What is phrase match... Really?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by richardisr, Mar 1, 2011.

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  1. #1
    Using the Google Keyword Tool I enter two phrases:

    raleigh apartments
    apartments raleigh

    as you would expect the results for broad match are the same

    but when I select phrase match "apartments raleigh" is getting close to 5 times the searches as "raleigh apartments"

    so what does this really mean? are people actually typing in the phrase "apartments raleigh" with quotes or are they just keying in phrases that contain that phrase ie: looking for apartments raleigh, or for rent apartments raleigh?

    are you able to prove your premise?

    Thanks!
     
    richardisr, Mar 1, 2011 IP
  2. Aaron Cook

    Aaron Cook Peon

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    #2
    Good question, and one that I can't fully explain, at least not as much as some of the experts on DP. You should expect that the data is quite accurate, as it is from Google after all. After doing a lot of research on keywords recently myself, you would be surprised what people will enter into the search engine to find your site. It's not always logical or how you would expect it!
     
    Aaron Cook, Mar 1, 2011 IP
  3. cr0n1cal

    cr0n1cal Active Member

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    #3
    It means that most people are searching for "apartments raleigh" then "raleigh apartments"
    In my opinion you should take in consideration both keywords
     
    cr0n1cal, Mar 1, 2011 IP
  4. carleisenstein

    carleisenstein Peon

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    #4
    The Google Keyword Tool is not designed for natural search - it's designed for Google Adwords. And in Google Adwords a phrase match just means that you're matching a set phrase within the search term - so as you said, 'rent apartments raleigh' and 'looking for apartments raleigh' would both phrase match the keyword 'apartments raleigh' (but not the keyword 'raleigh apartments' - that would have to be a broad match). It does not mean that they have to put 'apartments raleigh' in quotes - although that would phrase match too.

    Sign up for an Adwords account and find out for yourself! :)

    What does it mean for SEO though? I think it probably means that in the word order on your page you'd benefit from having it mostly in the order that the Google Keyword tool suggests. However I wouldn't worry about it too much - variety is the spice of life. It might also be useful to dig deeper into the keyword tool results and find out what niche terms they're using to see if you can shape pages around those.

    Also try out http://www.google.com/insights/search - that can be useful at times.
     
    carleisenstein, Mar 1, 2011 IP
  5. Excel 8

    Excel 8 Guest

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    #5
    putting a quote would make your search specific, it would broad if you didn't use quote.
     
    Excel 8, Mar 1, 2011 IP
  6. richardisr

    richardisr Member

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    #6
    Thanks for the great response!

    I'm afraid I'm still a bit unsure. Ultimately I need to choose a phrase for which to optimize the page. A phrase I'll put in the title, description, H1 tags, and alt tags. A phrase that I'll use for anchor text in link building, A phrase for which I want to rank on the first page of the SERPs. So in choosing that phrase is it safe to believe that apartments raleigh will indeed bring more traffic than raleigh apartments?
     
    richardisr, Mar 3, 2011 IP