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Exact Match vs No Quote Google Keyword Search

by EndTheTrendNow
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
In Google you can look for an exact match by using Quotes and it will return less competing pages than if you don't use quotes.

Example "Blue Widgets"

So if you optimize for "Blue Widgets" with quotes, shouldn't that rank higher and be more relevant than pages that have blue and widgets somewhere on the page. Seems sort of weird to me. Most people don't know to use quotes when doing google searches.

What I am seeing is the web page I optimized the keyword for shows up on the second page if I use quotes, but is something like 45th page if I don't use quotes.

Shouldn't pages that are optimized for a set of keywords be more relevant than ones that are not?

Still learning
#exact #google #keyword #match #search
  • Profile picture of the author ochaim
    Yah, I see what you're saying. But optimizing for the keyword itself might not be enough to rank if there's too much competition. How relevant is your page in general to the keyword? Does it have outbound links to authority links that are relevant to the keyword? Do you have links to other pages on your site that is relevant to the keyword?

    These are ideas I've seen on this forum and from studying what is ranking, also in my effort to rank for keywords, these do have a bearing on ranking.
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    • Profile picture of the author jeffster
      Doing the broad search, without the quotes, will include much more competition - those sites that don't specifically use the keyword but still have the potential to rank high. Maybe they have lots of backlinks or are considered an authority site. So yes you'll rank lower.

      I can't imagine anyone except marketers would do an exact search so I always use the broad search when checking my competition and potential to rank on the first page.
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    • Profile picture of the author EndTheTrendNow
      ochaim,

      Yep have backlinks to the page and links that go deeper on the keyword subject within my website. Just seems weird that if it ranks high for the word in quotes, why it shouldn't rank high if it doesn't have quotes.

      I do understand the authoritative nature of backlinks and how they play a role, but some of the top results certainly based on reading them shouldn't be there based on the content.

      IMO most google users are looking for exact matches even though they don't use the quotes when performing a search.
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  • Profile picture of the author fedor50
    Originally Posted by EndTheTrendNow View Post

    In Google you can look for an exact match by using Quotes and it will return less competing pages than if you don't use quotes.

    Example "Blue Widgets"

    So if you optimize for "Blue Widgets" with quotes, shouldn't that rank higher and be more relevant than pages that have blue and widgets somewhere on the page. Seems sort of weird to me. Most people don't know to use quotes when doing google searches.

    What I am seeing is the web page I optimized the keyword for shows up on the second page if I use quotes, but is something like 45th page if I don't use quotes.

    Shouldn't pages that are optimized for a set of keywords be more relevant than ones that are not?

    Still learning
    I would focus on having great on-page SEO and then focus on building backlinks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Originally Posted by EndTheTrendNow View Post

    What I am seeing is the web page I optimized the keyword for shows up on the second page if I use quotes, but is something like 45th page if I don't use quotes.
    That's exactly right.

    When you search with quotes the words need to be exactly how you put them - therefore sites where they are will show up higher than sites where they're not.

    If you search without quotes, sites that have them somewhere on the page (not necessarily together) will show up, and sites that have links where those terms are not together will show up.

    So you could find a site which does not have those terms as much as you but that has them in their links will outrank you without quotes.
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    nothing to see here.

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  • Profile picture of the author ochaim
    Jeffster points a very significant point about competition. By using quotes, you're seeing how well your page ranks among only those that contain the keyword exactly.

    That is a second, much more strict condition that in the end favours your page because it is also the keyword you optimized for.

    By using the broad search you pit your page against all pages that have the keyword and it related words and permutations. Which why you'll see more search results as well.

    I know its not the most definitive metric but the number of searches does seem to effect the "chance" that you'll be able to rank high.

    What's the # of search results for the broad search?
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    • Profile picture of the author EndTheTrendNow
      The Broad Search
      About 1,370,000 results

      The Quoted search returns
      About 32,400

      I am ranked 13th right now for the Quoted Search, which leads me to believe I need more backlinks. The article is about as optimized as it can be based on Yoast's rules.

      Are there any good SEO checkers out there that you like?
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