Long Tail vs Short Tail keywords: SEO Difference

Long Tail vs Short Tail keywords: SEO Difference – The Short Tail keywords in SEO is often denigrated: high search volume, very high level of competition… To improve the visibility of a website on search engines and boost its conversion rate, we will favor the long tail Keywords.

Why does the short tail Keywords have such a bad reputation? What are the benefits of using the short tail Keywords? Explanations!

Long Tail vs Short Tail keywords: SEO Difference

What Are Short Tail Keywords for SEO?

The short tail Keywords in SEO is made up of one keyword, or even two at most. This keyword expression corresponds to the query that Internet users type in the search engine search bar. 

As short tail keywords convey the search intent of countless Internet users, marketers use them to optimize the content of their web pages and thereby drive high traffic to their website. Except that these are very generic search terms that do not necessarily attract the right audience…

What are the benefits of the Short Tail keywords in SEO?

So, rest assured, there are benefits to using a generic keyword. With such high search volume, the short tail Keywords has the ability to propel your website to the top of search results, which is very good for your brand awareness.

Because, it is a fact, a site in first position in the search engines, it is excellent for the authority of the domain. In effect, you:

• Gain reputation, as people tend to trust high-ranking sites.
• Increase your web traffic.
• Get ahead of your competitors.

What are the disadvantages of the short tail Keywords in SEO?

Yes, the previous paragraph is short. Quite simply, because the short tail Keywords in SEO is not a winning strategy. Unless you have a huge marketing budget, especially if you’re in a very competitive industry.

The short tail Keywords, “shoe” for example gets an impression number of 148,000,000 search results on Google. You can immediately imagine how tough the battle will be to even get to the first page of the search engine.

Not to mention the disappointment of the customer who wants to buy a pair of dress shoes, while your e-commerce only sells sports shoes…

So not only is the short tail Keywords not meeting the search intent of your target audience, but it is increasing your bounce rate, which is never good for your SEO.

It is also not advantageous for paid referencing. Investing in keyword phrases with such a high search volume and such strong competition will quickly raise the stakes. Therefore, the cost per click of your Google Adwords advertising is likely to cost you dearly…

What are the advantages and disadvantages of long tail Keywords?

Unlike the short tail Keywords, the long tail Keywords is made up of more than 3 words (sports shoes for men, for example). While short-tail keywords are generic queries, long-tail queries are very specific.

The benefits of long tail Keywords

The first advantage is precisely its precision. If you optimize an article or a product sheet on long tail keywords, you will quickly see the difference.

• Your site positioning is better : long tail keywords are less competitive, so you have a better chance of appearing in the first Google results.
• Internet users who type in these long keyword phrases know what they want: you attract a qualified audience .
• In turn, you improve your conversion rate since the Internet user who performs such a precise search is ready to buy. If your product or service seduces him, you win a new customer.
• Last advantage, its cost per click: your Google Ads campaigns will cost you less since these long expressions have a much lower CPC.

Disadvantages of long tail Keywords

The long tail Keywords has few drawbacks, except perhaps its low search volume. If you’re looking to launch a new product or raise awareness of a brand new website, long tail keywords will actually narrow your audience.

Should we favor short tail or long tail Keywords?

Well actually, both! Even if it has few advantages, the short tail Keywords is still interesting in an SEO strategy.

Short tail vs long tail Keywords: different Audience

As we have seen, the long tail Keywords attracts a public in the buying phase . It is perfect for converting, or even conquering your targets.

On the other hand, the short tail Keywords attracts an audience in the discovery phase . So, of course, your offer will not necessarily correspond to his search. Certainly these potential customers are hesitant, they compare and collect information, without really intending to buy.

And the average drags then?

The average tail is an intermediate set of several words (between 2 and 3 words). It has an average number of searches, an average competition rate and an average level of precision…

In short, it has a conversion rate higher than the short tail Keywords and interesting potential traffic. However, you are going to need to have a very well optimized site to stand out with medium trailing keywords.

Which content marketing strategy to adopt?

Here are some tips for using the short tail Keywords in SEO effectively:

• Site creation or site redesign: bet on the average trail.
• Highly competitive site: focus on medium and long tails.
• Niche site: you can choose the keywords you want, anything goes.
• Use your generic keywords for your static pages: home page and pillar pages.
• Opt for the medium and long tail for your product sheets, your blog articles or your landing pages.
• In any case, expand your lexical field so that Google understands the meaning of your subject and references your site correctly.
• Organize your content well in thematic silos so that your internal networking is as relevant as possible.

How to find short tail keywords?

Since it would be a shame to miss out on a high traffic source, here are some free tools that will help you build a list of short-tail (and possibly medium- and long-tail) keywords.

Read Also: The Best and Effective Way of Blog Keyword Research

Google Suggest

Who better than Google to help you find generic words? Its autosuggestion tool (Google search bar) is perfect for finding relevant keywords from a main keyword.

The “Other questions asked” and “Related searches” tabs are equally interesting. Remember to check the number of results your expression generates. Some short tail keywords surely have lower result volumes.

For example, 35,200,000 websites are referenced on men’s basketball while there are 52,800,000 for men’s shoes.

Google Keyword Planner

Google’s Go Planner will all give you a list of great suggestions as well as valuable information for choosing the right keywords. Monthly search volume, level of competition and cost per click for advertisers. All you have to do is choose the keywords on which you will focus your next content.

Answer The Audience

Answer The Public is a particularly interesting free tool to find all the relevant words and terms for your SEO. The tool collects data from Google research and lists all the questions that Internet users ask themselves. This is not only very useful for finding your related keywords, but also for structuring your content. All of his questions make great titles and subtitles…

Read Also: 11 Best Keyword Research Tools in 2022: Free & Paid

Ubersuggest

The famous keyword generator no longer presents itself. Just enter a keyword into the Ubersuggest search bar to find the right words for your SEO. It is simple and efficient !

Keywords Everywhere

The Keywords Everywhere extension for Chrome and Firefox is a pearl of simplicity. Installed on your browser, the extension displays all the information you need directly on your Google search page:

• SEO difficulty of your keywords.
• Search volumes.
• Related key queries.
• Long tail keywords.

Of course this is a non-exhaustive list, there are other very effective SEO tools for your search for short, medium and long tail words: Google Trends , Semrush, YourTextGuru…

Our tip for using short tail Keywords in SEO

All you have to do is choose your keywords according to your objectives: to have qualified traffic or to have more traffic.

Whatever your marketing choices, don’t forget to provide relevant and interesting information to your future clients and clients. You will gain popularity (and backlinks by the way), which is of course great for your site’s page rankings, but also for the user experience.