SEO Tip: Keyword Plurals (or not)

I’m in the beginning stages of a Search Engine Optimization and Link-Building Campaign for a NYC Private Investigator agency, called Cornelius Investigations. Before beginning this campaign. I had to ask myself if there was a difference between someone going to google and searching for “NYC private investigator”
(singular) versus searching for “NYC private investigators” (plural). What do you think?

It’s crucial to consider the differences between the plural and singular versions of a keyword term. They can often mean dramatically different things to both a customer and to google and they can get different numbers of searches. It can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful campaign.

There are many factors to consider. But today, we will cover the two most important factors:

1) The intent of the searcher.
2) The number of searches.

Is there a difference in intent between the plural and singular keyword search?

In the private investigator example above, the answer is not clear cut. However, consider this one: Searching for “apple” or searching for “apples.” You can probably guess that someone searching for “apple” is looking for the computer and someone searching for “apples” is looking for the fruit. Not always, of course, but more often than not. In this case, simply adding an “S” the end of a word can change the meaning of the search.

If you are not convinced, do a search on google. The top 10 searches for “apple” on google are all (yes, ALL) related to Apple Computer. If you search for “apples” you will still get many listings about apple computer. But you will also find results related to the Washington Apple Commission, the different varieties of the apple fruit and so forth. In this case, google has decided that the searches may represent different needs

How would this play out in your niche or industry? Does the plural of your main keyword mean something different than the singular? Do a google search for both terms - does google show different results for each? Do the top ten results look different between the singular and plural? If so, you may need to consider which is the most important for your business and then optimize for that term.

Which gets more searches, the plural or the singular?

Many times one version of a keyword will get far more searches than the other. For example, on any given day there may be ten times as many people searching for “free credit report” as “free credit reports.” Can you see why? If someone wants a free credit report, that’s exactly what they will type. They don’t need to add the plural to get what they want. That’s just one example. I’ve seen many case in which the plural gets more searches. A quick way to do this research is to use Wordtracker’s free keyword tool. Go there right now and see what you find. Which keyword term in your niche gets more searches?

Take home message: Singular and plural keywords can often be considered different searches.

The plural and singular of a keyword can be very different. Different in the mind of your customer. Different in the eyes of google. And different in the number of searches. So do a little keyword research and competitive research and see what is the best for you to target on your website.

SEO Tip: Where Do You Rank?

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SEO Tip: Put Your Main Keyword in Your URL

I’ve been doing a small project for a company that offers a lawsuit cash advance for people who are in the pre-settlement phase of a personal injury lawsuit. Searching the various search result listings, I see a common result for almost any Google search: Many of the top listings contain at least one of the search terms in their URL.

For example, on the search “lawsuit cash advance” 3 of the top 4 results on google have either “lawsuit” “cash” or “advance in their url. One website has all three keywords. If I type in a related search phrase “lawsuit loans” the same result happens: 3 of the top 4 results contain one of those keywords.

You will likely find a similar result in your niche. Try it.

Go to Google and do a search for a phrase that someone might type to reach you.

What do you see?

Is one of your keywords in the URL? Do you see:

www.keywordphrase.com

or

www.samplewebsite.com/keywordphrase.html

Well, there’s your SEO Tip for the day. If possible - especially when first starting a website - consider adding your targeted keyword somewhere in the URL. It’s not 100% necessary, and you can still get a top-ranking without it. But why not make things easy on yourself and use the keyword for which you want to rank?

If you are still in the process of deciding what keywords to target or what URL to buy, see my recent post on pre-launch keyword discovery and also the article on Why Being #1 on Google Matters. Getting a top-result on Google and the other search engines can bring you a great deal of visitors to your website. And if your website is compelling and can convert visitors into sales or leads, you may have the beginning of a successful internet-based business.

SEO Tips: Do Keyword Research BEFORE You Launch a New Website

Just a quick post today on the importance of doing SEO and keyword discovery BEFORE you launch a new business or website.

In the new data-driven world that we live in, you can find out what people are searching for on Google, Yahoo and elsewhere before you decide what to call your website and what content to put on it.

Why do keyword research first?

Because you can tap into what people are already doing online. In other words, if you know that 5000 people per day are searching for a particular keyword phrase that is relevant to your product or service, you want to know that BEFORE you launch, right? If you can design a page specifically targeted to that group’s wants and needs, you have a better chance of turning them into customers.

To put it metaphorically: Find out where the fish are biting and drop your line in that pond.

Keywords to SEO

Once you have an idea of the search terms (often called “keywords”) that people are using, you can design a webpage that will bring them directly to you, rather than simply hoping they will find you through word of mouth, social media, pay-per-click or some other means.

A quick and easy way to begin is to use a Free Keyword Tool that will give you a rough idea of how often people search for a given term. Do a search, look at the entire cluster of results and ask yourself:

“When a person types this phrase into google what are they looking for?”

If the phrase seems useful to your business or service, then make a note of it, and find other phrases that might also indicate a need for what you do. Once you have a sample of words and phrases, you have a basic idea into the mind of your particular market. You can hire an SEO to verify your intuitions, to dig deeper if necessary, and then design website content and programming that that will be compelling to both your end user and to the search engines….

Google Search: Why Being #1 Matters

You probably know - or at least have heard - that getting a high rank on google can be important to your business.

But have you ever thought of exactly what that means? Take a look at the images and data below to get a brief overview of why a first or second place listing can pay off for your business.

Google Eye Tracking Map and Click Through Data

The heat map below tracks where people look when first visiting google search. Red is “hot” or “looks more.” Blue is “cool” or “looks less.”

Do I have your attention? Top ranked websites get a much larger share of the traffic than lower-ranked sites. If your website has (ahem) a purpose and it actually does something such as collect leads, make sales or otherwise generate revenue, then you need to get as much traffic as you can. Getting to #1 or #2 (or both!) will get you the results you deserve.

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