche areas, and one issue I often confront in keyword research is unknown search volume. That is, I'll be doing keyword research in Keyword Explorer or Gooogle Search Console, and for the most relevant keywords, I find either very low search volumes, null search volumes, or "Data not available." How do I make good keyword planning decisions when I can't find good data for search volume? Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Andy
Keyword Research | | AndyKubrin0 -
How is it possible to rank first for a keyword, when the keyword isn't written on the page?
I noticed that one of our competitors is ranking in first position for a keyword but when looking on the page grader. The exact keyword is not used on the page at all (or in title, URL etc.). How is this possible, when other sites have content with those exact words?
Keyword Research | | Jesssherl3 -
Amazon Keyword Research Tools - Suggestions Please
Hi guys, I'm in need of a reliable keyword research tool for Amazon and Walmart. Is anyone able to recommend a good tool? Free or Paid is welcomed. I've found KeywordTool.io/Amazon and MerchantWords but am struggling to find anything else to compare. I'd love to know your experience with these or any other tools you've used in the past. Thanks in advance 🙂
Keyword Research | | daniel-brooks2 -
Is my copy too keyword rich?
www.heartwavemedia.com - Wordpress - All in One SEO Competitors: photonsf.com, h2video.com, corduroymedia.com, thehivestudios.org I've spent the last week writing and tweaking my landing page copy along with my SEO page titles and descriptions. I think I finally feel pretty good about it but I'd like your professional opinions. Is it too keyword rich? Does it flow naturally? Is the voice fresh? Do my SEO titles vary enough? Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.
Keyword Research | | keeot1 -
Way of including Keyword into content
Hi all! My website is that of a large 7 bedroom luxury villa in Barbados (www.bruadair.com). Now, I am having problems understanding how i can include my targeted keywords in to my content without it looking unnatural and disrupting the quality of the content. I wish to use the keyword phrase 'Large luxury villa in Barbados' however including this directly into on-page elements seems to look unnatural. My current content on my home page is as follows 'Bruadair is a large luxurious villa situated on the prestigious Platinum West Coast of Barbados, located in a beautiful tropical setting with gorgeous beaches just minutes walk away' I want to rank for this keyword however changing to 'Bruadair is a large luxurious villa in Barbados, located in a beautiful tropical setting with gorgeous beaches just minutes walk away' degrades the quality of the content... is there anyway i can get round this issue? I greatly appreciate any help/advice given to my problem! Thanks once again, T
Keyword Research | | Tmgale0 -
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 -
Ranking for more keywords - Noob question
Hi, I've noticed recently that our site is ranking for a fraction of the keywords that our competitors are ranking for. In terms of increasing the number of keyword rankings per page would it simply be a case of adding optimised copy to each page? Thanks, Dan
Keyword Research | | Sparkstone0 -
Question about Google Keyword "match type."
When using google keyword tool what type of match type do you find most helpful? broad, exact match, phrase? I know they all have their own benefits, but if you just want to test out which term gets more searches I'm not sure what the difference is between the exact match and phrase. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | NoahsDad0