If you rank first organically for a keyword, will you rank first for variations?

[HamiltonIsland]

Hi everyone,

Hoping that someone will be able to answer this question for us.

If we rank first organically for a keyword, are we safe to assume that we'll rank first (or close to it) for variations of that keyword as well?

E.g. If we rank first easily for "Hamilton Island", can we safely assume that we will rank well organically for close variations of that keyword such as "Hamilton Islands", "Hamiltonisland", "Hamilton Island Hotel" due to the fact that "Hamilton Island" is in those keywords?

We're deciding which keywords to monitor in SEOmoz and we don't want to waste keywords on very similar terms if we don't have to.

Really appreciate any responses!

Cheers.

[EGOL]

...can we safely assume that we will rank well organically for close variations of that keyword such as "Hamilton Islands", "Hamiltonisland", "Hamilton Island Hotel" due to the fact that "Hamilton Island" is in those keywords?

That is not a safe assumption.. in fact, since "Hamilton Island Hotel" is a commercial query it could have more competition than "Hamilton Island".

[jeffreytrull1]

I agree with EGOL and would add that some very subtle variations often have different rankings. For example, I've seen different results when comparing "Rhode Island Wedding" and "Rhode Island Weddings" in the search results. These variations are arguably closer than the ones you are posing yet are different, so don't assume anything.

If you don't want to waste keywords that you monitor, I would recommend tracking the variations that have the highest search volume first. After a quick search, "Hamilton Island" has much more monthly searches than "Hamilton Islands." It might not even be worth it to track the latter term since the search volume is much lower.

[HamiltonIsland]

Thanks for the response EGOL.

[HamiltonIsland]

Cheers Jeff!