Google Search Quotes Vs No Quotes

When you are trying to analyze the rankings for your web page or trying to analyze the competition for your keyword, should you or should you not use quotes for the search terms? When should you use quotes and when should you not use quotes?

In my early days, these questions really bothered me quite a bit – But I now know the answer and today I am going to share the answer with you all…

When you use quotes for your search terms, Google will show only the web pages that have the entire phrase in them.

When you don’t use quotes, Google will show web pages that have one or more of the words in the search term.

When you use quotes and search, assume your page ranks on page 4th…Now search without quotes and your page will probably rank on 5th or 6th page or even further.

Quotes
Let’s start with quotes for your search terms. When you are analyzing the competition for your keyword you need to use quotes. When you are analyzing the competition for the keyword ‘Hello Kitty Watches’, you only want the web pages that have the entire phrase in them – not just ‘hello’ or ‘kitty’ or ‘watches’. So by targeting the entire phrase, you are getting a picture of the exact competition to that keyword.

No Quotes
When you are trying to figure out where your web page is ranking for a keyword, then use the search term without quotes. Most web users will search for what they are after without using quotes in their search terms. So, to get a picture of where exactly your page is ranked and to see it at place where most web users are seeing it, you need to search without quotes.

Is this usually how you use quotes and non quotes – If you would like to share any tips on this topic, please leave a comment below…

Best,