Do exact keyword matches exclude "in", "based" etc?
-
I am trying to build a landing page for the search term "web design london" and I have included this search term as well as some variations such as "web design in london", "web design based in london" as the content doesn't really read well if I don't put in a connector word (I can't remember what the term for the use of "in" etc is).
However I am using the Moz On-Page Grader to make sure I'm dotting every i and crossing every t, but it doesn't seem to pick up on the search term when "in" or "based" is used. Now is this a limitation of the On-Page Grader or should I expect Google and other search engines to not pick up on the search term when it contains these sorts of words?
-
The Yoast SEO plugin does the same thing. Both it and Moz are intended as a guide only. You have to overlay it with your best judgement.
-
This makes sense. The content is written in a way that makes it easy for the user to read, I think my concern was whether either Google or Moz itself were smart enough to see that. I guess this is something that will improve in the On-Page Grader over time. Thank you!
-
A similar question was asked a while ago and here's what Moz Staffer Keri Morgret had to say.
"Here's some information from Google itself:
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=136861
Words that are commonly used, like 'the,' 'a,' and 'for,' are usually ignored (these are called stop words). But there are even exceptions to this exception. The search
- [ the who ] likely refers to the band; the query [ who ] probably refers to the World Health Organization -- Google will not ignore the word 'the' in the first query."
So you can see that there is no definitive list of "stop words"; the answer is contextual. Try your proposed title tag with and without the "stop word". If it has the same meaning both ways, you can safely omit it. If you think it will invoke a better response from viewers or clarifies some subtle distinction and you can fit it in within the known pixel constraints, then consider adding it.
-
There are two schools of thought on this.
One school is as you have adopted above, simply frame your title to the customer. I do not 100% agree as I think there are competitive tensions between "customer v SEO" on various aspects of a site build. One is title - So personally I would delete words "in" as the 512 pixels in your title is valuable space and integral in informing search engines what your site does, so the search engines can match it to searchers intent. The "in" does not add anything, it is superfluous. I personally prefer "web design london" as it is succinct and straight to the point. I already know you are based in London - so no need to tell me, web design london does that.
Your call, hope that assists.
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
-
Page Grader states "includes Canonical Tag" but it's not in the page source at all
I've ran it multiple times and changed other things it picked up on so not sure where it's getting the canonical tag is included even though it isn't?
Moz Bar | | Wana-Ryd0 -
Issue with Keyword List Export
I am having an issue with the Keyword list export. I exported a keyword list, then went back in a made changes to the list (deleted keywords, changed priority, etc). Then when I re-export the list it still downloads the original list. For instance, I had a keyword list of 120 keywords. I exported it. Then I reduced the list to 30 keywords. Now when I export that list it is still the original 120 keywords. Any one else having this issue? Is there a way to fix this?
Moz Bar | | Sundaram1 -
During my keyword research
Hello, Is it normal that I find keyword in bolded in the search results that don't appear in keyword explorer when I do the my keyword research ? Thank you,
Moz Bar | | seoanalytics0 -
What is a Good Keyword Organic CTR Score?
Hi Folks! You might have seen my discussion on What Is a Good Keyword Difficulty Score, and this is a continuation of the same vein. Keyword Organic CTR is probably my favorite score we developed in Keyword Explorer and Moz Pro. It looks at the SERP features that appear in a set of results (e.g. an image block, AdWords ads, a featured snippet, or knowledge graph) and then calculates, using CTRs we built off our partnership with Jumpshot's clickstream data, what percent of searchers are likely to click on the organic, web results. For example, in a search query like Nuoc Cham Ingredients, you've got a featured snippet and then a "People Also Ask" feature above the web results, and thus, Keyword Explorer is giving me an Organic CTR Score of 64. This translates directly to an estimated 64% click-through rate to the web results. Compare that to a search query like Fabric Printed Off Grain, where there's a single SERP feature - just the "People Also Ask" box, and it's between the 6th and 7th result. In this case, Keyword Explorer shows an Organic CTR Score of 94, because we estimate that those PAAs are only taking 6% of the available clicks. There are two smart ways you should be using Organic CTR Score: As a way to modify the estimated volume and estimated value of ranking in the web results for a given keyword term/phrase (KW Explorer does this for you if you use the "Lists" and sort based on Potential, which factors in all the other scores, including volume, difficulty, and organic CTR) As a way to identify SEO opportunities outside the normal, organic web results in other SERP features (e.g. in the Nuoc Cham Ingredients SERPs, there's serious opportunity to take over that featured snippet and get some great traffic) OK, so all that said, what's actually a "good" Organic CTR score? Well... If you're doing classic, 10-blue-links style SEO only, 100 is what you want. But, if you're optimizing for SERP features, and you appear in a featured snippet or the image block or top stories or any of those others, you'd probably be very happy to find that CTR was going to those non-web-results sections, and scores in the 40s or 50s would be great (so long as you appear in the right features).
Moz Bar | | randfish12 -
New video section within keyword research
I notice there is a new section to the top left of the search page referring to videos. What's this? Is it to research our own video performance? If so, how do I use it?
Moz Bar | | NisbetsUK0 -
All in favor of an "Announcements" category section say MOZ!
So this is just a thought. I am not Rand, therefor I am not the Moz man himself, and therefor I am not telling anybody how to run this website or forum. But, I've been thinking... and usually that a dangerous thing. So many times when I answer a question I end it with: "Keep me posted" "Keep us updated" "Good Luck" In the same light there have been plenty of times when I have had my questions answered by people like EGOL, RobertFIsher, KeriMorget and they have said that they have wanted me to keep them posted. Now sure, some of you are sitting there being Melancholy Mozzers thinking that all those wonderful people are just being polite by adding some nice parting words... but what if I they are being Sincere Seoers? What if I WANT to fill them in and don't want to ask a question? What if... THEY REALLY LIKE ME?!?! I could also send a DM to those 3 people, I mean let's get honest I'm not THAT popular.... but I can dream can't I? Again, this isn't really an SEO question, more of a thought on where I'm supposed to give updates on my project. In all honesty I do want feedback on what I'm doing, and sometimes I don't even know what questions I'm supposed to ask!
Moz Bar | | HashtagHustler1 -
Keyword Difficulty Not Working (using it for AU)
The Keyword Difficulty is not working for AU. Can you get AU KWs to work? Any tips on us getting it to work? We've: deleted KWs and started over. logged out & logged back in. tried from multiple computers. waited hours. Thanks!
Moz Bar | | WME0 -
Does Moz Pro generate similar keyword phrases in a list (preferably showing their difficulty %) or is it only one phrase at a time with no similar words/phrases suggested?
I just signed up for Moz Pro but the keyword research seems to only let you try one keyword phrase at a time. Is there a way for it to give related keywords along with their difficulty % info, etc. It is far too slow and inconvenient doing one at a time.
Moz Bar | | SavingSpotlight0