Long Tail vs. Short Tail Keywords – What To Use When and Where
Before we move into reviews of the various free and paid keyword research tools I use, I thought we should talk about the difference between long tail and short tail keywords. The graphic on the left gives you a pretty good idea of how this works, but let’s look at an example as well.
In the weightloss and diet market that I am currently researching for a new Affiliate Niche Pack, obviously weightloss, diet and even terms like losing weight are short tail or main keywords. They are very hard to rank for and should only be used as your main site keyword – the one you optimize your home page for. In the weightloss market, I would even go so far as to say don’t go directly for the main term at all, but use a modifier instead like weightloss for women, weightloss for kids etc for your term.
The next batch of keywords will still be used quite frequently, but the competition to rank for those terms will be a little less. Those terms make great category keywords. Examples of these types of keywords in the weightloss market are:
- weightloss programs
- weightloss centers
- weightloss surgery
- weightloss pills
The last group of keywords are true long tail keywords. These are not searched very often each day, but the reason I like them is because they are very easy to rank for. I use them for my blog posts or articles on my own sites, but also for articles that I write and submit to article directories.
Here are some examples of long tail keywords:
- benefits of nuts in weightloss
- weightloss recipes for juicers
- quick weightloss cardio workouts
- weightloss after three months
Long tail keywords are usually 3 or more words long.
Last, but not least, let’s talk about when you should use what keyword. If you are mostly writing articles to submit to article directories and promote an affiliate product in the author resource box, stick to long tail keywords.
If you are building a site, pick your main keyword for your home page. Next, pick 4 or 5 medium tail keywords for your categories. After that’s done, spend the rest of your time at first adding more articles or blog posts using long tail keywords.
Once you have 30 or so articles up, put some time into link building as well as creating more content. I like to split my time 50/50 between those two tasks.
P.S. Wondering how to find all those keywords? I’ll go over the various keyword tools out there over the next couple of days, but by far my favorite is the Wordtracker Keyword Tool.
You may also like to read:
- How To Get The Right Keywords and Keyphrases
- SEO In A Nutshell
- Wordtracker Free and Paid Keyword Tool Review
- Google Adwords Keyword Tool Review
- What Is Keyword Research And Why Bother?
Tags: keywords, long tail keywords, SEO
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Also it is worth noting that 50% of searches everyday are unique, so lots of good lsi keyword rich content will go along way to drawing in the visitors.