wordtracker quote search

making sense of their use of quotations

[lachtzu]

Now for a crazy Wordtracker question:

When using wordtracker to find a good keyword phrase for google (and others), for instance, where to buy widgets, WT will return results using an exact phrase query, i.e. with quotes. So, if WT says that "where to buy widgets" is a very good phrase, then it follows that I should optimize for this phrase verbatim.

BUT, if I do that query in google (and others), without quotes, they drop the 'where' and the 'to'. It is my understanding that the vast majority of regular users won't use quotes. So, wouldn't it then follow that I should actually optimize for "buy widgets"?

Can someone help me to understand the impact of WTs use of quotes on keyword phrase optimization? Thanks! :)

[toprank]

If you're only optimizing for Google, yes. But understand that the data from WT comes from a sampling of Meta Engines like metacrawler and dogpile, not from Google search activity directly. You should be fine targeting the full phrase. But that's just my opinion. I'm sure you'll get others from more experienced SEOs.