100% Organic - Search Engine Optimization Tips

How To Optimize Your Page Titles For Singular & Plural Terms


Most SEOs will agree that the title element is your strongest on-page element, and optimizing the title is critical for rankings and traffic. However when the keyword or phrase you are targeting has both a singular and plural version, many people have a difficult time optimizing for both. Novices decide to create a page for both the singular and plural version or just target the one term usually with the higher search volume. However with some careful planning it is possible to get both versions in your title tag.

For example lets assume you are an SEO consultant. Chances are you want to rank for both phrases [SEO Consultant] and [SEO Consultants]. However creating a separate page for each one would be awkward from a user point of view, as there isn’t really a need for two pages with content that will ultimately be very similar. In this case what you would want to do is find a way to get both versions in your title tag without it looking keyword stuffed. You could do something like this:

John Smith SEO Consultant, SEO Consultants

While that does have both terms it’s awkward and spammy looking. Here’s an alternative that is better:

SEO Consultants: John Smith SEO Consultant

The words are identical; however by changing the order it becomes much more readable and useful. Let’s try a commercial example:

Discount Disney Vacation, Disney Vacations

Again the wording is awkward, looks keyword stuffed and appears spammy. However by changing the order and adding a word we can come up with something much more useful:

Disney Vacations – Planning a Discount Disney Vacation

Experimenting a bit more you could even come up with something more useful and purchase driven:

Disney Vacations – Find A Discount Disney Vacation Online

The next time you are trying to target singular and plural phrases or phrases that are very close, look for ways to add an extra word or two, experiment with word order, and incorporate some natural language into your title. With a little effort chances are you’ll find a way to get both singular and plural forms of your keywords into your title, and be more click enticing.

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.


Michael Gray has over 10 years experience in website development and internet marketing. He has helped companies with internal search engine optimization strategies for both ecommerce and informational websites. He publishes controversial industry thoughts and observations on his blog at www.wolf-howl.com

See more articles by Michael Gray >



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7 COMMENTS ON How To Optimize Your Page Titles For Singular & Plural Terms

Red_Mud_Rookie,

good post. I have to admit I prefer to use one or the other, but it makes sense to try and get both in if you can avoid looking spammy.



chornak,

This is some good insight but I have a big problem with using the same word twice in the title tag. You have very little room to fit words and using the same word twice just seems like a waste of space.

Instead of;

Disney Vacations – Find A Discount Disney Vacation Online

I might do something like this;

Walt Disney Vacations – Find A Discount Vacation Package Online

This way it has more keywords; *walt +packages and it is still within the ideal 65 characters.



raju,

But as Per My concern I give Keywords and Titles One at The Same.

Washington DC corporate



Realicity in Minnesota,

I have to agree with chornak. I avoid using duplicate keywords in the Title tag when ever there is a good alternative like…

SEO Consultants: John Smith SEO Consultant
SEO Consultants: John Smith Search Engine Optimization Consultant

Disney Vacations – Planning a Discount Disney Vacation
Disney Vacations – Planning an Orlando Florida Vacation

Disney Vacations – Find A Discount Disney Vacation Online
Disney Vacations – Find a Orlando, FL Vacation Online



Realicity in Minnesota,

Oops. Should have made that last one…

Disney Vacations – Find an Orlando, FL Vacation Online



paddy26,

Hi Michael,

A gr8 post, this is something that I had overlooked inspite of being in the SEO business for more than 3 years. It really comes to show that how important the basics are. Infact, these are some aspects that every new comer to SEO should be made to realize. Thanks for the post, would look forward to more such informative posts from you.



srvwiz,

Hi Gray,

I liked your post. But I have a question for you. Let’s take an example from Travel Industry. As you know..this industry is so competitive and there are so many keywords to target. For a Home Page, If I am putting a title like

Cheap Airfare, Hotels, Car Rental, Vacations, Cruises – Brand Name – will that work…

The base of the question was if we add 3-4 keywords keeping the character limit within 70 – will the title still look spammy…..

Srv





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