undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • MozCon
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research
    Moz Pro

    Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research

    Try it free!
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers

      Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Keyword Research
  4. Keyword Conundrum...

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.

Keyword Conundrum...

Keyword Research
4
5
961
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • CsmBill
    CsmBill last edited by May 30, 2013, 5:04 PM

    I have 3 keywords that I am targeting. Assume for the time being that they are all equally competitive. Includes local exact match monthly searches:

    Managed IT Services - 3600

    IT Managed Services - 720

    Managed IT Support - 170

    They are all exactly synonymous, not to mention other keywords such as IT Managed Support, Managed IT Service, IT Managed Service, Managed IT Service Provider, etc..  My current strategy is to target the top 3 all on one page. The problem then is the title tag:

    Managed IT Services | IT Managed Services | Managed IT Support

    Pretty spammy. I could build pages for all 3, but how would I incorporate them into the website since they are all synonyms.

    Can I get some recommendations on how to handle this? What would you use for a title tag? How would handle separate pages with synonymous content?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • CsmBill
      CsmBill last edited by Jul 11, 2013, 12:31 PM Jul 11, 2013, 12:31 PM

      Thanks to all. Built one page for all, and we are on the first page for all - and then some. We also got some lesser variations ranked as well. Spot on advice.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • topic:timeago_earlier,about a month
      • NakulGoyal
        NakulGoyal last edited by Jul 11, 2013, 12:30 PM May 31, 2013, 12:22 AM

        I totally agree with the suggestions from Marissa and Tim. You obviously understood the problem and were concerned, therefore you posted the question.

        Definitely only build 1 page for these 3 keywords. I love Tim's title suggestion.

        Managed IT Services and Support | Company Name or

        Managed IT Services and Support by Company Name

        You are good to go.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • RepLoc_Tim
          RepLoc_Tim last edited by Jul 11, 2013, 12:29 PM May 30, 2013, 8:51 PM

          Definitely stay away from listing all 3 across there like that.  Based on the search numbers you have provided, and assuming that they are equally competitive as you have stated, here is a suggested title:

          Managed IT Services and Support | Company Name

          You could replace the pipe '|' with 'by' if you wanted to make it flow better in the visitor's mind.

          This focuses on your most searched term for this page (since they are equally competitive, go after the volume).  You will not be neglecting the other 2 by doing this, as the search engines are smart enough to understand the association as long as you have good copy on the page.  We have lots of pages that rank #1 without the keyword in the Title tag.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • UnderRugSwept
            UnderRugSwept last edited by Jul 11, 2013, 12:29 PM May 30, 2013, 5:53 PM

            "My current strategy is to target the top 3 all on one page."
            Definitely have one page for all those keywords. "Managed IT Services" and "IT Managed Services" are the same thing. Even "Managed IT Support" could be considered the same thing. Google's algorithm is smart enough to decipher synonyms.
            Resource: http://helpmyseo.com/seo-tips/296-language-synonyms-and-the-google-algorithm-and-how-it-affects-your-seo.html

            "The problem then is the title tag: Managed IT Services | IT Managed Services | Managed IT Support"
            Definitely do NOT do this. Google will see it as keyword spam/stuffing and it will hurt you, not help you. I'd recommend making the title tag "Your Company Name | One of those keyword phrases" (assuming your company name doesn't already have those phrases in the name)
            Resource: http://www.pagetraffic.com/guide/keyword-repetition.php

            "I could build pages for all 3, but how would I incorporate them into the website since they are all synonyms. . . How would handle separate pages with synonymous content?"
            The way to handle pages with to avoid them like the plague.
            Resource: http://moz.com/blog/duplicate-content-in-a-post-panda-world

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • 1 / 1
            1 out of 5
            • First post
              1/5
              Last post

            Got a burning SEO question?

            Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


            Start my free trial


            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.

            • See all categories

            Related Questions

            • ifixcars

              Ranking for keywords in multiple zip codes

              Hello, We are trying to rank for keywords locally. We are on the edge of four zip codes in our area and are competing with businesses in those zip codes. Should we track each keyword separately for each zip code, or just one zip code we're in?

              Keyword Research | Oct 11, 2021, 7:34 PM | ifixcars
              0
            • SallieJ

              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 | Mar 20, 2019, 11:59 AM | SallieJ
              0
            • NikCall

              How many keywords do you recommend tracking?

              I am working through thousands of organic keywords and would like to create a list of core keywords.  I want the list to be small enough that we can really go after these keywords and track progress.  I work for a B2B software company.  I am thinking between 20-30 but I would love to hear any tips, opinions and recommendations! Thank you!

              Keyword Research | Mar 21, 2019, 1:27 PM | NikCall
              0
            • GregDixson

              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 | Nov 2, 2017, 10:48 PM | GregDixson
              0
            • mmookie

              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 | Sep 2, 2015, 5:40 PM | mmookie
              0
            • stephenfishman

              How do you optimize for compound keywords

              What is the best way to handle keywords like "switchplate covers"? The key word may be seen as either a 2 or 3 word phrase, depending how you handle the compound term: "switch plate" or "switchplate" In google KW it shows different results for switch plate vs switchplate as well as using cover vs covers. I've tried using all the variations in my descriptions, titles and H2s  but I think this is diluting them all.  Can anyone show me best practice guidelenes or examples of good solutions to these kinds of compound key words? Thanks Handcrafter

              Keyword Research | Aug 28, 2011, 11:11 AM | stephenfishman
              0
            • TheSquareFoot

              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 | Aug 10, 2011, 4:01 PM | TheSquareFoot
              0
            • omarfk

              How can i track keywords history

              i need to keep a record for all keywords history , is there any way that we can track keywords history so we can compare each week with the previous weeks ?

              Keyword Research | May 23, 2011, 10:01 AM | omarfk
              0

            Get started with Moz Pro!

            Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

            Start my free trial
            Products
            • Moz Pro
            • Moz Local
            • Moz API
            • Moz Data
            • STAT
            • Product Updates
            Moz Solutions
            • SMB Solutions
            • Agency Solutions
            • Enterprise Solutions
            • Digital Marketers
            Free SEO Tools
            • Domain Authority Checker
            • Link Explorer
            • Keyword Explorer
            • Competitive Research
            • Brand Authority Checker
            • Local Citation Checker
            • MozBar Extension
            • MozCast
            Resources
            • Blog
            • SEO Learning Center
            • Help Hub
            • Beginner's Guide to SEO
            • How-to Guides
            • Moz Academy
            • API Docs
            About Moz
            • About
            • Team
            • Careers
            • Contact
            Why Moz
            • Case Studies
            • Testimonials
            Get Involved
            • Become an Affiliate
            • MozCon
            • Webinars
            • Practical Marketer Series
            • MozPod
            Connect with us

            Contact the Help team

            Join our newsletter
            Moz logo
            © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
            • Accessibility
            • Terms of Use
            • Privacy

            Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.