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 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.
-
Pluralized terms are treated as different words.
When I search for "coin" the wiki article is first. When I search for "coins" that same article is still on the first page but at the bottom. Other pages focused on "coins" have more relevancy due to the identical match.
-
Thanks very much.
And how about the singular / plural question? Are singular and plural versions of a word treated as completely separate keywords, or are they somehow lumped together? In other words, is your answer the same with respect to "coin" versus "coins" or do the search engines return results for either if a user searches for on or the other?
Thanks again!
-
What you are asking about is relevancy. If you write an article on the topic of "old silver coins", if your page is perfectly optimized for that key phrase then your url, title, links, content will all use that phrase. Your page is still relevant for "silver coins" but all the pages which are optimized for "silver coins" will beat you assuming the other factors are equal.
When you perform a search for "silver coins" on Google.com, over 13 million results are returned. 90% of people do not look past the first page so the reality is you are competing for the top spots on the first page. If your result isn't on the first page, it doesn't really matter much.
The bottom line, yes your page would be relevant for "silver coins" but most likely it wont be relevant enough to make any meaningful difference.
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
-
Long tail keyword research
Hi guys, what is the best practice to find the long tail keywords, like Google Instant Suggestion, people also search, or moz keyword explorer I have experienced a lot in MOZ pro Keyword Planner, but now I want to know easiest way to find long tail keywords for my website olehana Makeup, still I'm using just 3 keyword that I already ranked in Google SERP top 3 positions now I also want that some long tail keywords also gets ranked.
Keyword Research | | daimon670 -
If I insert a "stop" word into a long tail keyword, will it break it up?
I'm in the legal industry, and a lot of the long tail keywords I'm finding are search queries that are pinpointed for my location. As a result, I come up with [subject] + [location] as good keywords... for example: "subpoena duces tecum new york." (basically it's a subpoena, just the fancy name). However, I have no clue how to use something like this in a sentence....if I say "subpoena duces tecum IN new york" does the "in" break up the keyword, or is "in" just a stop word that doesn't affect the keyword? Countless examples of similar keywords "Car accident new york" etc. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | cgs2303 -
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 | | Jseddon920 -
Which keywords are sending traffic to my site?
I want to know Which keywords are sending traffic to my site? What type of strategies behind this ?
Keyword Research | | surabhi60 -
Keywords for fabrication (welding) company??
I've been tasked with finding the keywords for our website. The difficulty I'm finding is receiving help from the fabrication personal to suggest keywords. I'm not sure if its peoples imagination or if there's a general unwillingness. Can anyone make any suggestions here? Is there a fabrication or welding keyword database I can put to them and hopefully get their brains working? Or even a way to see what keywords our competitors use?
Keyword Research | | Resolver1010 -
How can a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition?
Sometimes I notice in Google keyword tool that a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition? Why would anyone go for a keyword with very less search volume ?? (note: If Checked in Google keywords tool with Exact match) Though I understand this tool doesn't always have exact data but still any explanation to that question?
Keyword Research | | Personnel_Concept0 -
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 | | Motivators0 -
Keyword Difficulty Score Assesment
What is a good keyword difficulty score to pursue when deciding which keywords to try and rank on? I'm in a very competitive field and I am currently in the process of doing keyword research to look for the low hanging fruit.
Keyword Research | | 13375auc30