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A couple of months ago I had published on my blog an article with a title in the form: what is a table (table is not really the word I used-I write the word here as an example).

I had seen through Google Keyword Planner that this search term has very low competition and a decent volume. However, when I search in Google for this term I cannot find my post even in the last page after 450 results. Apart the first couple of Google pages with relevant results, all other pages which outrank my post do not answer the particular question (what is a table) but they have a great density of the word table in their content just because they happen to make or sell tables.

On the other hand, when I put the search term in quotes ("what is a table") I find my post in the 7th position of the first page!

My post's url is in the form www.example.com/eating/what-is-a-table/ and the post is optimized with Yoast SEO plugin (wordpress). The plugin returns that my keyword contains a stop-word which is the word "a", however I have to include "a" as it is a part of the search term which I'm targeting. My site is 15 months old but I rank decently in other search terms. For example in the term [table definition], my relevant post ranks on the 4th page. The posts [what is a table] and [table definition] were published on the same date.

In light of the above explanations and in a few words the question is: why search results differ so much when this search term what is a ... is asked within quotes or not.

Michael
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  • Sorry but the question is too board and too specific as well as duplicate. – Simon Hayter Apr 27 '15 at 16:15
  • @bybe Aw heck! I was just covering ground seldom discussed here that was very specific to this question. I guess I will make it more generically addresses and post it to the linked duplicate answer later. – closetnoc Apr 27 '15 at 16:16
  • Also, I recommend you research more into stop words using reputable and up to date sites, as Google and other search engines do not ignore these words as they are now used to work out what the users 'intent' is, e.g local searches use 'in'. – Simon Hayter Apr 27 '15 at 16:17
  • Just to add further, if you sell tables and have zillions of tables pages adding a information about 'what is a table' is not likely to rank for several reasons, because Google has mainly associated your site with selling tables and should rank well for 'tables' as tables on its own is the intent on buying a table, however with 'what is a table' uses the intent 'what is' which refers to information on a subject and It'll favor high authority information sites. Anyway, if you wish to discuss this further please visit our chat channel. – Simon Hayter Apr 27 '15 at 16:23
  • @bybe My post provides exact information about [what is a table] while the pages outranking my post have content about their products (making or selling tables). In the search with quotes ("what is a table") Google highlights the exact phrase match in the excerpt for my post and ranks my post in the first page. In the search without quotes, in Google’s excerpt is highlighted only the word [table] for all the 450 pages that Google includes to the results (but my post is not included at all). However if you know that there is an answer to a similar question like mine, please provide a link. – Michael Apr 27 '15 at 16:41
  • Sorry but as I said, the question is too board, too specific and most answers will be considered opinions which is considered off topic, also with the given information is near impossible to give you a answer, so I stand by what I said, please ask in our chat channel, providing a URL will also go a long way for someone to find any potential on the page issues. – Simon Hayter Apr 27 '15 at 16:48
  • @Michael Going on a limb here - perhaps google likes to see answers to questions rather than a question itself as the page title. If its smart enough to understand what is a then its surely smart enough to find the answer....not just fill the results with more what is a's – dhaupin Apr 27 '15 at 21:01
  • @dhaupin That's a great hint. You see, I'm wondering why search results differ so much when this search term is asked within quotes or not. This is the essence of my question and your reply sounds to me like a plausible answer. – Michael Apr 28 '15 at 09:26

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