Long-tail keywords are powerful
weapons in the battle to boost your search engine rankings While most
content writers understand that they need to use keywords to get high
rankings in search engine results, many do not know that there are
different types of keywords.
The two major types of keywords used
in common SEO practice are long-tail and short-tail keywords.
Short-Tail vs Long-Tail Keywords.
Short-tail keywords contain one or
two words that have high search volume.
Short-tail keywords generally show
that the search engine user is looking for information on a broad
topic.
Examples of short-tail keywords
include "Apple computers," "easy recipes," and
"SEO". These keywords receive a high
volume of searches each month, and the competition to rank highly in
search engine results for these keywords is fierce.
Long-tail keywords contain three to
five words that have varying degrees of search volume.
These keywords are generally
specific phrases or questions that users search for, such as "howto
choose Apple products," "easy chicken casserole recipes,"
and "SEO" tips for entertainment bloggers.
Because long-tail keywords
are more specific than short-tail keywords, SEO competition is less
fierce.
Long-tail keywords are typically
searched for between a few hundred and a few thousand times each
month, while most short-tail keywords receive tens of thousands of
searches each month.
At first it seems counterproductive
to intentionally choose keywordsthat receive less search volume than
others but it is actually a powerful way to boost your SEO rankings.
Competition for short-tail keywords
is intense.
If your blog or website is not
already well-known, it is almost impossible to get featured on the
first page of search engine results for a short-tail keyword.
The Role of Authority in Search
Engine Rankings.
When determining which sites feature
prominently in search engine result the major search engines like
Google and Bing consider a variety of factors. One of the top factors considered by their ranking algorithms is
authority.
An authoritative site features high
quality content by subject expert and content writers tend to have
some level of recognition and authority in their chosen field.
For example, the top results for the
short-tail keyword "health" will always be from highly
authoritative websites I ike WebMD, CNN and Wikipedia.
A fledgling blog or website stands
little to no chance of competing with these highly authoritative
websites in search engine rankings for such a heavily searched
keyword.
On the other hand, smaller sites and
blogs have a huge advantage in search engine rankings for long-tail
keywords.
Small sites have the freedom to
specialize, and they can target niche topics in which they have both
knowledge and authority.
Search engines consider
specialization when ranking results according to authority, which is
why choosing targeted long-tail keywords is such a crucial part of
achieving the search engine rankings and traffic you want.
A relatively obscure website can
make it to the top simply by targeting the specific phrases and
questions that search engine users are searching for. Search engines view long-tail
keywords as more authoritative for searches with dearly specific
intent.
Even though long-tail keywords have
fewer searches, your blog or website is much more likely to receive
traffic from those searches than from the great volume of short-tail
keyword searches.
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