When the Plural has more traffic, but the singular makes much more sense. What to do?

[martim_santos]

Hey everyone! This is actually the first time I ever posted a question here on MOZ! Guess I was (still am) embarrassed by being an SEO Noob!

That being said, I really have to get some input on this matter and i was wondering if you guys might be able to help.

I'm optimizing a page for a wedding venue in Portugal. Currently, according to google trends the Plural - Venues for weddings, scores considerably better than the Singular, Venue for weddings(this was researched in Portuguese written terms of course). Despite this, i'm leaning towards an optimization for the Singular term, because the plural seems to un-natural to fit in the content, or title. I managed to fit the Plural in the description but i've read that it hasn't influenced rank directly for a while.

Currently my title tag reads: Venue for Weddings | Name of the Venue. I really can't find anyway that it makes sense to me in the Plural... and i feel like if i was a user, i would rather click on the singular term cause it just makes a lot more sense. But my opinion is most probably biased by the fact that i understand that using the plural term will be solemnly an SEO effort to rank higher for a term that has more average searches per month.

My question is: In the current state of search algorithms, will an optimization for the singular term, still get me some rank on the plural key phrase?

Let me know what you think about this please, and thank you in advance for your time.

Most Respectfully,

Martim Coutinho dos Santos

[WilliamKammer]

Imagine you are a user. If you're searching the singular, you're probably looking for a SERP with websites of single venue locations to browse through. If you were searching the plural, you're probably looking for websites that aggregate, list, rank or otherwise provide you with a predetermined group of venues. So, if you are a single venue trying to rank for "venues" you're always going to struggle against those sites that naturally use the plural.

With that said, yes, optimizing for a singular will usually give you some juice for the plural as well, but not as much. If you're starting from scratch, I would recommend going for the lower competition, more relevant key term first.

And remember, more traffic doesn't always mean more results. Targeting keywords without the proper searcher intent is going to get you traffic that doesn't convert.

[martim_santos]

Thanks for the quick answer!

I really get what you're saying and share your opinion! I think the user's POV is always the best when it comes to this kind of decisions. Unfortunately, the client doesn't think the same cause someone told him that "Venues" is "da bomb" because it has the most searches per month.. And here in Portugal people still think that SEO is just supposed to get you on the first page, and it stops there. Clients don't want to know about traffic conversion, they just care if they rank higher than their "neighbor".. My guess would be that this is a common issue with clients in this industry, but again, I'm still an SEO Noob

Hopefully and with some patience and educating i can make him see what he really needs to be concerned about!

Once again, many thanks for taking the time to answer!

Respectfully,

Martim Santos

[WilliamKammer]

Ha, yeah. This job would be so easy if only clients weren't a factor. The ones that listen are always the ones that have more success.

Good luck convincing your client. Keep your cool, it can be frustrating when clients force you to let them shoot themselves in the foot. This is because once their foot is bleeding, they're going to blame you for the pain.

[EGOL]

I have stopped thinking about singular and plural.  Stopped a couple years ago.

Now I just word my title tags like the average person talks, trying to say something that makes 'em click...  and then deliver the best content possible when they land.

Title tags are still really important but google, I believe, will favor natural language and good content way over keyword stuffin' and optimizin'.

[anthonydnelson]

Consider creating a page on your site for both terms. Weddings are a big deal for people and ultimately, they are going to book a venue that they love and relate to. If you have a great venue, you shouldn't be afraid to list a few other venues (perhaps not your primary competitors) that are good alternatives. Perhaps you could even make a referral arrangement with them and earn some income from people who book their venues from your page.

• Your home page could target the singular, Wedding Venue term - and of course highlight your venue.
• An additional page would be created to highlight the plural, Venues for Weddings, and the content would focus on the Top Venues in your city.

It's a great chance for you to highlight what is special about your venue and deliver value to the searchers of either term.