Combining Keywords - Save Time, Rank More

97
10.5K followers
Updated

Hey everyone.

I see a lot of people ask how many keywords they should use in one post, and a lot of people answer "One keyword per post".

This isn't exactly correct, although as a general rule it works.

So How Should We Do It?

If you pay attention to how Google displays results these days, it's very rare to see a post title that matches a keyword exactly. So if the keyword is "Best shampoo for hair growth" It's unlikely that you will see all 10 results on page 1 having that exact combination.

Therefore, we can conclude that Google will display the article it thinks is good quality, and "close enough" to the keyword. This means you can rank for many keywords with 1 article, as long as you help google out by peppering those keywords into the posts.

Here's An Example

Take the following keywords:

- Best straight razor

- Best cut-throat razor

- Best straight edged razor

- Best straight razor brands

If you strictly follow the "One keyword per article" rule, you'll write 4 different posts.

This is where you're wasting time and reducing the chances of getting a page 1 ranking for all 4 keywords. Do you think Google wants to show different articles for each keyword combination, or the same solid set of articles that it knows are relevant to each one?

If you focus on producing one bad-ass article about straight razors (which I have), and you use 1 or 2 of those keyword combinations in the title, and the others in other places in the article, you will rank that same article for multiple keywords. Obviously the one(s) you use in the title will rank higher, but you can still get to page 1 for all of them (plus many more!).

Google always likes to see related keywords in an article anyway.

Proof It Works

I rank position 1 for "straight razors vs safety razors" and while analyzing things and doing some more keyword research, I discovered the keyword "straight edge razor vs safety razors" and also "straight vs double edge razor" and a few other combinations.

Now I noticed that I was on page 4-5 for those key terms already (with the same article), even though I hadn't used "double edge razor" or "straight edge razor" anywhere on the page. Google clearly wanted to rank that article, but it needed a bit more relevance.

So I went into the article and added those terms in somewhere relevant (wasn't hard, just added a line here and a word there) and 24 hours later I was on page 1 and 2 for those other terms as well, without having to write a new article.

Makes sense doesn't it?

Knowing Which Ones To Combine

Of course, sometimes it might be better to write separate articles and other times it's better to combine them.

For some, it should be pretty obvious, but if you are in doubt, Google the keyword and see what kind of results are there.

If you google "Best electric shaver" and "Best electric razor", you'll see almost identical results, even though some sites have "shaver" as their article title and some have "razor". Google knows they are the same thing.

However, if you Google "Best electric shaver for men" and "best electric shaver for women" you will see pretty different results. In that case, I would write 2 different articles. Note: You can rank "best electric razor, best electric shaver, and best electric razor for men" all with one article, as Google appears to show the same sites for all 3.

QSR is great and all, but it's always useful to take a look at page 1 and see what is showing up.

Getting It Ranked

One advantage you might think to having 4 different articles rather than 1 all encompassing article is that you have 4 x the opportunity to get ranked. If 1 article does well and 3 don't, at least you have 1 page 1 ranking right?

Well in theory yes, but in practice I don't think that's true. Google prefers these big topic articles that contain a whole bunch of keywords anyway. I definitely find that my best performing articles capture a lot of different keywords.

Also, because linking internally really helps relevance and importance, if you only have 1 article to link to from other posts on your site, it makes it a lot easier.


Just a little tip I've been meaning to share with you all.

Dom

Login
Create Your Free Wealthy Affiliate Account Today!
icon
4-Steps to Success Class
icon
One Profit Ready Website
icon
Market Research & Analysis Tools
icon
Millionaire Mentorship
icon
Core “Business Start Up” Training

Recent Comments

57

Thanks Dom many of us do have this worry, unsure should I or shoulld I not.You`ve made it clearer

Hi Dom,
Now that was a good tip-- another fine tuning device. Thank you...Dick

Great Info Dom!

V interesting. It confirms that Google has become increasingly intelligent, and no doubt it will become more so. It seems that, once we've done the basic keyword work, we should focus on writing not for algorithmic engines but for people!

I'd say it's become more intuitive if anything.

Thanks Dom - that is a great help!
... bookmarked

Great Tip! Thanks for sharing:)

Great share Dom - much appreciated. If anything is central to our efforts here at WA, the use (and abuse) of keywords has to be right up there at the top of the list.

Dennis

Definitely

As always, brilliant advice!

keywords are my Nemesis! Thanks for sharing Dom!

They should become your best friend at some point.

Makes perfect sense and I'm glad you shared this, as I've seen questions on it quite often.

See more comments

Login
Create Your Free Wealthy Affiliate Account Today!
icon
4-Steps to Success Class
icon
One Profit Ready Website
icon
Market Research & Analysis Tools
icon
Millionaire Mentorship
icon
Core “Business Start Up” Training