Two for the price of one: Can I rank for multiple keywords when only targeting one keyword?
-
If I'm optimizing for a specific keyword, is it accurate to assume that by ranking for that specific keyword that I will also be able to rank for similar or root keywords merely by ranking for the original keyword?
For example, if I'm targeting 'free online bucket list' is it safe to assume that I will also be able to inadvertently rank for 'online bucket list' or 'free bucket list'? Can I assure clients of this?
Or if I'm targeting 'Colorado grocery store' should I also naturally rank for 'grocery store Colorado' and not need to make both of these my targeted keywords?
-
When you are doing your link building target the following things:
-
Both terms in varied anchor texts
-
Target on page content to target both terms
-
Target internal link building for each term.
You can mix up techniques to achieve many positives
-
-
Something else.... You have the potential to pull search engine traffic for almost any word combination that appears on your page. In fact, many websites get more traffic from these "long tail" search queries than they get from their primary keywords.
The more different words that you have on a page the more of this type of traffic you will receive. We once upgraded a lot of our content from short descriptions of about 50 words to 300-500 word articles and the traffic went up 3x. Then upgraded to 1000+ word articles and traffic doubled.
-
Hey Derrick,
That is absolutely correct and for a couple of reasons.
1.) The onpage text supports all of those keywords
2.) Anchor text of inbound links can be exact match or partial match and benefit multiple terms therein (ask me if this doesn't make sense, there is a great whiteboard Friday session on this)
3.) As you improve your domain/page authority you will be mroe relevant in the eyes of Google and start ranking for more and more keywords you weren't even expecting to rank for.
One this I like to do is go through Google analytics and copy out all the keywords users have accessed our sites through, then throw them into the rank checker and keep an eye on the movements. This tactic gives you a holistic view of how the website is improving as you work on it.
Josh
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
-
National keyword results v local keyword results
If the keyword contains the location term like "SEO company London" is it better to use the wider results over local? Additionally, some best practice examples of national v local result tracking would be great 🙂 Darren
Keyword Research | | SEODarren0 -
My home page doesn't rank for its brand keyword
I'm wondering why my website www.travelnasia.com home page URL does not rank in the top 50 for the brand keyword "travelnasia". Does this indicate a problem? A page linking to my site ranks at No 1. A domain listing for my site ranks No 2. A SiteJabber review of my site ranks No 3. My own privacy page ranks #4 and my Contact Us page ranks No 5. My home page is nowhere to be seen in the top 50. It does rank #1 for the qualified domain "travelnasia.com", just not for the unqualified domain. I just don't know what to make of that. My competitors all seem to rank #1 for their brands, so I'm not sure why I don't at least rank in the top 50 for mine.
Keyword Research | | Gavin.Atkinson0 -
Keyword Help For Articles
Hello, My site is bobweikel.com Article page is here. Could you guys help me with keywords for new and existing articles around weight loss? Some ideas, though I'm unsure: weight loss tips healthy weight loss permanent weight loss weight loss program weight loss diets weight loss coaching weight loss life coaching weight management
Keyword Research | | BobGW1 -
Keyword analysis tool
Is it not working? I have not been able to use it for the past 2 or so days.
Keyword Research | | JohnWalker0 -
How do I make sure my homepage ranks better than my 2nd page when I need the same keywords for both? I don't want them competing against each other for keywords.
I seen here on SeoMoz something about more than one page having the same keywords so they don't compete against each other for the same keywords that makes sense to me. But I would like my main page (homepage) to be ranked better over time rather than the 2nd page or do I just not care about the second page ranking at all and don't SEO the page very well? ,Both pages have similar content so I need the keywords for both. So im very confused on what to do with the second page. Thanks in advance to any helpful answers, i am a newbie when it comes to SEO.
Keyword Research | | DreamKandy0 -
How to find easy keywords to rank for?
We've got fantastic results from a keyword here. After we signed up for SeoMoz, we found that, for luck, this was a very easy keyword (1%) to rank for. How can I find more easy keywords?
Keyword Research | | BrunoReis0 -
A question about local longtail keywords
Hello all. This is my first interaction with SEOmoz, and I am still in my learning phases. I currently own a lawn fertilization company near Allentown, PA. I do the site for myself, and I am ranked number one for organic lawn care for my cities. My question may seem kind of elementary, but I just want to clear this up for myself. I want to start a side business doing SEO, and from what I gather step one is keyword research. I plan on building new sites to start as opposed to going in and fixing existing ones. So, I've been reading a lot on how to do keyword research and so forth. I will use my current business as a reference for my question. Should my main keywords be along the lines of "lawn care" and "lawn services", and then the location specific stuff be seperate? Or should my main keywords be "lawn care allentown, pa"? I plan on running my business solely for local businesses, so I am not to interested in competing with the entire world for keywords. I just wasn't sure how to differentiate my keyword research for local business. I hope that question made some sense. I am really starting to grasp the elements of SEO, but for some reason the keyword part of things perplexes me. Thanks for any responses!
Keyword Research | | GroundFloorSEO0 -
Optimizing two site pages for the same keyword phrase
If a keyword works really well for two pages on your site, is it OK to optimize both pages for that keyword? Is it possible that Google will rank both pages? For example, one of the companies I've worked with is a software developer. They want to use the keyword phrase “simple project management software” for both the home page http://www.wennsoft.com/ and for the product page http://www.wennsoft.com/en/Solutions/By-Products/projectmanagement.aspx. (I’ve got other alternatives that I can use, but optimizing both pages for the same keyword would be the path of least resistance).
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340