Which is better to use: apostrophe version or non-apostrophe version?

[ProjectLabs]

When targeting a keyword phrase that contains an apostrophe (in the correct spelling), is it better to use the non-apostrophe version if it has higher search volume.

[Copstead]

Here is a great post about that topic.

Google quietly removes apostrophes from keywords

http://blog.tamar.com/2011/10/google-rids-keywords-of-apostrophes/

[donford]

Interesting post there Brent, I would say in the case outlined there, it appears that apostrophes are not needed. Google Keyword tool does in fact return no results for the correct spelling for "boy's clothing". Other keywords I would not say that holds true.

An example from my industry is an o-ring

If you use Google Key Word Tool you'll see (all possible spellings)

• o'ring
• o ring
• o-ring
• oring

all have the same global monthly searches which to me means they are all being treated as the same word.

Now take the word o-rings

If you use Google Key Word Tool (all possible spellings)

• o'rings
• o rings
• o-rings   are the same BUT
• orings   is different

All this tells me is before I decide on the keyword and spelling of such keyword you should probably look it up.

As for the OP question, it is very interesting and I'm sure nobody can say for sure which is correct. Here in the past we tried to optimize for both variants, but I feel this runs the risk of being potentially spammy. So, we decided to spell the word correctly, and let the search engines decide if they wish to return us on SERP's to grammatically challenged searchers.

I would also urge you to look at the Google insta results, if you type in boy's clothing you get the "showing results for boys clothing" search for "boy's clothing" instead? message. Though both keywords will give you the same company as #1.