There are two different kinds of keywords you can use when optimizing your website: short tail and long tail. Short tail keywords have broad application and are highly competitive – such as “gift baskets.” Due to their familiarity, short tail keywords are searched for much more than long tail keywords. An example of a less-competitive, long tail equivalent to “gift baskets” might be “happy birthday gift baskets.”
So if long tail keywords don’t get searched for nearly as much as short tail, why would anybody use them? First of all, long tail keywords aren’t as competitive, so you have a realistic chance of making the first page of results on Google and other search engines. Depending on the competition, you may even be able to crack the top five, which would be difficult with a short tail keyword like “gift baskets.” This search result positioning is incredibly valuable for internet marketers and is a great tradeoff for short tail keywords, which ultimately get more searches.
Because long tail keywords are more specific, they generally convert at a high rate. For example, if an internet marketer worked day and night and was able to rank on the first page of search results for “gift baskets,” they would be seen by an enormous number of people each day. But many of the people would be looking for a specific kind of gift basket, which the marketer may not offer. When someone searches for “happy birthday gift basket,” they know exactly what they want and are likely to make a purchase if you offer a good selection of related products.
Tags: google, keywords, long tail, search results, seo, short tail
