HELP! Do search engines break up phrases?

Lunar · 10-03-2009, 10:12 PM

This is a question for the SEO pros...

When someone types in a keyword phrase, does the search engine try to match it with pages that have that exact word order, or do they break up the phrase and return those results?

Example...

If they search for purple whales (not "purple whales"), and your website is the only one that says purple whales, but there are millions of sites that say whales, and somewhere else on the page says purple, will yours be at the top?

Obviously yours would be at the top if they typed in "purple whales", but no one really searches with quotes.

I'm asking this to decide if there is a keyword with...
- millions of competing sites without quotes
- less than 10 sites with quotes
...is that a worthwhile keyword, or not? Will it trump the millions of sites who don't use that exact word order?

All responses are appreciated; thank you for your time!

kabong · 10-03-2009, 10:24 PM

If there's no much competition when you typed it with quotes then it's good to go. Try it.

10-03-2009, 10:12 PM	#1
Lunar Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 10 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	HELP! Do search engines break up phrases? This is a question for the SEO pros... When someone types in a keyword phrase, does the search engine try to match it with pages that have that exact word order, or do they break up the phrase and return those results? Example... If they search for purple whales (not "purple whales"), and your website is the only one that says purple whales, but there are millions of sites that say whales, and somewhere else on the page says purple, will yours be at the top? Obviously yours would be at the top if they typed in "purple whales", but no one really searches with quotes. I'm asking this to decide if there is a keyword with... - millions of competing sites without quotes - less than 10 sites with quotes ...is that a worthwhile keyword, or not? Will it trump the millions of sites who don't use that exact word order? All responses are appreciated; thank you for your time!

10-03-2009, 10:24 PM	#2
kabong The Account Creator War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Manila, Philippines Posts: 117 Thanks: 49 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: HELP! Do search engines break up phrases? If there's no much competition when you typed it with quotes then it's good to go. Try it.
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