Can You Optimize for Stop Words in Search Results?

Dec 30, 2009 - 8:39 am 4 by

A HighRankings Forum thread asks an interesting SEO question. The question is, can you optimize for stop words in Google or other search engines?

His particular example seems flawed, in that he is calling IT a stop word and it is stopping him for optimizing for the query [it companies]. However, when I search for [it companies] in Google, it does seem to figure out, IT here stands for information technology.

But in general, is there a need to optimize for stop words? Do we have more examples of cases? If so, can it be done?

Here is a poll:

Forum discussion at HighRankings Forum.

Update: See Jill's comment below for the issue this SEO has in the thread.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Console Page Indexing Report Now Up To Date

Dec 17, 2025 - 8:05 pm
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: December 17, 2025

Dec 17, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google

Google Discover Tailor Your Feed With Natural Language

Dec 17, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Review Appeals Are Delayed Before Holidays

Dec 17, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Tests Very Long Expandable AI-Generated Search Result Snippets

Dec 17, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

Google Clarifies Business Owner Review Replies Expectations

Dec 17, 2025 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: Tracking Back Links: How Do You Do It?