Short Tail vs. Long Tail: Which Type of Keyword is best for Your Website?

Keywords play a big role in Search Engine Optimization of your Website. The question of which type of keyword your web pages should be optimized for simply has no clear-cut answer that applies in all situations; short tail and long tail keywords both have a role to play in driving traffic to your site. Your choice of short tail or long tail keywords largely depends on your marketing goals.

The idea behind his words still resonates with today’s SEO practitioner: 

“Use head keywords to generate volume and long tail keywords to generate profit.”

We're sure that some of you might already know what long tail keywords are. For others, here is the definition – 

“A long tail keyword is a combination of 3-6 words that are specific and relevant to the products you sell. In simple terms, any generic keyword that has product features, Model number, SKU no. price range, etc. can be taken as a long tail keyword.”

Here is an example of both long tail and short tail keywords:

Long Tail Keywords:

• Canon power shot digital camera 2MP
• 17 inch LCD TV free shipping
• Barack Obama action figure

Short Tail Keywords:

• Digital Camera
• LCD TV
• Desktop
• Mp3 Music player

Long Tail keywords vs. Short keywords

A short tail keyword, also known as a head term, is a broad root keyword that represents a single idea. A person who is using short tail keywords (general keywords to be specific) such as digital camera may be looking for different brands/models available in digital camera or might be conducting some research on how digital camera works. So it is better to make your category pages filled with short keywords. Example: Digital Camera, Desktop, etc…

Ranking well for short keywords is not a bad idea, but at the same time it may not work always. A person who is using long tail keyword such as “Canon power shot digital camera 2MP “has already done some research and may be evaluating the product price, merchants selling it, etc… and is more likely to purchase the product.

Short tail keywords generally have more search traffic potential than longer phrases, but are also harder to rank for.

While long tail keywords deliver less traffic than short tail head terms, they are usually considerably easier to rank for than short tail keywords.

In addition to being easier to rank for, long tail keywords deliver a better conversion rate. When users type in longer and more specific search phrases, they are generally closer to making a purchase decision. Users who are still in the product research phase tend to use shorter and less specific search terms.

Advertisers running pay per click ad campaigns can also benefit from long tail keywords. When you bid on long tail terms, there is usually much less competition than for shorter head terms. Less competition means that your cost per click is going to be considerably lower.

A good marketing strategy is to have pages that will target bigger subsets of users by using short tail keywords and others that will attract specific users by using long tail keywords. You aren’t limited to one or the other so use both types of keywords.

Optimize for a Combination of Short and Long Tail Keywords

Most websites will benefit from optimizing for both short and long tail terms. Short head terms are great for driving volumes of visitors to your site who could potentially be added to your email list as well as for establishing brand awareness.