Difference between Long Tail and Short Tail Keywords in SEO

Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords:

Search engines are some of the most useful sources of targeted audiences. People turn to them for almost anything, whether it’s booking a flight or adopting a cat. It is why SEO had become a priority for businesses. An effective SEO campaign has to deliver what the audiences are looking for, and that includes the search queries they use. Long tail vs Short tail keywords are some of the options available when using an SEO automation tool to improve traffic.

What is long tail and short tail keywords?

Short Tail Keywords are the generic keywords that searchers use for broader answers like pediatric care. Long Tail Keywords cater to more specific search criteria such as affordable pediatric care in New Hampshire. Both types add value to SEO ROI, but it helps to learn how they measure up in different contexts.

1) Impressions

When it comes to directing online users to your website, the number of impressions that a keyword generates is critical. Short-tail keywords have high search volumes because most searchers use three words or fewer on search engines. However, these keywords tend to have stiff competition. Take a keyword like “women’s shoes.” Thousands of results will rank for it. On the other hand, long-tail keywords (more than three words) tend to bring a few searches but high-quality traffic. Digital marketing services include long-tails, aiming for a more focused audience.

2) Click-through Rate

Due to the high number of websites that will have the same short-tail keyword, the CTR is not desirable, and that means low ROI. Imagine searching for “men’s shoes” and having hundreds of potential products to pick from. All these results will include products that you are not looking for like winter boots or casual slippers. However, if you input “men’s leather loafers black,” the results will narrow. Prospective buyers tend to use long-tails keywords because they make it easier to find specific items/services and, therefore, are more likely to click on a page.

Read also: What’s a good Click Through Rate(CTR) for your industry?

3) Average Position

The low competition that long-tail keywords have to deal with allows them to rank better on average. “Gum reshaping cosmetic dental services in Ohio,” for instance, will have less competition than “Cosmetic dentist Ohio.” An ad with the short-tail keyword will rank lower on SERPs because many other businesses have content for the same. The added advantage of long-tails is that they are cheaper than short-tails. The fewer bids there are for a certain keyword, the less you pay for it. A website owner must do a thorough keyword ranking analysis to ensure that the phrases used for SEO purposes target the right people.

4) Conversion Rate

When picking keywords, you want the ones that are more likely to turn leads into paying customers. Short-tail keywords will earn more traffic for your platform, but these visitors are usually in the research stage of the buying process. A person looking up “women’s suede winter boots” likely has intentions of buying. Note, however, that the frequency of such visitors will be low compared to short-tail keywords.

Read also: Marketing Automation – Time to get things done automatically!

5) ROI on Content

Long tail keywords are easier to come up with when you have quality content. These keywords work when they target audiences accurately, which is one thing they share with high standard content. Short-tails fit into any material even generic product descriptions, and that is because they are easy to incorporate into a copy. Long-tail keywords will allow you to attract the type of visitors that are willing to spend money hence, returning on your content investment.

6) Page Ranking

SEO is not just about how your site ranks as a whole but as individual pages. Good page rankings can be hard to achieve when dealing with short-tail keywords due to the high competition. You would need to do a lot more with short-tails on your pages than with long-tail keywords. When structuring phrases for specific pages, marketers should also consider mobile keyword ranking of the same. The lack of tough competition gives those keywords the ability to generate ROI.

Read also: How does Google Algorithm deal with website ranking?

7) Branding

When drumming up exposure for a specific brand, short-tail keywords can be more effective than long-tail. If the people that end up on your page purchase an item, then that is great, but that is not the ultimate goal. The objective of branding is to get as many eyeballs as possible on a product/service. Short-tails accomplish this better because they have a high search volume. However, since these keywords come with long queues, a website must implement other SEO strategies like adding branded and non-branded keywords.

Long-tail keywords are worthy investments when you want to see ROI from your SEO efforts. However, website owners and digital marketing services must know how to structure the right keywords. Including niches and branded keywords helps to come up with unique phrases that don’t have too many businesses bidding for them. You must also focus on the large-scale use of long-tail keywords for the best value.

Read also: Keyword Ranking – Why it is important to your website?