Which is best for keywords; plurals vs singular

[BlandyDoes]

Hello!

This is my first question so I hope it will be a good one and everyone finds it useful; I have found many conflicting views and need some clarification.

Question: When it comes to optimising for specific keywords, which is best; plurals or singular?

Example: Should I optimise for 'conveyor' with medium competition and a larger local [exact] traffic volume, or go for 'conveyors' with a higher competition and a slightly smaller local [exact] volume of traffic?

Obviously this example is a bit of no brainer as I would tend to sway towards the lower competition with a good volume of traffic to be more competitive, but when the terms are so closely linked, would it be wise to cover both grounds now and go for 'conveyors'?

What is general consensus out there?

Thanks in advance!

Richard

[Marcus_Miller]

Hey Richard

I don't think there is a general consensus and these things have to be reviewed on a case by case basis. You have pretty much covered it above but you need to balance relevance, competition and volume and make the best call.

No easy answers in this game eh!

Marcus

[BlandyDoes]

Thanks Marcus,

It is definitely a case by case study as you say. What prompted me to ask the question is the variety of answers out there in the search results...

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Richard

[preemo]

It's certainly on a case-by-case basis as I've seen. Certain terms (ex. photographers) is searched much more as a plural than as singular. The real answer to this question is do your keyword research, and see which terms is more sought after.