Does combining keywords in the page title help or hurt you?
-
I am working on a site which sells elliptical equipment. I used Google Adwords to determine number of searches on the following keywords:
Elliptical trainer – 3.,600 searches
Elliptical machine – 14,800 searches
Elliptical trainer machine - 22 searches
I am currently optimizing “elliptical trainer” – but after seeing results above would also like to optimize “elliptical machine”. My question is: if I add “machine” to “elliptical trainer” will Google now only read “elliptical trainer machine” or will it read “elliptical machine” in addition to “elliptical trainer”. How do you know what word or “chunk” of words Google picks up?
-
I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I don't think you need or want separate pages. These are synonyms. The phrases are obviously semantically related. When I type "elliptical machine" and search on Google I see results with the world "elliptical trainer" in bold as well. If it were me and I had one category page to optimize I would title it something like:
Elliptical Machines - StoreName Has the Best Elliptical Trainer Brands in Stock for Less!
Or some variation that allows you to get both of those two-word phrases in there once.
If you do have the opportunity to optimize more than one page, and both are equally relevant to the searches (e.g. Home page and category page), then I agree that you should target one per page, though I would intersperse the other variation here and there on each page too.
Product pages are likely going to rank best for the brand/model of machine/trainer so you can just write naturally and use each keyword interchangeably (e.g. The BrandX elliptical machine is an excellent value, combining affordability with the features, style and durability of the more costly elliptical trainers on the market...)
-
I agree completely...and yes I think when it's not possible to have individual pages, combining but doing so strategically and sparingly is key here. You want to maintain good keyword density for your most lucrative keywords.
-
While I agree with the above comments, it's not always that easy i.e. an ecommerce product page when there is more than one way of naming the product. Also, 1000+ words of unique content on each page in that scenario may look a little bit odd (most people just want a product description and specifications, if necessary).
If she can make two pages, terrific! If not, is it better to combine your keywords?
-
Create a page with your keywords properly optimized for each keyword. Make sure you create 1000+ words of valuable content and build links to each individual page. Another thing you might consider is scrolling down to the bottom of Google for those keywords and creating more pages based on keywords Google suggest. Internally link all your pages together using variations of your keywords.
-
Hi Christle,
I too agree with SEO5 response. All the best.
Ben.
-
Hi Christie,
Based on the search volume, both the keywords warrant their own individual pages. I would suggest sticking with one keyword per page for optimization for best chances to rank for that keyword.
Cheers,
SEO5
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'm monitoring the organic keywords for a website, what do their organic keywords tell me?
Should the keywords they already rank well for make good topics for them to exploring in the future?
Keyword Research | | RonkeIR0 -
Optimising page for branded search terms
Hi, new to keyword research and have a question on branded search terms. I'm optimising the product pages of a manufacturer's site and assume that the primary keyword for each product page (and therefore the H1 header) should be a detailed product name e.g.'Aqua Power wet and dry cordless vacuum cleaner'. Is it good practise to add the manufacturer's name to the beginning of a product title? I can't determine this by looking at search volume or competition for the two versions of the keyphrase as they are too low to get stats in both cases. Previous SEOs have set up the product titles on my pages without including the brand name but this seems to me to be loosing out on the opportunity to rank for both '[brand name] [detailed product name]' and '[detailed product name]' with the one keyphrase. On the other hand, this site only sells products from one manufacturer so maybe it looks fussy to include the brand name on every product title. I would of course add the manufacturer name to the page title e.g.'Aqua Power wet and dry cordless vacuum cleaner | cordless vacuum cleaner | [brand name]' so Google would be able to associate a brand with the product even if I didn't include it in my primary keyword. Thanks for any guidance on this!
Keyword Research | | Alli70 -
Why does this keyword have much greater volume in Bing Keyword Research Tool than Google AdWords Keyword Planner?
I'm using the Google AdWords keyword planner and Bing Webmaster Keyword Research tool. For both, I'm trying to get accurate search volume for the exact term "advertising sales". Over the last thirty days, Bing reports a volume of 5,988. Google's average monthly search volume is 880. Given the market share Google has, I would expect a much higher volume, especially when compared to Bing. Can you offer some ideas of why this might be happening?
Keyword Research | | Kevin_P0 -
Using a country in your keywords
My company has recently started offering services in South Africa - which is great - same language - lot of potential there. But I suspect our keyword research is suffering from "thinking like a foreigner". i.e. "buy cars South Africa" rather than "buy cars". Wouldn't google.co.za naturally assume: 1) Anyone using their service for "buy cars" is looking for "buy cars South Africa" (I know it's more complicated - Google will give different results the more it can figure out about your location) 2) That any co.za site optimised for "buy cars" is automatically 90% optimised for "buy cars South Africa" too - so isn't a productive long tail query (against something like “buy sports cars”) I appreciate that some companies will be TARGETING foreign browsers (i.e. holiday accommodation South Africa) so will need to explicitly optimise their on-site for the country for “foreign search engines”. But I'm asking about companies in South Africa targeting people from South Africa.
Keyword Research | | Ali310 -
Branded Keywords
I know branded keywords are variations of your company name. However, my company sell a number of exclusive products that have been trademarked so no other company can use that name. Is that counted as a branded keyword?
Keyword Research | | AAttias0 -
Can I get your input on keyword usage in the title tag
Hello fellow mozzers! I've been struggling with my title tag and would like to get your opinion. We provide IT services in the Los Angeles area. I've been doing keyword research for the past week and found about 400 keywords from various sources. I then looked at my top 5 competitors on Google and analyzed their homepage title tags, the most common keywords that they use in their title tags are: IT Support Los Angeles
Keyword Research | | igor.pinchevskiy
Computer Support Los Angeles
Network Consulting Los Angeles
Network Support Los Angeles
IT Services Los Angeles Since it is recommended to have your title tag under 70 characters I've compiled the following title tag for my home page: IT Services, Network Consulting, IT and Network Support in Los Angeles which is exactly 70 characters, however my company name is an additional 9 characters, I think it would be wise to include in the title tag of the home page however I can't decide if I should exceed the limit by including the company name to the title tag or should I remove something from the title tag and then add the company name? 1. What do you guys think, is that a good title tag to use as is? 2. Should I add the company name without removing any keywords or remove a keyword? 3. I'm trying to target local traffic since I can't compete with the big dogs yet, so I want to be in the SERPs when someone searches IT Services Los Angeles, IT Support Los Angeles, etc... Do I need to add Los Angeles after each keyword, or I can use a single instance of Los Angeles like in the example title tag that I have? 4. For the other remaining 400+/- keywords I want to use some of them to create static pages and some for blog posts, is that the way to go? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!!!0 -
Am I Doomed with Low Volume Keywords?
I've been pursuing an internet startup for over a year now. We've figured a lot of things out along the way and even managed to start making some modest revenue ~$3,000/month. We're just now starting to dig into SEO and I'm realizing that most of our keywords aren't very high volume. The best have 1,000 local searches per month (exact match) with most being a couple hundred local searches. I'm worried that I've picked a market that's too small, but I don't have the SEO experience to know if this is normal or not. Most of my keywords are rated 'highly competitive' and also are stacked with CPC ads upon Google search. I'd love to know what others' experience with keyword volume is and if I'm just overreacting on limited knowledge. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | TBiz0 -
Newbie question about keyword difficulty tool
Hi guys, It's my first day here ate seomoz and I got intrigued about the results from the keyword difficulty tool. Even though I do understand the results, I noticed the ranking analysis table has some highlighted cells and some of them have a dark checkmark sign inside. What exactly do they mean? I couldn't find it anywhere. Cheers from Brazil. i0tzl.png
Keyword Research | | lenineto0