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.
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
-
Competition for that phrase is really really low. If you have any kind of power in your site you should be able to rank for it. Plus, if you are located in Virginia and your searcher is there too, that will make it even easier to rank for these terms.
So, it's not worth sounding like a hillbilly to every person who visits your site, just to contrive sentences that put these words in the order of a query that might be used once in a blue moon.
-
I agree with Bail and Keri. The takeaway is that the phrase is always important but so is surrounding text. Mix and match and do it what makes sense for a user, not for a Search Engine. It will always work out better in the long-run and you won't have to worry about over optimization kind of penalties.
Design your website for the user as well as the Search Engines, not just the Search Engines. Search Engines like what the user's like. As it leads to more users engaging with your content, website, therefore improving your site-score, helping you not only in SEO but PPC if at all you do PPC.
-
You can also spread your phrase over two sentences, such as "We service the Shenandoah Valley area in Virginia. Stained Concrete is blah blah blah" and you have "virginia stained concrete" as a phrase.
-
Hi Tim,
great question. The obvious choice here is to use the sentence that makes the most sense which would be "Stained Concrete in Virginia etc.." You should avoid the odd and confusing sentences because it will lead to a bad user experience, resulting in low conversions, regardless of the rank perks you will receive.
Come to think about it, I really don't see too much of a disadvantage on using 'Stained Concrete in Virginia etc.." because, generally, search engines typically pick out irrelevant keywords like: "the, in, a, of" automatically and only concentrate on keywords it sees relevant.
I know coming up with different word variations can be difficult but try playing with the words that relate to your audience to give you more options (e.g. Stained Concrete for Virgina Homes) of even using your business locations for a more targeted search (e.g. [City name], Va stained concrete).
Hope that helps
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
-
Finding less competitive keywords
Hello, How Moz can help me in finding less competitive keywords for a site based on omega masticating juicer. I had tried other tools but i am not satisfied with it. Kindly tell me the process to find it. Thanks.
Keyword Research | | romanjames0 -
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 -
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!
Keyword Research | | ezable0 -
Bye Bye Keyword Difficulty Tool :(
So the Keyword Difficulty Tool will be retired from the end of this month. Is anyone else worried about this? - because I just don't trust the numbers coming back from Keyword Explorer. Never have. I've even raised this with Moz staff previously, when there was a huge difference between the score given by the keyword difficulty tool vs keyword explorer. From what I see in Domain and Page authority and in the SERPs then the score from keyword difficulty tool, was always more accurate, and thankfully have been able to use both tools, but from next month I feel somewhat uneasy about solely relying on the score from Keyword Explorer. Thoughts? and feel free to run your own tests on keywords and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.
Keyword Research | | GregDixson0 -
Tool for wildcard keyword suggestions
Like others, I have also been oblivious to the options which were uncovered in this article, using stars or underscores to uncover more keywords suggestions. However, I am trying to find a way to avoid the manual labour. Did any of you find a successful tool that automatically adds all the possible combinations of these wildcards to give a comprehensive lists of suggestions? I am looking for a tool that also included my country (.nl).
Keyword Research | | Entertainment0 -
What kind of SEO keywords should a recruitment company use?
I am relatively new to the world of SEO and have been given responsibility to improve SEO rankings for our company website (which is full of jobs). We are London based digital media recruiters and work in a number of niche industries. Should job titles be the keywords I try and optimise, as opposed to keywords such as 'digital media recruitment london', 'London digital marketing jobs', 'digital media recruiters in london' etc? Today I have signed up for a month's trial on Moz Pro so am hoping this will provide me with a lot of help as I start creating an SEO strategy, Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Keyword Research | | SumoAlice0 -
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 -
Include Location in Keywords?
I understand Google's local search automatically searches keywords with the location you are searching from. For example if I'm searching from Calgary and query "best shoe repair", Google knows I'm searching from Calgary and presents Calgary based results. I'm using Google's new Keyword Planner tool which allows for city based search results, meaning I don't have to include "Calgary" in the keywords I submit. The question I have is should I be attaching "Calgary" to my keywords for on-page optimization, and why or why not? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Keyword Research | | reidsteven750