Short Tail Vs Long Tail Keywords | Infunotion

As a business, it is very important to be found on search engines with keywords that are most relevant to your business. And if you are a new business or if you have created a new website it gets more difficult to get a good rank on search engines. Keywords are one the most important attributes when getting better search engine rankings. Keywords can be classified into long tail keywords and short tail keywords. The debate for Short tail vs Long tail keywords has been raging since long with no significant conclusion. Both are equally important and both have their share of pros and cons. We will be shedding some light on the discussion in this post.

We have previously discussed, the important tools and techniques for Digital Marketing. We have previously also, discussed how Search engine optimization (SEO) is important for your website to rank higher in the search engines. Short tail vs long tail keywords, both are an integral part of Search engine optimization (SEO). A website optimization company perfectly knows how to enhance your website with appropriate keywords.

Short Tail vs Long Tail Keywords | Definition

• Short Tail Keywords

Short tail keywords are essentially keywords with one or two words. For e.g.: If you use the words ‘Digital Marketing’ to search for information, then these keywords are called Short Tail Keywords. They are also called ‘Head Terms’. These are the terms you would immediately think if you need any information on those keywords. Some popular examples also include: ‘Running shoes’, ‘Pizza delivery’, ‘Denims for men’ etc. These are very commonly used keywords and hence they generate more traffic and are popular on the search engines. They are also easy to write, identify and command high search volumes and hence are popular amongst content writers.

Pros

1.High Search Volume

Since there are only 2-3 keywords involved, the search volumes tend to be very high for short tail keywords. It is one of the most distinguishing factors between short tail vs long tail keywords discussion. For new websites or blogs who are looking to generate more traffic on their pages, they should definitely rank short tail keywords.

 2. High Search Volume

Since short tail keywords consist of 2-3 words max, it is very easy to use them on your page. It is very easy to include ‘Running Shoes’ keyword in probably each sentence of your webpage, provided the rest of the content on the page is relevant.

Cons

1.High Competition

Since short tail keywords are easy to use, anybody and everybody can use them, which results in high competition for page rank 1. There are a million searches for only ‘Running Shoes’ as shown below (Pic 1). With such high competition, it is very difficult to find good rankings for your content.

Short-Tail-Vs-Long-Tail-Keywords
Short-Tail-Vs-Long-Tail-Keywords (Pic 1)

2.Less Focused

This means that your keywords are not targeted. ‘Running shoes’ is a generic term. All shoes can come under the umbrella of ‘Running shoes’. Short tail keywords don’t specifically target the product you are trying to sell.

3.Low conversion rate

The most important and distinguishing factor between short tail vs long tail keyword is the conversion rate. Since the searches are very high, the clicks on your page automatically tend to be low. For example, if you are getting 10 searches and the clicks are just 1 or 2 then that’s a bad number to be at. These clicks might be from users who are not looking to make the final purchase. Hence, short tail keywords can also increase the bounce rate of your website.

4.Very Costly

Short Tail keywords are pretty high to purchase when running an Adwords campaign. Since a lot of people are buying those keywords, the cost of the keywords automatically tends to increase.

• Long Tail Keywords

Long Tail keywords are the keywords, which include more than 3 words. They are quite different than short tail keywords and tend to be more specific. Long tail keywords tend to bring the right audience on your page that is on the verge of making a purchase decision. Hence, long tail keywords can be termed as specific keywords. For instance, if a user knows that they are looking for tools and techniques about ‘Digital Marketing’, so the search would be ‘Digital Marketing Tools and Techniques’ or ‘Low waist denim for men’ or ‘Homemade pizza delivery’ and so on.

Pros

1.Low competition

Since long tail keywords are very specific they tend to generate low competition. These keywords are not easy to use and are almost always very specific to your brand. For instance, if you are selling homemade pizza, very few people would be selling the same and hence you would have more specific traffic on your page. Low competition indicates higher chances of conversion. seo digital marketing agencies focus on highlighting your brand by increasing rankings.

2.More Focused

One of the important distinguishing factors amongst short tail vs long tail keywords is the focus. Long tail keywords are very product/service focused. Since these keywords don’t apply to each and every parallel business, long tail keywords specifically direct a user to your webpage. The user coming to your page would be someone who is looking specifically for you. Best search engine marketing companies would definitely know on which to focus on.

3.High conversion rate

Since long tail keywords have less competition and they are highly focused, the conversion rate tends to be high. Taking certain factors into consideration, long tail keywords help you convert users into customers more effectively than short tail keywords.

4.Less costly

Since very few marketers use long tail phrases, these keywords tend to be lower in cost. The competition is low, and hence the bid cost automatically goes down.

Cons

1.Low search volume

One very big factor, which goes against long tail keywords, is the low search volume. Since the searches are very specific, there are chances that marketers may lose out on a few important impressions that come through short tail keywords. Also, not many online users focus on the search using long tail keywords, this tends to bring a low volume of traffic on your webpage.

Short tail vs long tail Keywords | Conclusion

Short tail keywords and long tail keywords go hand-in-hand. Both are equally important for your business if you want to get better rankings in search results. Depending on your business, search engine optimization agency use a mix of both the keywords should be your focus when formulation your content strategy. Ideally, in the debate of short tail vs long tail keywords, long tail keywords have a competitive edge over short tail keywords. However, that does not mean you should completely avoid short tail keywords.

If you are looking for an SEO partner for your business, and best seo marketing companies who can guide you completely over short tail vs long tail keywords, you can get in touch with us over here. We are one of the top search engine marketing companies who will help you achieve your goals.