+

I got an idea ppl. do you think it is possible to optimize a page strictly for "keyword+keyword" (eg. illustrator+download) some people are actually searching using the + sign instead of space.

recon it would be easier or is + regognized as space by the search engines?

 

I tried two searches: "instant+message" and "instant message" and the same search results showed up. I'd guess that the plus sign is ignored like punctuation.

 

Is it possible? I would say yes.
Do SEs recognize '+' as a space? Not sure but i doubt it. Although it may be ignored like punctuation.
Is this a worthwhile endeavor? Not likely.

 

well if i optimize my page eg. free+mp3s rather then free mp3s, how would search engines accept that? and will the search free+mp3s cover my site? hope it makes sense

 

If you wanna go this route, I reckon your best bet would be targetting typo traffic. How many people type + instead of a space? I know I never have.

 

i just went to seodigger.com and had a look at the keywords that the most popular sites rank for and you would be surprised that some searches came up with quite large numbers with + between the keywords. so it got me thinking....

 

just had a look on msn and yahoo and they show different results when search with +. google shows the same stuff

 

It makes no difference if you search them with out quotes. If searched within quotes then it searches for the "+" symbol too.

Not sure if its worth optimizing. Test in and do let us know the results. .

Great idea though .

~G

 

yeah, i ve just made a post on my blog, see what happens in a couple of days

 

i dont think + wil make any difference.. It's not considered as a character.. the results are same for - "benz+cars" , benz+cars and benz cars..

 

Adding the + Operator before a word will force Google to search for that word. You can get more help on this on the Google section for Operators or at this page for + Operator

 

http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/refinesearch.html

 

Thanks Annie7. Thats the answer that I have been looking for

 

OK. here are the results of the test. I optimized a post in my blog for the term amazing+keyword and am currently ranking #1 in google for it. Also am #1 in google for amazing keyword

With msn its a different story, i am #4 for the term amazing+keyword and nowhere no be found for amazing keyword.

no results in yahoo yet. so cant tell

so it looks like in google it doesnt matter weather u optimize for keyword1+keyword2 or keyword1 keyword2 combination. in msn it matters