Is there a better way to optimise

Serps are not specific enough

[jon80]

By all accounts, the average searcher does not use "" - OR and such like while searching.

Is there a way to optimise a site beyond using keyword density, title tags etc to minimise serps from for example, New York while searching for information on York?

The problem, would not exist if searchers framed their searches better but this is unlikely to happen in the short term.

[ciml]

Good question Jon. There have been times when I've removed words that can be used with the core words in a disturbing way, but to reduce the combined affect of two words while having both indexed I can only suggest splitting them up on the page.