A domain is ranking for a plural key word in SERPs on page 1 but for the singular not at all?

[SimCaffe]

What could the reasons that a domain is ranking for the plural version of a key word on SERPs page 1 and for the singular version not at all? Google knows that both key words belong together, as in the SERPs for one version also the other version of the key word is being highlighted. If I search for the domain with the plural keyword it shows up on the first page in SERPs, but If I search for the same keyword as singular (in German it is just removing an “s”) I see the plural version highlighted many times but I cannot find my domain. What could be the reason for this behavior? penalties?

[Theo-NL]

I don't think this is (in most cases) related to penalties.

My best guess would be exactly keyword optimization (somebody optimizing his page for 'book' rather than 'books' will most likely rank higher for 'book' than he ranks for 'books) and incoming anchor text.

[Tompt]

I have found that in the past this is down to the two keywords triggering different search criteria. One is considered a transactional search, and the other is an informational search. So it may be that is what is happening here.

What would the keywords be in english (if you don't mind my asking)?

[SimCaffe]

Hi, the English key words would be more or less "language course" and "language courses". In German we often put words together to one word.

[Tompt]

It seems less likely that it's the informational \ transactional search then, both of those terms I would say sound mainly transactional.

Is there much variation in the other sites that rank for that term? Or is it just your domain that disappears?

[SimCaffe]

The domains that appear in the SERPs are mostly the same but the order is different. Some domains from page 2 are on page one and vice versa. But i would say that there no domain that disappears that dramatically.

The funny thing is that if you search for the singular term almost everywhere is the plural term is highlighted. So that for me it is obvious that google sees a high correlation between both terms.

[SimCaffe]

Both versions of the keyword are used on the Site more or less the same. The funny thing is that if you search for the singular term almost everywhere is the plural term is highlighted. So that for me it is obvious that google sees a high correlation between both terms.

[Tompt]

Like Theo above says it could be the fact that google make a distinction between singular and plural (example for english courses and english course below).

english courses

english course

If the change is more dramatic than those examples it may be something more exotic, it could be that the search criteria are different as I mentioned or even that google treats different languages differently.

I have to admit I now think it's much more likely to be what Theo said, but it could be mixture of factors. If you want to give me the keywords exactly I will take a look.

Of course my not understanding German beyond a very very basic level is not going to help the situation.

[SimCaffe]

Hi, thanks for your engagement! I am rely looking for new input....

The querries are these two:

sprachreisen

sprachreise

which mean "language travel"

[Tompt]

Okay, my best guess (and that's all it's going to be at this point), is that different criteria are being applied to each word, or at least google's understanding of the word's emphasis is different.

Sprachreisen seems to be bringing up results that focus mainly on information about language courses

whereas

Sprachreise seems to be focusing mainly on information about "Studying Abroad" (which is exactly what google translate thinks sprachreise means but I believe changes the context considerably)

This would make the first search more transactional, so people looking for courses, and the second a more informational one, people after information about studying abroad.

Based on this I would say get some articles up about studying abroad in general, and see what happens.

Now for the Disclaimer:

Disclaimer I was working pretty much entirely through google translate so the above theory could be utter rubbish. I would probably still stick with Theo's theory because it's simpler and the way to fix it is exactly the same: build some content around the singular keyword promote it and see what happens.

Sorry that's not a huge help, but it's all I've got.

[SimCaffe]

It is true that people searching for general information are more using the plural of an word. And people who already know what they want might uses the singular as it is more specific.

Thanks for your Engagement!

[SimCaffe]

I am still working on these issue. In the past year we tried allot (onpage and offpage) to rank for the singular Keyword, but without much success. We are still on Page 3....

In the meantime i am quiet convinced that these is an transactional/informative issue. Which factors could Google use to understand weather a search or a website is more transaktional or informative?

Apart of mentioning Buy now, Shop, Buy now, Shop

Any Ideas?