Singular Vs. Plural - What do users search for.

Do users search for Blue Widget or Blue Widgets?

[ulounge]

Since Google treats the singular and plural or words differently, does anyone have any information or stats on what users search for more often?

Is it Blue Widget or Blue Widgets?

[jdMorgan]

ulounge,

In many cases...

When researching, they search for information about blue widgets.
When ready to buy, they look for the best price they can find on a blue widget from a trustworthy site.

Source: IWMA - International Widget Marketing Alliance, 2002 summary report

I'd suggest covering both terms, and then analyzing your logs to see which you should emphasisize based both on hits and on actual conversions. Beware of seasonal changes in search terms if you market is seasonal.

(More than once, I've wished I only had to market pants and/or scissors.)

Jim

[netguy]

ulounge, jdMorgan is correct to make sure you are covered on both... but our SE stats for banner and PPC advertising over the past several years has been more than 2-to-1 for plural on several dozen key phrases at various sites we manage.

[ScottM]

>>ScottM hurries off to optimize for 'socks'

:>)

[shaadi]

Your logs are the best source to research rather than some - IWMA - International Widget Marketing Alliance, 2002 summary report.

HTH

[vitaplease]

Assuming you want to make money on the single or plural, I'd spend a few bucks on Google adwords and let the clickers decide.

It can be different for many search phrases/languages.

[Morgan]

If you're just starting, it often makes sense to optimize just for one because you may not have enough PageRank to pull effectively for both.

A decent lookup is the Adwords setup tool, they let you try out some words, if you max out the bid it will give a relative measure between two terms, and you can tell which one os best overall.

Check like this in the tool:

[widget]
[widgets]

Brackets restrict the term to exactly that term, not including "blue widgets", "good widgets", etc.

If they're close, and the competition is much weaker on one, go there first.

[peewhy]

Much is down to moods and prhases.

Let's assume widgets are tiny objects like nuts and bolts - the search would be plural because it is a quantity.

Then assume the search is specific - say a 12mm widget/bolt - the search would be singular.

Cover both as much as you can and analyse your logfiles to keep up to date with trends.

[ulounge]

Thanks for the advice.

I have spent some more time looking at my logs and noticed that the ratio is indeed high for plural than singular.

I have noticed a few things analyzing the keywords. For my site it seems plural is higher for terms such as "widgets", but as the term becomes more specific it becomes singular "large blue widget".

I will have to track my keywords better, the only problem is that since i don't have equal exposure to singular and plural keyword listings and my reesults are skewed.

Does it pay to target singular keywords even though they may be searched for less since it may be less competitive and you have a better change to have a higher positioned listing?

[pageoneresults]

Does it pay to target singular keywords even though they may be searched for less since it may be less competitive and you have a better change to have a higher positioned listing?

Hello ulounge! Always, always target both singular and plural versions of your phrases. You want to capture as much of the searching audience that you possibly can.

This is where the creative copywriting comes into play. Writing highly focused page titles, headings, paragraph content, etc. will be the key in targeting both. Get creative but make sure that you are thinking of your visitors. ;)

<title>Widgets in California - Blue Widget</title>

[jaski]

For us its more of singular.

If googleadwords is a good indicator - its about 3:1
May be it depends on what the widgets are.

[peewhy]

Does it pay to target singular keywords even though they may be searched for less since it may be less competitive and you have a better change to have a higher positioned listing?

Know your marketplace

Know your competition

pageoneresults is absolutely right, creative licence is the key and understanding your prospective clients' needs will help with market trends analysis.

Look for holes in your competitors' sites and take full advantage.