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Is it dangerous trying to rank for similar keywords?

by Mister Ozzy
12 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have a question about point 6 that Randfish makes in a video. I can't put links in posts yet, so Google on '6 changes every seo' and you will find the video.

Point 6 in the video is about ranking on similar keywords like 'used cars seattle' and 'user autos seattle' with different pages for each of these keywords, although they are synonyms and this could be seen as spammy/manipulative in the eyes of Google.

Does this also apply when the content is completely unique for both pages?

If you have for example hundreds or thousands of articles on a blog, then it's logical that some of those articles are similar to each other right? And hit almost the same keywords right?

I think it would be weird if Google is going to give you a penalty for that.

Any ideas or suggestions about this?
#keywords #ranking #similar
  • Profile picture of the author Mister Ozzy
    Anyone knows the answer?
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    There's absolutely nothing wrong with ranking multiple pages per individual keyword.

    If Google didn't like multiple pages from the same domain to be ranked per keyword, they wouldn't allow it in the SERPs.

    It's common to find a single domain ranking 2-3 internal pages per keyword, happens everyday, look at Wikipedia in the SERPs.

    BTW, ranking multiple pages per keyword has been going on for years.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Example of a triple SERP listing: List of aircraft manufacturers
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  • Profile picture of the author hirithk
    hai
    there is nothing wrong in ranking multiple pages
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  • Profile picture of the author Mister Ozzy
    Then why thinks Rankfish this is spammy? I think he knows a lot about SEO so he is not making this up right?

    Maybe he is talking about duplicate content and only changing the keyword in a new article from for example 'unused car seattle' to 'unused auto seattle'.

    Also, interlinking those articles would look weird.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sabrina001
      A true practice we ever did:

      We have three similar keywords "email test", "testing emails" and "email testing". And each of the three keywords has a specific page given to them, with different content. We do SEO for all of these three keyword and the result is that all of them get a good ranking in Google's search result.

      So I think it's OK to rank for similar keywords.
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Mister Ozzy View Post

      Then why thinks Rankfish this is spammy? I think he knows a lot about SEO so he is not making this up right?

      Maybe he is talking about duplicate content and only changing the keyword in a new article from for example 'unused car seattle' to 'unused auto seattle'.

      Also, interlinking those articles would look weird.
      Ranking multiple pages per individual keyword is defiantly white hat SEO. Anyone that turns down a multiple SERP listing is wasting their time in the SERPs.

      Who in their right mind would turn down extra traffic? If a guy spends time trying to rank #1 in the SERPs for a keyword & that #1 SERP position delivers 1,000 traffic (example) positions #2 & #3 in the SERPs are guaranteed to get additional traffic. So rank additional pages...
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  • Profile picture of the author jhonybravo222
    Sabrina is right that you have to use 3 to 5 keywords for a particular page, if you do SEO only for one keyword for a page then google will consider it spamming.
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  • Profile picture of the author C Rebecca
    Well, there is no harm in optimizing web page for similar keywords. They will be considered as spammy when you try to include all the keywords on one page. If you are using very few keyword in onpage optimization and rest of the keywords in off page optimization, it's completely safe.
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  • Profile picture of the author FraserC
    It all comes down to the method that you use to rank them for.

    What you absolutely want to avoid is overlapping content. This is where you create several articles which are slight variations on a concept. For example, if you create two articles called: pictures of dogs, photos of dogs

    Those are the same semantic concept: photographic representation of canines.

    So if you create page after page of article which essentially says the same thing, slightly reworded, you'll summon the Panda.

    But if you create a single article that serves to answer several keywords at the same time, and you use anchor text variations within your site to reinforce it, that's fine.
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    • Profile picture of the author Masterminding
      Originally Posted by FraserC View Post

      It all comes down to the method that you use to rank them for.

      What you absolutely want to avoid is overlapping content. This is where you create several articles which are slight variations on a concept. For example, if you create two articles called: pictures of dogs, photos of dogs

      Those are the same semantic concept: photographic representation of canines.

      So if you create page after page of article which essentially says the same thing, slightly reworded, you'll summon the Panda.

      But if you create a single article that serves to answer several keywords at the same time, and you use anchor text variations within your site to reinforce it, that's fine.
      I think people may interpret your advice the wrong way. So, allow me to clarify:

      NOT cool: ranking multiple pages for similar keywords where the only difference between those pages is the keyword. So, one page says "Hello people in New York bla bla bla" while the other says "Hello people in NYC bla bla bla", and another "Hello people in NY bla bla bla"

      Cool: making multiple pages with unique content on them, yes, even when they're about similar keywords. And YES, also when they're about the same keyword. Example: I can write two articles about people in New York but say completely different things.

      VERY cool: getting a ton of traffic because you're ranking for similar keywords or even the same keywords with unique content, because you don't believe what people say the first time you hear it. SEOMoz is awesome, but sometimes they give advice that can be misinterpreted... like you did just now.
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      • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
        Originally Posted by Masterminding View Post

        I think people may interpret your advice the wrong way. So, allow me to clarify:

        NOT cool: ranking multiple pages for similar keywords where the only difference between those pages is the keyword. So, one page says "Hello people in New York bla bla bla" while the other says "Hello people in NYC bla bla bla", and another "Hello people in NY bla bla bla"

        Cool: making multiple pages with unique content on them, yes, even when they're about similar keywords. And YES, also when they're about the same keyword. Example: I can write two articles about people in New York but say completely different things.

        VERY cool: getting a ton of traffic because you're ranking for similar keywords or even the same keywords with unique content, because you don't believe what people say the first time you hear it. SEOMoz is awesome, but sometimes they give advice that can be misinterpreted... like you did just now.
        Look at it this way, are you writing for the user or the search engines?

        Some people get into the habit of creating loads of doorway pages and the trouble comes when they link them together with the same anchor text and they all fit into a library of synonyms plus content will match a certain percentage perhaps 51%+.

        You wouldn't make up 2 titles with the words "New York" or would you? the longer the titles, the more unqiue they and the more different the content is the better. You could have two titles;

        1, My first trip to New York
        2, My second trip to New York

        Does this matter? I don't think so, as long as your articles are unique. The trouble comes when people just change a similar word in the title and in the body of the article and everything else is the same. It's definately not easy to create a site that has loads of search terms that are very similar, they need to be really good quality..
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