Should I Write Posts For Nearly Identical Keywords

[gjd6599]

Is it worth writing two posts for my site, when the keywords are almost the same? Quite often when researching keywords, I will find keywords as an example, " build your own picnic table" and "build your own picnic tables.

They will usually have different search numbers, and competition levels. Is it worth writing a separate article for each one, since they are so similar, or should I just pick the best one.

I am never sure, and wonder if Google ignores one of them, or gives credit for both, and if they will both rank, and drive traffic.

Thanks Glenn

[smorse1]

Personally, I would build solid content and include both the keywords if they are that close. When backlinking use both of the keywords, I think you'll find that you rank well for both keywords when you do this.

[Odhinn]

I'd write a single, longer-than-average post that uses both keywords at the same time. The added content to the post will allow you to lower your keyword density since it will be abused by having both keywords present. I have tried both that and the separate posts method, and this seems to work better for me.

[Yogini]

I find if the phrase is low competition that if I optimize it for the plural that the single also can show up well. I would add in the singular phrase a couple of times within the article as well and make article 600 words or higher.

Debbie

[Becker13]

yeah dude, the main thing is that you will rank both pages and have unique content for each. Small little things can change the ranking of both of them greatly.

I would more so recommend spinning the article to about 50% and then posting it

[barbrine]

You don't need to do like that. Write one post that naturally contains the two keywords "build your own picnic table" and "build your own picnic tables" in the content, if your site has a certain authority, both of them will have a good ranking.

[Chucky]

Just 1 post unless you can give two different types of information to the reader.

For example, let's say you can give the reader 10 different tips! Then you can do 5 tips per post and at the end of the first post you say, go to post 2 for the next 5 tips however post 2 is optimized for the plural kw.

If you can put all 10 tips on one page and write a 1000 word post instead of 2X500 word posts, I think former is preferred especially after all this Panda mess. If you can write 2X 1000 word posts, then that should be the best option in my opinion.

However, do NOT rewrite the same thing in different words on the 2nd post. They have to be unique not only with words but also with ideas expressed!

If you do write one post, make sure you have both kws in the title and meta description. You don't have to spell out both phrases in entirety. Be creative.

Build your own picnic table - how to build picnic tables

Let the higher search volume phrase be at the beginning with an exact match. Talk to both search engines and humans in your title and meta description and of course mention both singular and plural phrases in the content and link to that page from other internal pages using both anchor texts.

Hope that helps!
Chucky

[Hein George]

You must select first your primary keywords and then select secondary keywords accordingly with little variation.

HG

[John Williamson]

As others suggested, I'd go with one single long quality post that incorporates both of your targeted phrases as well as other LSI keywords.