2 replies to this topic

[afftrackin]

Hi this baffles me, I understand the difference with broad match searching and phrase match searching i.e if i go to google and type

speed reading it shows me every page that google has with those words somewhere on the page but not nessarily in that order or phrase

if i type

"speed reading " it shows me every page that is in google that has the phrase in the title or on the page


In theory.,., typing " " around the word your looking for is likely to provide you results which are closer to what your after vs just typing the broad match phrase

But How many people do you think HONESTLY type " " around their words when they type into google? Most people dont even know about "" phrasing

So what the hell is the point of broad or "" phrase match? who does it serve? the seo / tech/ nerd community ?


I would have thought that a webpage that has the phrase SPEED READING in the title would out rank even when a person does a broad search....

but not so..

[piskie]

I find professional people who use a Search Engine to source as a business activity are more likely to search for an "Exact Match" These visitors also have a far higher conversion rate on the sites that I monitor.

On Non-Selling, Technical Information sites, I find the "Exact Match" is more likely to be the "Specifier" who dictates where expenditure goes in major projects. I am refering to Architects, CivilEngineers and the like.

[Ignoramus]

But How many people do you think HONESTLY type " " around their words when they type into google? Most people dont even know about "" phrasing

So what the hell is the point of broad or "" phrase match? who does it serve? the seo / tech/ nerd community ?
I would have thought that a webpage that has the phrase SPEED READING in the title would out rank even when a person does a broad search....

If you are talking about organic search, most people don't - but some do, and searchers are becoming more sophisticated all the time.

Other things being equal, which of course they are not, the SERPs will show results for the query Speed Reading before they show Joe Speed recently took a reading course...

Having 'Speed Reading' in your title doesn't guarantee you anything in the results. If you are not ranking for the term compared to 'Joe Speed' it only shows you have more work to do, or time to wait.

If you are refering to Adwords that's different. Yor ads will show, or not show, depending on whether you, not the searcher, has selected broad or phrase match.