This factor returns 1 when the page title contains one of the question words who, what, where, why, when, or how, and 0 when it contains none. It is a plain presence check on the parsed title text, not a test of whether the title is actually phrased as a question.
| Factor ID | RG-RDB-014 |
|---|---|
| Family | Readability & Questions |
| Measurement | Binary presence (0 / 1) |
| Measured zone | Parsed title |
What it measures
This factor reports whether the title contains one of the interrogative words who, what, where, why, when, or how. It is a signal that the title may be framed around a user question or explanatory intent, and it tracks with how a title reads within a measured result set rather than causing any particular position.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear lowercases the parsed title and applies a case-insensitive alternation over the six question words without word boundaries. If any of those strings appears as a substring anywhere in the title, the factor returns 1; otherwise it returns 0.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | The lowercased title contains at least one of who / what / where / why / when / how (as a substring). |
| 0 | None of the six question-word strings appears in the title. |
How to optimize it
Use a question word when the title naturally frames the page around a user question or explanatory intent. Treat the flag as an observation about how the title reads, not a target to force: adding a question word to a title that is not really answering a question does not improve the page, and this factor is a prioritization signal that relates to position within a result set, not a lever that makes a page rank.
Important considerations
- Because the match has no word boundaries, a question word counted here can be a substring inside a longer word (for example, how inside “show” or “however”), so the flag can read as 1 without any real question word present.
- The check does not require a question mark, so a title can score 1 while being written as a statement.
- A question word in the title does not guarantee the title is actually a question or that the page answers one.
- Choose title wording for clarity and searcher intent first; let this flag describe the title rather than dictate it.
- Correlation is not causation: this factor tracks how titles read within a measured result set and is one input among many, not a guarantee of any ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.