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.
'And' vs '&'
-
Hi everyone
This question has been running through my mind since a few days now. Does Google recognise 'and' / '&' as the same?
Say for example my website url is: appleandorange.com and my keyword for my company is Apple & Orange. If i Focus on Apple & Orange for on-page SEO will google also recognise apple and orange ? Or will I have to on-page SEO seperately for Apple and orange?
So for instance if I keep focusing on Apple & Orange will my website appleandorange.com appear on google?
Thanks in advance
-
A quick way to check for an association in Google is to search and see what is highlighted. I chose to search for "Barnes and Noble" who reside on barnesandnoble.com and whose brand is Barnes & Noble. The answer is that no, they are not associated, but that doesn't mean that your site won't show. Obviously Barnes & Noble has established themselves as a brand and will show if you search with and or &.
-
You can use both interchangeably. Search engines can parse a domain name like appleandoranges.com into apple and oranges fairly quickly with a few other signals. That's just an example though, when using whatever it is that you're trying to rank you'll need to take into consideration the strengths of the results that are currently in place: backlink profile, social presence, on-going work, etc. Cheers!
-
Dear Ryan
Appreciate your quick response and your straight forward answer!
So I should focus on optimising Apple & Oranges so when people type 'Apple and oranges' on google my website appleandoranges.com is more likely to come up?
Thanks once again
-
Hi Uzair. Per Google, most punctuation is ignored (https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433) the & sign included. That said, a lot of times you'll see the & symbol in title tags due to it being shorter than 'and' and thus allowing more characters. In most cases the differences between using 'and' vs '&' are so miniscule you won't have to spend any time optimizing for them as separate entities. Cheers!
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
-
Rankings-- Red & Green
Question - you can see the green positive and the red negative. If I optimize a certain keyword, and it turns red - how long should I wait before I optimize it again? The same with green - I had a keyword ranking up 20 points...which of course is good...should just wait for a a few months or use the keyword again next month? Not use how I should address the ups and downs (green & red) of rankings. thank you..
Keyword Research | | WalkieTalkie0 -
Does &pws=0 still work?
Hi All I have have been kind of out of the seo scene for a while, does &pws=0 still work? I only ask as the search console says our brand name has droped to an average postion 3 ( instead of 1), but every time I check I we are 1st ( and I can see anything behind it that could possiabley get in front of it. Thanks Edit: Actually I also tried testing incognito, via a proxy and &pws=0, we are always 1st
Keyword Research | | PaddyDisplays0 -
How to Find a Competitor's Target Keyword for a Particular Webpage
I understand how to do basic keyword research and how to review a competitor's code (meta tags, etc.). But what is the best method for finding out what a competitor's target keyword is for a particular web page? For example, the URL www.example.com/about-us, what is the best method for finding out what their target keyword is? I have been using a keyword density tool to run the URLs and find the keyword or phase that appears most often but would think there is a better way?
Keyword Research | | rx3000 -
Finding the best of 100's of keywords?
Have an online e-commerce store and need to start on keyword research. There is a round 1000 products, not very many all things considered but a very big job to do manually. Do you know any tools that could speed it up? or Process/method that could help? Thanks
Keyword Research | | seoman100 -
What travel keywords to choose? 'flight' or 'airplane ticket'?
I did some keyword research in order to do some onsite optimization on a travel industry-related website. I found 2 kinds of relevant keywords: 'flight'-related keywords (e.g.: flight chicago dallas) 'airplane ticket'-related keywords (e.g.: airplane ticket chicago dallas) Competition is the same on both but the first ones have more volume. So I'm really tempted to go with the 'flight'-related keywords. However the 'airplane ticket'-related keywords also have an interested volume so how should I do my onsite optimization. So each one of this solution do you think is the best: creating one page targeting the 'flight' and 'airplane tickets'-related keywords knowing isn't a good practice targeting two different keywords ? creating two different pages (one targeting 'flight' and the other one targeting 'airplane tickets') but it isn't very relevant for visitors since both pages are proposing the same offer? also it might have some duplicate content issue. creating one page targeting 'flight' and forget about 'airplane tickets' and missing some opportunities ? creating one page targeting 'flight' and adding some 'airplane tickets' keywords in content and hoping to get some 'airplane tickets' keywords traffic ? Thank you in advance for your feedback and sharing your experience in the same kind of issue.
Keyword Research | | patricksiki0 -
Keyword Themes - What's in a theme?
I recently read the Moz guide for "How To Rank - 25 Step SEO Master Blue Print" and had a question on keyword themes. What is considered a theme? Is there a recommended number of keywords in a theme? For example, if my site is for listing and selling cars, would the following terms fit within the same "car" theme or should the terms be broken out by "cars general" / "car locations" / "car types"? Cars Cars for sale in new york Ford Explorer for sale
Keyword Research | | Emily_A0 -
Google trends quota's limit?
Hi Mozers, I've a problem with Google trends tool : after 5 searches, I reach the "quota limit". Have you the same issue? Do you use other tools "similar" to Google trends? SEMrush,...? Thank you for answers Regards, Jonathan
Keyword Research | | JonathanLeplang0 -
Keyword cannibalization - blog posts vs. site content
As an example, I am trying to rank for the term "ice cream". I have site content pages that relate to "chocolate ice cream", "vanilla ice cream", etc.These content pages have been SEO optimized using best practices. Would I be ruining my SEO work if I begin to publish blog posts for the same keywords that my content pages target? Am I basically forced to find alternative keywords and only target one page per keyword?
Keyword Research | | jcph0
