We all know how important keywords are to SEO. Even though they may tend to be abused and overrated, they still hold a crucial place in the world of search engines. What most of us are familiar with, however, are short tail keywords. At least, I am speaking for those of us who are not “experts” in the field.
So what is the difference between short tail and long tail keywords anyway?
Basically, short tail keywords are those words which are the most popular. They are the ones which are highly competitive. So for example, if you use one of those SEO tools to determine which keywords are the most used for your niche, you will find the short tail keywords.
On the other hand, long tail keywords are those which are less popular. Another thing about long tail keywords is that they are normally 3 to 6 words in length, as opposed to short tail keywords which are usually 1 to 2 words.
You might be asking, why should anyone interested in SEO practices waste their time on keywords which are not popular? Isn’t that quite the opposite of what we are trying to achieve anyway?
The fact is that though long tail keywords are not that popular, they are still being used by a good number of users all around the world. This fact is what SEO practitioners should focus on. The fact that long tail keywords are not as popular means that not too many web sites are trying to target them. This means that using this long tail keywords can help you rise to the top of SERPs in this regard.
Photo courtesy of SoloSEO
7 Comments to "What Are Long Tail Keywords?"
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Good blog – I have a main keyword and throw in a not so good keyword. Like you said, less competition for the second.
Thanks – good info!
Do you link build for long tail keywords the same way you do for short tail keywords? It seems more difficult to use anchor text that is 6 words long. Any advice on this?
@business networking
Long tail keywords are easier to be used within contents e.g. in forum posts, however, it will be considered spamming if used in comments. But the point made in the post is quite valid, the competition for them is low so the benefit is worth considering.
THANKS FOR THE INFO
[...] where it all began after all. However, there has been a strong movement promoting the use of long tail keywords over short tail keywords. So which is which and what does each group mean [...]