Exact match of keywords?

  • WordPress version: 3.41
    WordPress SEO version: 1.2.8.7

    I did this: created a location-specific keyword that is not showing up as an exact match in the body of my page.

    I expected the plugin to do this: I expected that as long as I had all the keywords in the body somewhere in the first paragraph (Example: roofing Dayton OH), but they are only showing up as a match when it is the EXACT keyword in the EXACT order.

    Instead it did this: It did not recognize this keyword in the body of the webpage even though I had all the words there. Perhaps a comma between the city and state or the fact that in the body I use the term “roofing in Dayton OH” is causing this issue.

    I’m hoping that this is the best way to phrase location-specific keywords, but hopefully you can provide some insight into the best way of phrasing these keywords and getting them to perform to our ideal expectations. Thanks for creating this excellent plugin!

    Sincerely,
    RS

    https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/wordpress-seo/

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

  • From what I’ve seen of the behavior of the plugin, it is looking for an exact match of the keyword string. It then gives you advice based upon that.

    However, Google is smarter than that and in your example will probably figure out that “Dayton OH” and “Dayton, OH” (and “Dayton, Ohio”) are the same thing.

    Yoast can’t depend upon how smart Google is, so this plugin can only make suggestions based upon the exact text matching. Maybe it should ignore an occasional comma, but then we’d be making assumptions about how search engines behave (and that changes).

    Google wants you to write for your readers, and so you’re going to tend to use “Dayton, Ohio” or “Dayton, OH”.

    I use Yoast’s suggestions as being helpful, but I give preference to my Google rankings and visitor logs as to what is actually working. Most of my pages are given good marks by Yoast, but for some I have to ignore this plugin’s quirks. These keyword tools are good for beginners, but there are exceptions to be learned for every rule.

    Thread Starter RSCCUSA

    (@rsccusa)

    Thank you very much for your helpful response to my question. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me better understand the way Google will interpret these keywords. Have a good afternoon, and thanks again!

    Sincerely,
    RS

    Thanks for the tip RoamFree. I have a subsequent suggestion…

    Couldn’t the plugin easily use a “CONTAIN” command for it’s queries to see if the keywords are maybe located in the first paragraph? Or some similar search instead of the exact keyword match? Something like this maybe: Stack Overflow

    I understand that we could just ignore the pages that return errors, which I have a bunch of. But what I would really like is to be able to train my employees by telling them to rely on the green/yellow/red lights of the plugin and keep working till everything is green.

    Thoughts? Thanks for the help!

    KENNY ELIASON
    NeONBRAND.com

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • The topic ‘Exact match of keywords?’ is closed to new replies.