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.
Does adding the suffix "-ing" affect ranking for a keyword? E.g. "build" vs "building"
-
In other words, let's say the keyword I wanted to rank for was "building a home" but the SERP only showed sites ranking for "build a home".
If I specifically optimized my page for "building a home" would that increase my chances for ranking for "building a home"?
-
Thanks so much!
-
Yes, suffixes matter, tenses matter, singular vs plurals matter. These are all different keywords. Search for "build" vs "building" in Google, and you will get different results. Look up the search volume in the Adwords tool, and you will see that the keywords have different search volumes.
TLDR: Yes, it matters. Choose the version that has the highest search volume or your customers tend to use the most.
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 | Apr 14, 2024, 6:40 PM | romanjames0 -
Minor languages keyword research
Hello, I am in charge of doing a keyword research for several small countries in Europe, namely Hungary, Estonia and Latvia.
Keyword Research | Jun 22, 2020, 4:57 AM | Lvet
I normally use the Keyword planner for Google Ads, but for Hungarian, Estonian and Latvian this tools seems to find no results for the keywords related to my websites. For example, in Hungarian the keyword "ajak toltoanyagok" ("lip fillers" in English) doesn't give any results (and yes, I am targeting my searches to Hungary and Hungarian). I have the same problems with Latvian and Estonian. Is there another tool that I could use and that could give me better results? Help! Cheers Luca rONwtZt0 -
Multilingual keyword research
Does anyone have any experience in multilingual SEO? We are looking for software that conducts research for GEO Locations such as UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan & India. Writing content for each of these countries is difficult unless we speak their language, we could look at outsourcing the translation but conducting keyword research for each location is almost impossible.
Keyword Research | Jun 21, 2015, 10:55 PM | Jseddon920 -
Keywords with and without diacritics
Hi, I am trying to make my site to appear in the search results even the searched term have or have not been wrote with diacritics for example: "șarpe" or "sarpe". The language is Romanian. If I seach for "Românul cu maşină, marea victimă" or "Romanul cu masina, marea victima" the first result for both searches is the same. I don't see anything special on their html code and I am wondering how do they did it. Regards, Bogdan
Keyword Research | Apr 1, 2014, 5:47 AM | RIAdig0 -
Google Keyword Tool: What is considered a unique keyword?
I'm trying to research keywords using Google's Keyword Tool. After looking at results, I have the following questions: 1. Does singular/plurals of a word count as two different keywords to Google (ie: photobooth and photobooths)? Would I need to have a unique page targeting each word or will one page on my site be sufficient for targeting both? 2. I've noticed that different variations of keywords have the same global monthly search results. This leads me to believe that Google see's all of them as one keyword. ie: "photo booth props" and "props for a photo booth" and "props with photo booth", all have 22,200 search global monthly search resluts. On the other hand "moustache prop" and "prop moustache" have different global monthly search results (480 and 590). Can anyone explain this?
Keyword Research | Jan 28, 2013, 6:47 PM | Alchemist230 -
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
Keyword Research | Mar 6, 2012, 9:23 PM | Timvroom0 -
Search Volume vs. CTR
Is it better to optimize based on search volume or click through rate? For example: If a keyword has a CTR of 19% and only 3,000 monthly searches, while another keyword that is relevant to that page has a CTR of 0.7% and 20,000 monthly searches, which keyword should that page be optimized for for better natural results and the bottom line?
Keyword Research | Sep 28, 2011, 3:32 PM | Motivators0 -
How do search engines score "nested" keywords?
I use "nested" for lack of a better term; what I mean is keyword phrases that contain other keyword phrases. For example, if I have a page that is extremely well optimized (on-page) for the phrase "old silver coins", is that page by default also extremely well optimized (on-page) for the phrase "silver coins"? Or does google understand that I am optimizing for the longer phrase "old silver coins" and somehow exclude me from contention for the sub-phrase "silver coins"? I understand that this gets more complicated when talking about backlinks (off-page), but the same general question remains. If I am getting good backlinks for "old silver coins", am I also getting good backlinks for "silver coins" at the same time? I do understand that "silver coins" may be more competitive than "old silver coins" and so my page may not rank the same for the two phrases. But I am really curious if there is some kind of multiplier effect with nested keyword phrases like the example I have provided, or whether google somehow only credits for the full phrase and not for any sub-phrases contained therein. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! (And sorry if this has been addressed already. I have looked around the site and have googled this question, but haven't found anything useful yet.) Thanks. BONUS QUESTION: Are the answers to my questions above exactly the same when discussing singular versus plural keywords ("coins" versus "coin")? After all, that is a "nested case just like my examples above. On the other hand, I can see there being some special treatment of singular and plural.
Keyword Research | Aug 6, 2011, 2:13 PM | Kp2221