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.
Primary versus secondary keyword
-
Hello,
Can someone give a example of what primary and secondary keywords are and how to implement that in a sentence ?
Thank you,
-
Hi seoanalytics
I have spent hours trying to help you on this thread and the other two or three you have started! I have patiently answered every question you have asked, in detail. If you still don't understand what I am saying after acres and acres of help and advice then that's it from me.
https://moz.com/community/q/sentences-rdf-format
https://moz.com/community/q/asking-a-natural-question-in-h-tags
https://moz.com/community/q/bolded-words-in-search-results
https://moz.com/community/q/user-intent-and-ranking
This comment is simply idiotic, but more than that it is insulting:
"I have more chances of winning the lottery than ranking..."
Please don't bother me again.
Have a good weekend.
Nigel
-
I am trying but let's be honest I have more chances of winning the lottery than ranking...
It is a matter of what words goes with which word surrounded by other words and only the computer know that, doesn't it ?
In the past I managed to get from 3 rd page to 3 rd position on a requested keyword just by adding 3 lines of text and the reason was just that the words used correlated well with the other words but honestly this was luck.
If someone has a technic that works that isn't luck I can't wait to hear it

-
I have no idea what Alchemy API is.
No, write your own content with your own researched keywords.
-
How about I I used alchemy api and use all the keywords of someone ranking 1 st to write my text, could it also work ?
-
Hi seoanalytics
I think you get the idea. I'm not saying that tablet is a perfect synonym for laptop but I think you do understand what I am saying!
Good luck with it
Regards
Nigel
-
Thank you for sharing the link about rank brain.
I do understand that it isn't necessary to pepper my content with all the possiblity semantically connected keywords are it won't look natural. However, from what I understand the idea is still to use those semantically connected keyword but naturally.
For example about Laptop chargers if I wrote a sentence like this would ok ? I have used semantically related keyword such as voltage, battrary, tablet and transformer.
"Laptop charger come with different voltages, 110 and 220. Once you have selected the battery that matches the voltage of your tablet you are good to go. If you can't find the correct voltage by a transformer and then plug it in. "
-
Hi seoanalytics
The whole area of primary and secondary keywords (or Keyphrases) has largely been overtaken by Google's new Rankbrain AI system of determining themes and relevancy. So don't think in terms of these terms - also please don't listen to anyone focusing too heavily on LSI's as these have mostly been debunked as a load of flannel used by SEO's to impress, although leading SEO Brian Dean still insists that they have some effect on SEO. If you start researching LSI's you will end up in a rabbit hole from which you will never emerge! to advise - 'use your primary keyword a couple of times is nonsense'.
Think of your website like this:
Each page represents a theme - for example as Alick300 has used 'Laptop chargers' You need to think about writing chunky, relevant content around the term 'Laptop Chargers' but you do not need to mention every 'secondary keyword' you can think of to pepper the text with. Write compelling copy using semantically connected words like batteries within the content.
By all means, search related terms like batteries, tablets and transformers (are they still a thing?) but if you think in the way of 'Primary keywords' and 'secondary keywords' you will risk overusing certain terms, not having free-flowing writing and turning your intended customer into a brief visitor. Think of the use of synonyms as well - (the Bike/Bicycle analogy is a good one).
Modern SEO is about writing semantically connected and lexically relevant content in such a way that you engage your website visitor and ultimately convert them into customers. The more you engage, the longer the 'dwell time' and the more you satisfy user intent.
Have a read of Brian's latest post on Rankbrain - it's pretty brilliant and you should come away inspired!
https://backlinko.com/google-rankbrain-seo
There is no way of outsmarting Google by determining and hoofing in endless keywords and phrases. Modern content needs to be well written with perfect grammar and spelling and theme focused.
Also, break it down into easily readable chunks - this helps the user to stay engaged as opposed to being lost in long paragraphs. Pretty much like I have here.
Use Google search box to help and 'related search terms' at the bottom of the page to find semantically related phrases.
I hope this helps,
Regards
Nigel
-
Great answer Alick300! I would also add that the primary keyword and secondary keywords (sometimes referred to as LSI keywords) should all work together to help the search intent of the user. Writing longer, quality content that naturally uses your primary keyword a couple times and a ton of secondary keywords that still relate to your primary is a great way to get a page ranked quicker than normal.
For example if your a handyman that wants to rank for electrician + "your city", it's helpful to talk about electrical repairs, panel installations, electrical service, house wiring, etc. integrating this secondary keywords into your page not only helps your ranking for electrician + "your city", but also electrical repairs + "your city", panel installations + "your city", etc.
-
Hi,
Primary keywords are the main keywords for which you want to rank. You are optimizing this keyword so that you can rank in Search engines. e.g Laptop chargers has the highest search volume
Secondary keywords mean those keywords which plays supporting role.
E.g Laptop batteries and chargers and Universal laptop chargers
Hope this helps.
Thanks
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
-
Difference LSI and and secondary related keywords
Hi, It is confusing to me. So far what I understand is the following: LSI are synonyms of the keyword your target (the one in the H1 and title tag). For example my keyword would be "Tuscany bike tour" and my LSI would be "Tuscany cycling vacation", "bicycle tour in Tuscany" etc... Then secondary related keyword are for me the other topics I need to cover in my content. In this case for example it would be "Florence", "Siena". But from what I understand a good writer wouldn't use "Siena" or "Florence" multiple times in it's content it would replace it by keywords that support them such as "the town of Florence", "the city of Siena"," the Palio of Siena" etc...Is my understanding correct ? If so what is the use of using those secondary related keyword, is it to rank on other keywords such as Palio of siena tuscany bike tour ? or just not to repeat a secondary keyword too many times. If i write the Palio of Siena isn't it considered as another topic that the topic siena ? Thank you,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seoanalytics0 -
Advanced SEO - What would you do after you run out of keywords?
Hello! Our company has been growing in terms of traffic and ranking well for a couple of years but we are now kind of stagnating because we just don't know what to do next. We have a good blog - and with our blogs, we have been targeting all major keywords with their related keywords as a bucket. - "keyword theme / page" for a long time. But it seems we now don't have any major keyword theme to write about. What is worse is that we don't see any traffic growth since 2014 September. (although we added many good blogs) So what would do you when you run out of keywords? or keyword themes? Would you just keep pumping in more blogs and hope that you get more clicks? or at some point, you just don't care about keywords and write whatever relevant to your site? Wouldn't it hurt our site if we create similar keyword themed pages? (like regurgitating our keywords?) or even same keyword targeting pages? You must have similar experience if you are an owner of a niche site. Can you please share your experience with this kind of headaches? Thank you and look forward to your comments.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | joony3 -
Ending URLs in .html versus /
Hi there! Currently all the URLs on my website, even the home page, end it .html, such as http://www,consumerbase.com/index.html Is this bad?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Travis-W
Is there any benefit to this? Should I remove it and just have them end with a forward slash?
If I 301 redirect the old .html URLs to the forward slash URLs, will I lose PA? Thanks!0 -
Two Webstites Targeting the Same Keywords
If I aquire a website in the same industry targeting the same keywords. Should I merge them into one? I understand it's a bad idea to have multiple websites promoting the same thing, but i'd like to capture the customer base of a competing website. What's everyone's thoughts? A- Merge new to main website with 301's? will google like that? B- Keep them separate? Will google like that? C- Don't bother. D- Toss the computer and get into Horticulture
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | residualboulders0 -
Should I remove Meta Keywords tags?
Hi, Do you recommend removing Meta Keywords or is there "nothing to lose" with having them? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BeytzNet0 -
How to Target Keyword Permutations
I have a client that wants to rank for a keyword phrase that has many permutations.. ex. "Alaska Hill Country Resort", "Hill Country Resort Alaska", "Hill Country Alaska Resort" But I'm wondering if I should target these all on the same page or not. I'm assuming all of these permutations are actually valid searches because I did my keyword research for 'exact match' keywords and got results like this.. (let me know if I'm missing something here, or if this sounds right) [Alaska Hill Country Resort] - 230 Local Searches [Hill Country Resort Alaska] - 140 Local Searches [Hill Country Alaska Resort] - 30 Local Searches The phrase we're targeting is their main keyword phrase, so I've chosen their home-page as the page to rank for this phrase. My thought is to optimize for the most popular phrase (ex. "Alaska Hill Country Resort"), and sprinkle in the other phrases throughout the copy. Next I would run a link-building campaign targeting the main phrase first.. then the next phrase, and so on, so that my anchor text is more heavily focused on the more popular terms, but I would also make sure to include the less popular terms. Do you think this is the best way to go about this? Do I really need to make individual pages for each of the permutations, or is it okay to target them all on one page since they are essentially the same keyword?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ATMOSMarketing560 -
Keyword-Rich Domains - Redirect?
Hi, Mozzers- I have a client that has a bunch of pretty nice keyword-rich domain names. Their traffic and rankings are good. They provide legal services in the Chicago area. I have lots of good content that I could use to start a blog using a domain like keyword,keyword-blog.com. Good idea? Currently I have a resources area on their website but feel like this area could be getting a little bloated and some news-related stuff isn't really appropriate. 2 Questions: Should I use one of the decent domains for a blog and build up the rankings, traffic, and link to the main site? Or is this lots of work for little payout? Both sites would be hosted in the cloud. Some of the domain names are related to their name, others are keyword or geo-targeted. Would it be wise to setup 301 redirects going to their website? Pros/cons? If you need additional info, please PM me for details. Thank you, friends! LHC
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | lhc670 -
Subdomains for niche related keywords
I wanted to know how efficient using a subdomain is, taking in consideration all the updates Google has made lately. I am looking to use a subdomain for a well branded website for a niche specific part of their website. The subdomain will end-up having more than 100 pages. I'd like to see in what cases do you guys recommend using a subdomain? How to get the same benefit out of a subdomain as i am getting from the actual main domain?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | CMTM0