How important is it to use a keyterm word-for-word to rank for that term?
-
I need your help to settle an argument here in our office. It boils down to improving our ranking for “driver education course Michigan.”
One guy is convinced that if we want a site to rank for a multi-word keyterm like that, we need to use those exact words, in that order. He keeps creating pages with really awkward H1 titles and H2 subheadings using that exact phrase. H e claims appeal to search engines, but I think the cumbersome syntax is off-putting to any potential people who come to our site.
Another guy claims that search engines are more sophisticated than that. He says we don’t need those exact words; it’s enough that the text on the page include “Michigan,” “driver education,” and “driver education course” a few times each. Even related terms like “drivers ed,” “driving school,” and “driver education classes” will help us to rank higher for “driver education course Michigan,” according to this guy.
Neither of them can convince the other, and meanwhile I don’t know which to believe. Can you help?
-
Well if the title isn't good enough to read for the user then just don't use the exact keyword match. Because that will only make the page suck more when it's not good for the user it's probably also not good for the search engines in the end.
-
If you are dealing with people who are passionate and opinionated, quoting to them from something you read on an internet forum is not going to help much.
Here comes Rand to the rescue with 8 Old School SEO Practices That are no Longer Effective.
https://mza.seotoolninja.com/blog/8-old-school-seo-practices-not-effective-whiteboard-friday
Hopefully, after watching that, they will be better informed and more convinced.
Matt
-
I agree. It's more important for your text to be natural sounding than to squeeze in every keyword. Use topics rather than exact match keywords in your copy and make sure it reads naturally so your users aren't put off. Guy #2 is right, guy #1 is potentially hurting your performance and CTR.
I do believe I've read somewhere that Bing still places more emphasis on exact match keywords.
-
Hi there,
Easy answer here - Google has moved well beyond Exact Match Keyword Targeting. I believe it's been going downhill since 2012, and very few SEO's use it as a ranking mechanism any more.
Additionally, don't overuse any particular phrase. Just write as if you were speaking normally to someone describing your service or business. You don't need individual pages targeting each specific keyword either. Semantic keywords (phrases that are similar but not the same) are a much better way to go.
For example, for "driver education course michigan", semantic keywords are:
michigan drivers ed
drivers ed michigan
driver course michiganand so on. Use each of these semantic phrases sparingly in your content on a page you wish to rank for your chosen term, and you are well within best practices.
The guy suggesting you should use exact match keywords is probably hurting your ranking capability and is living in the past. Exact-match means practically nothing any more and anyone who claims it is the way to go is not aware of the changes search engine algorithms have been undergoing in recent years.
Long story short, if you read your H1's and H2's and the inner grammar nazi in you cringes, you are probably SEO-ing wrong.
Hope this helps and good luck convincing him!
Cheers,
Rob
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
-
UK vs. United Kingdom, which to use in URL?
The page supports information for our partners in the UK.... but from an SEO perspective which will Google understand better in the URL... UK or United Kingdom?
Keyword Research | | EdTechTeam0 -
Rankings going up, traffic decreasing
Hi there, I have been burned 3 times with shonky/bad SEO experts so was nervous about paying another company, so I am trying to learn SEO myself. My rankings are going up, but my traffic is at an all time low. This doesn't really make sense to me. Can anyone help me? Thanks, Astrid
Keyword Research | | Lilala_Kids0 -
Reverse rankings check
Usually, we will have a set of keywords of which we check rankings for a designated website... however, is there a tool that is able to find all the keywords a website is currently ranking on the top page of Google for?
Keyword Research | | Gavo0 -
Does "Using a dash in keyword name" affect SEO?
I sell machinery branded Co-matic. Most people search Comatic so I was wondering if I should change my keywords from Co-matic to Comatic. Would the change have a significant impact on SEO? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | kysizzle60 -
Where can I find data on growth in individual keyword search terms, over tiime?
I am operating in an emerging market, and want to understand the underlying growth in the relevant Google keyword search terms. I can use this as a proxy for market growth. I have checked out Google Trends, but this confusingly shows peak search volumes (out of 100) not search volumes. Are there any better tools out there? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Keyword Research | | JDog980 -
Key word query
I work for a company that sells vitamins and sports supplements. I'm just looking at the key words in google analytics that people are searching to land on our page and they don’t appear to be using any product names /ailments etc. So with that in mind how does this affect my key word strategy when it comes to adding words to the pages? I had it in mind I would be adding brand names and product types etc? Any feedback would once again be much appreciated Cheers,
Keyword Research | | dawsonski0 -
Will words added to the end of my title make the page in question less relevant in Google's eyes?
Hey guys, I've always wondered about this. Say I'm targeting the keyword "how to sell your house" but I find it a bit bland or generic and my client actually offers a service more in line with "how to sell your house quickly" - say that's their USP for example. I still want to rank for the broader version however, because far fewer people are searching for the "quickly" version - and it stands to reason that if searchers can solve the same problem quickly, they'll want that version of the solution anyway. So will adding the word "quickly" to the end of the keyword I'm targeting (and using that in my Title, H1, URL, description tags etc) make Google see my client's page/site as less relevant to a broader search term like the more generic "how to sell your house", that I'm trying to rank for? Thanks 🙂
Keyword Research | | makeshiftyy0 -
Keyword Research: Does Google view the word "and" as an "or" statement
I'm doing keyword research and one of the terms I have found that work for my website are "exercise and vitamins". One of my colleagues told me that Google views searches that contain the word "and" as an "or" statement (i.e., the searcher is looking for either "excercise" or "vitamins"). My understanding of the word "and" is that it is a stop word, which is ignored by Google. Which is correct?
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340