Keywords - singular vs. plural

[viradian]

I have found that I list differently in the serps for singular keywords vs. plural. And the difference is extreme. In Yahoo for instance, for the keyword phrase "latex pillow" my site is the 10th listed as of today....If I type in "latex pillows" my site comes in at 66th...

Anyone know why there is such an extreme difference? I thought Yahoo didn't distinguish between singular and plural keywords, but I guess I am wrong....

[tomfallenstein]

Most of the search engines do count them as different words. Main reason why you would rank better for one than the other is the people who link to you.

If everyone that links to you uses "Widget" and no one uses "Widgets" when they link to your site. Then you would rank better for Widget.

Also, your keywords and title tags do effect the outcome.

Here is a good tool to use to see if you should use the plural or the cingular version.

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/
The Word Tracker side tells you plural versions.

[viradian]

Thanks, I will try that tool...I didn't even know one existed for that...

[appraisal57]

The problem with that is not only with Yahoo but MSN as well. I am having the same issue.

[rose.water]

I didn't think it mattered at all.

Google doesn't differentiate between singular and plural.

Google owns 60% of the search market.

Compare these and see what I mean:
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=site%20widget&num=100
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=site%20widgets&num=100

You may want to split backlink optimization between both words, since this would help you everywhere. On your on-page seo just use whatever is natural.

I would avoid using singular and plural in the meta tags on the same page, that would definitely be spam.





rose hydrosols

Edit: Removed extraneous g, that was from my custom firefox google quick search
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=%s&num=100&filter=0

[aconstas1]

The difference is because they check your keyword's relevancy to your text. if your text is more plural, your plural form will rank higher. If you have equal number of plural versions in your text as singular versions in your text and both are in your keywords, you should get closer to even rankings; however, the search that your viewers link to you through will affect the ranking as well.