Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
What defines what words in a title are considered Keywords?
-
Hi, sorry if this is a silly question.
I'm curious how keywords are defined. Is every word in a title a possible keyword? If I have a keyword titled "Linear Shower Drain | 40" Long", does it take the whole thing as a keyword? Is just "Linear Shower Drain" the keyword? Would "Shower Drain" pop up as a keyword, since its nested in the title?
Thank you in advance for your answers!
-
Yes, this can be confusing when you're first starting out.
A keyword is a word or a phrase that your target audience would use when they perform a query in a search engine for a product or service, etc. For example, if the target audience for a particular landing page is a professional plumber, the copy on your landing page might really focus in on "40" linear shower drain" because a plumber might know to search for that right off the bat. However, if the target audience for a landing page is a DIY'er who is researching how to build a shower pan for the first time, their initial searches may revolve around simply "shower drain". While both "40" linear shower drain" and "shower drain" may be considered potential keywords for your overall web marketing plan, you might only focus on one of those for any particular piece of web content, while the other would not be considered a keyword for that page.
The reason different web pages might be crafted to target these individual terms is that the more specific a page can be in tailoring content to a certain keyword, the better able it is to compete with strong competitors who are also targeting that key phrase. If your page uses terminology that broadly applies to both audiences, Google is less likely to rank your page higher than a competitor page that focuses granularly on only one of them when that's what the searcher queries.
Simple, huh!
I know, not really. : )
-
Any combination of any of those words used in the title tag would be keywords that that page could potentially rank for in the SERPs.
So all of the following are some of the keywords in that title tag that you are optimizing for:
- linear shower drain
- shower drain
- 40" shower drain
- 40" long linear shower drain
- etc.
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
-
Choosing the right keywords when the products are similar
What keywords should I choose if I have 3 similar products, only the value differs?
Keyword Research | | Voucherstore 0
It is recommended to use the same keyword, and change the value? Example: Product 1: $ 100 discount coupon
Keyword: $ 100 discount coupon Product 2: $ 75 discount coupon
Keyword:? Product 3: $ 50 discount coupon
Keyword:? Any advice? Thank you, Sergio K.0 -
Is it a bad idea to hyphenate keywords?
Hello, my understanding was that Google reads hyphens in keywords as spaces, but if that's accurate how come keywords with hyphens that I research with Keyword Explorer — for instance, hospital-acquired infections — rank lower when I include the hyphen? If the hyphen hurts SEO, do I have to remove them all from the blog or page in question? Removing hyphens means a blog or page will have punctuation errors, which is irritating to an editor, but I don't want to sacrifice the effectiveness of keywords, either. Thanks, in advance, for your response!
Keyword Research | | SallieJ0 -
How does Google treat special characters in titles?
Seems like a stupid question, but one that I never really gave much thought about before. How exactly does Google treat special characters in titles? Do they all get seen as spaces? e.g. Does Awesome Product - OptionA/OptionB/OptionC available get seen the same way as **Awesome Product - OptionA, OptionB, **OptionC available ? Or even **Awesome Product - OptionA OptionB **OptionC available ? Or will Google see the first title as **OptionA/OptionB/OptionC **being a whole "keyword" due to there being no space between them? Like I've always just assumed that with apostrophised words will be seen as keyword s. And when using commas, there's always a space after the comma anyway. Are all "special characters" treated the same?
Keyword Research | | Ria_0 -
Filler words like "for" in keyword phrase
Hey, I wonder what the effect of filler words like "on" or "for" is when I try to rank for a certain phrase. Here is an example, lets say i try to rank for "best apps iphone" but the grammatically correct usage in the headline or text is "best apps for iphone". Is there any difference or should I use the exact keyword without "for"? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | SebastianKnopp0 -
Accuracy of search volume for keyword planner v old keyword tool?
Hi there, I'm (logged into Google Adwords) and researching search volume for keywords but I'm seeing weird results. I know that the term "outage notification" had between 1000 and 5000 monthly global searches when I last looked (I know this because I add a search volume tag to the keywords I track ranking of via Moz). Yet, now when I check global search volume via keyword planner I'm seeing only 70 global searches per month (AND low competition which I know is not true). Is this perhaps because only the exact match is reported or is something else going on? Very frustrated as I have now lost faith in the keyword research process via Google keyword planner....not sure where to go from here!! Thanks very much
Keyword Research | | SnapComms1 -
What is the ideal keyword difficulty percentage?
I am trying to establish my best keywords using the keyword difficulty tool. So if I want to come up with the best keywords, should I use the ones that come in at 50%??
Keyword Research | | mmookie0 -
Is "in" a keyword differentiator?
Does google view phrases with "in" in then as different keywords than the same phrase without an "in"? For example: is "great restaurants in chicago" the same keyword as "great restaurants chicago"? Whenever I do research on two phrases like this, they always come up with the same search volume.
Keyword Research | | TheSquareFoot0 -
How do you limit the number of keywords that will be researched
I'm working with a client who has a website, but doesn't really have a clearly defined idea of who their key audience is nor do they know what keyword phrases they would like to rank for. I know that I can generate a starting list by reviewing their site, but I want to set some parameters on it so I can provide an accurate estimate. I'm looking for suggestions on how to do this.
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340