Short-Tail vs Long-Tail Keywords: When and How to Use Them

A “keyword” is a term or phrase that a person enters into a search engine to find the information they are looking for. It is crucial because it tells search engines about the information on the website.

Keywords can be short or long. Let’s discuss the difference between them?

Short tail keywords

Short-tail keywords, often referred to as “head terms,” are broad search terms, usually consisting of 1-3 words and covering a variety of topics. Although they are searched for more frequently than single long-tail keywords, highly specific phrases make up the vast majority of search queries. Short-tail keywords can be “marketing,” for example, and long tail keywords can be “best marketing strategies”.

Short-tail keywords generally have a higher search volume and attract more website visitors.

When to use short tail kws and how?

Use short-tail keywords if you want to increase traffic to your website. Even though the competition for short-tail keywords with high search volume is fierce, we should do a thorough research before using them because if you rank for a short-tail keyword, you will undoubtedly get a lot of organic traffic.

Some of the most important reasons for using short, summary keywords are:

They get plenty of searches,
Will help to rank in local search results,
They make a great starting point for conducting keyword research.

For using short-tail keywords to rank in local SERPs, follow these tips:

Identify short-tail keywords

First, create a list of keywords related to your business. Then type each keyword into Google to see what related terms appear. Then select the keyword you want to use.

Use local modifiers

To give search engines more information about where you are, you should include local modifiers in your keyword phrases. This increases the likelihood that Google will show your site to locally logged-in users, even if they don’t enter those modifiers.

Short tail keyword with local modifiers can be:

Creative agency in Brooklyn, NY,
German creative agency.
Optimize your Google My Business listing

Google My Business is a free online business listing service integrated with the Google search engine. When optimizing your Google My Business listing, make sure to include your targeted short-tail keywords.

Long tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are phrases that contain more than three words. They are more specific, longer keyword phrases that target users at different stages of the search process. A characteristic of long-tail keywords is that they are more descriptive and with more specificity.

Long-tail keywords are more targeted and not as broad. With long-tail keywords, you may not get as much search traffic, but the traffic you do get is the kind you’re looking for, and they offer higher conversion rates, less competition, and lower costs to reach customers (per keyword).

Long-tail keywords can help Google better understand your content and generate additional traffic through optimization. To achieve a better ranking, take advantage of the best SEO tips by reading, practicing, or consulting with an SEO specialist. SEO consulting services provide you with various useful information and resources for better search engine ranking.

Some of the long tail keywords benefits are:

They lead to more comprehensive content,
They provide additional context for Google,
They satisfy more diverse search queries,
Are less competitive.

To help search engines understand your pages better, use long-tail keywords in your page text, internal links, and backlinks. For backlinks, provide more detailed information about your page while saving overly optimized anchor texts.

Conclusion:

A good search engine ranking is very important for any business. There are several ranking factors that affect whether a website appears higher on the SERP, based on the relevance of the content to the search term or the quality of the backlinks pointing to the page. One of the SEO elements we use are keywords, which tell search engines about the information on the website and affect ranking factors. Keywords can be short or long and can be used for different aspects. For example, short keywords are used to gain more visibility and are more competitive. On the other hand, long-tail keywords are beneficial. They lead to broader content, provide additional context for Google, satisfy more diverse search queries and are less competitive.