: Do one-word synonyms in title tags hurt SEO if they contain word combinations users seek? I have a website where people can browse photos from different party venues. I notice in my google

@Angela700

It will definitely impact your SEO. The title tag is the most important meta tag in your HTML document. The top priority is to try to use the main keyword in the title tag and use its Synonym in the rest of the HTML document, like for example H1 or in the content to avoid keyword stuffing. Basically you need to be coherent with the user intent, the search query and the content of the webpage.

Consider this: What would be more beneficial to your user?. If you are satisfying the user intent you by using [venue name] pictures on a specific page them go for it. Just take into consideration that the closer to the left a keyword is, the heavier will be its importance.

If [venue name] is recognized as a brand by Google I will definitely move it at the end of the title tag. Something like: my most important keyword to the left | [venue name]

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@Megan663

Writing titles that are not easy to read due to synonym repetition can hurt SEO. Google likes text that is written for humans, not text that is stuffed with keywords. Google implements "over optimization" or "keyword stuffing" penalties.

Using synonyms in not as important these days as it was several years ago. Google now includes documents that contains synonyms in almost all searches. Users have to use quotes or Google's "verbatim" feature to avoid it.

Extra words in titles are not a good technique for getting rankings anyway. Google usually gives extra weight only to a few key words in the title -- usually taken from near the beginning. Making titles longer and including more words is unlikely to help rankings.

The best ways to use synonyms is to do so naturally in the text of the page.

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@Rambettina238

In general, using closely related synonyms does no harm.

Semantic search refers to the act by which the search engine tries to understand the user's intent when searching for something. Search engines could include your page in search results even if the searcher uses related keywords, but not your direct ones. So even if you don't include both keywords, your page could appear for both keywords.

Your potential title: [venue name] pictures in party venue photo gallery page - will do no harm. It could provide a slight benefit.

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