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Optimizing E-Commerce Store URLs - Plural or Singular?

by DianaCurlee
4 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi,

I have a question about optimizing a large number of urls in a e-commerce store. So obviously in a e-commerce store you are selling quantities of items rather than just one so plural is more applicable. Generally though (I know not always as depends on context of search) the singular version of the term is the more heavily searched term. Again, though, depending on context it can have a lower pc and perhaps be a more informational type search.

So an example with 2 keywords (data I have made up to illustrate example as a whole rather than exact):
dog collar dog collars
exact searches/month 1,000 500
cpc $1 $1.70

Which url do you optimize the store for. Again this is made up data but a reasonably accurate reflection as the plural can often have a higher cpc but lower search volume. It also often has higher commercial intent.

- So in this case which url do you optimize for?
- or do you need to treat each url on a individual basis and make a judgement call

hopefully his makes sense to everyone as looking for some good answers.

thanks!
#ecommerce #optimizing #plural #singular #store #urls
  • Profile picture of the author linkvana
    Google behaves very interestingly when it comes to singular vs. plural keywords. In many cases you will find that the top 10 results will be different depending on which version you choose.

    Thankfully, this is a problem I've seen many times before so I can help you out

    If the plural version makes more sense it is almost always preferred. The plural version contains the singular version within it, so optimizing for the plural version in a sense optimizes your site for the singular version as well. The same can not be said for optimizing for the singular version.

    When building links, dedicate the majority of your links to the plural version but include some singular links in there as well.

    Here's how I would vary the anchor texts for your example:

    dog collars
    high quality dog collar
    cheap dog collar
    buy dog collars
    buy dog collars online
    ..etc.

    Make sense?

    If you build keywords this way, you should be able to rank for both. If you find any page on your site having particular trouble ranking for the singular, don't change the optimization. Just build a few more links of the singular version.

    Good luck and let us know how it goes!
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    • Profile picture of the author DianaCurlee
      Originally Posted by linkvana View Post

      Google behaves very interestingly when it comes to singular vs. plural keywords. In many cases you will find that the top 10 results will be different depending on which version you choose.

      Thankfully, this is a problem I've seen many times before so I can help you out

      If the plural version makes more sense it is almost always preferred. The plural version contains the singular version within it, so optimizing for the plural version in a sense optimizes your site for the singular version as well. The same can not be said for optimizing for the singular version.

      When building links, dedicate the majority of your links to the plural version but include some singular links in there as well.

      Here's how I would vary the anchor texts for your example:

      dog collars
      high quality dog collar
      cheap dog collar
      buy dog collars
      buy dog collars online
      ..etc.

      Make sense?

      If you build keywords this way, you should be able to rank for both. If you find any page on your site having particular trouble ranking for the singular, don't change the optimization. Just build a few more links of the singular version.

      Good luck and let us know how it goes!
      Hi,

      Yes thanks a lot for your answer. This certainly does make sense.

      I'm still not 100% clear on in though. Say you have 2 keywords:
      Keyword 1 Singular: 200 exact searches/month
      Keyword 2 Plural: 30 exact searches/month

      So you are saying you would still optimize the whole page (url, tags etc) for the plural and not the singular version? Just want to clarify as the above example is actually accurate for a number of my keywords across the site.

      Let me know!

      Also Does anybody else out there have opinions on this as well?

      It would just be great to get some more opinions on this from SEO people....come on!
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  • Profile picture of the author linkvana
    To answer your question, yes I'd still optimize for the plural keyword even if it has lower search traffic. Especially if it makes more sense in your context. You can use both the singular and plural version in your on-page content though.
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    • Profile picture of the author DianaCurlee
      Originally Posted by linkvana View Post

      To answer your question, yes I'd still optimize for the plural keyword even if it has lower search traffic. Especially if it makes more sense in your context. You can use both the singular and plural version in your on-page content though.
      Linkvana can you please PM me! I have another question for you but don't have enough posts!

      Kind of urgent! Thanks a lot. Hoping you see this!
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