What are Long Tail Keywords? (2024)

SEO and PPC professionals classify keywords into three main buckets based on their popularity and specificity; the “head,” the “body,” and the "long tail"ofthe graph below that measures search volume and conversion rate of keywords.

Head terms, also referred to as "short tail," are often one or two word search phrases that do not have one clear intent.

Body phrases are slightly more specific and usually contain more words. With more words in the search query, you can start to get a clearer idea of the searcher’s intent.

Long tail keywords generally contain three or more words, have less search volume and illustrate a specific situation or intention from the searcher.The easiest way to think about these keywords is with the following graph.

What are Long Tail Keywords? (1)

You can find long tail keywords in Semrush by using the Keyword Magic Tool and adding filters for number of words, keyword difficulty, volume, and more.This tool generates a list of extended search phrases based on the keyword entered.

In this example, "tomato plant" is the head phrase, “tomato plants for sale” and "when to plant tomatoes" are body phrases, and "why are tomato plants turning yellow" is the long tail.These are called “long tail keywords” because they’re found in the long “tail” stretching to the right of the graph as search volume is low and potential conversion rate is high.

Why long tail keywords are important for digital marketing

Long tail keywords typically show lower search volume, lower competition and cheaper CPCs compared to single word searches.

The higher conversion probability is because a long tail keyword is generally more specific and easier to understand exactly why someone is searching it, as opposed to trying to guess the many reasons behind a query with high monthly search volume.

Therefore, it is easier to target a long tail keyword accurately with a marketing landing page.

From an SEO point of view, targeting longer, more specific search phrases makes it easier to build a website’s authority to ultimately rank for bigger keywords that carry more search volume and potential traffic.

To write SEO-focused content to target your long tail keywords, be sure to use the SEO Content Template and SEO Writing Assistant.

Why long tail keywords are generally longer phrases

Often (but not always), long tail keywordsare phrases consisting of 3 or more words. Think about it from the searcher’s perspective. As you write a longer search query, you are adding modifiers to specify your request in hopes of receiving the most specific solution to your problem.

“Why are my tomato plants turning yellow” tells us a lot more about the searcher’s situation than “tomato plant.” That means that as a marketer, it would be much more rewarding to target a term like “why are my tomato plants turning yellow” with a specifically tailored answer a opposed to trying to target “tomato plant.”

What are Long Tail Keywords? (2024)

FAQs

What are Long Tail Keywords? ›

Long-tail keywords are specific words or phrases that tend to have a better conversion value. They are usually longer (three to five words) and have a lower search volume. If long-tail keywords are not part of your strategy, you miss out on many opportunities.

What are long-tail focus keywords on Etsy? ›

Visits from these search phrases are unlikely to convert to sales, they are window shoppers, which reduces your listing quality score and your shop score. Long Tail keywords are very specific keyword phrases that have low traffic and have low competition with few search results.

What is a common benefit to long-tail keywords answer? ›

The benefit of using long-tail keywords is that they tend to be more specific than short-tail ones, which means that people who have similar problems will likely search for them using these same words.

What are the long-tail keywords? ›

Long-tail keywords are keywords or keyphrases that are more specific – and usually longer – than more commonly used keywords. Long-tail keywords get less search traffic, but will usually have a higher conversion value, as they are more specific.

What are the long-tail keyword combinations? ›

These long tail keywords are also known as low competition keywords. There are two types of long tail keywords: broad match and phrase match. Broad match keywords are words that appear in the title, description, and video tags. Phrase match keywords are combinations of multiple words that are related to each other.

How do I choose best keywords for Etsy? ›

Etsy search looks at all the information you add, including your categories and attributes, to find keywords that match a shopper's search. Focus on writing short, clear, descriptive titles that make it easy for shoppers who are scanning a busy search results page to see what you're selling.

Do long-tail keywords still work? ›

To be fair, there is definitely some truth to this myth where long-tail keywords can save some money and give you a competitive edge, but you will largely be saving money simply because those keywords aren't garnering as many searches and clicks as some of the more generic/popular keywords.

What are examples of short and long-tail keywords? ›

Short tail keywords are search terms that are made up of no more than three words. They refer to very broad topics rather than specific ones. For example, “running shoes” is an example of a short tail keyword while “best running shoes for winter” is an example of a long tail keyword.

What is an example of long-tail? ›

Some examples of long tail markets are (different types of) laptop chargers in the laptop niche, (different types of) mobile covers in the smartphone accessories market, and (different types of) customized gifts in the gifting niche.

What are long-tail keywords vs keywords? ›

The difference between long-tail and short-tail keywords comes down to popularity. Many people search for short-tail keywords, while few search for long-tail keywords. Because of that, long-tail keywords are generally easier to rank for and tend to attract searchers with more specific intent.

What is long-tail strategy? ›

The long tail is a business strategy that allows companies to realize significant profits by selling low volumes of hard-to-find items to many customers, instead of only selling large volumes of a reduced number of popular items.

How do you find profitable long-tail keywords? ›

Use keyword tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, etc, to find relevant short and long-tail keywords. To incorporate long tail keywords, identify specific queries with lower search volume that users might type into search queries.

How do you improve long-tail keywords? ›

To incorporate long-tail keywords into your content, start by identifying relevant keywords and then creating high-quality content that addresses those topics. Use the keywords naturally in your headings, subheadings, and throughout your content without overstuffing or sacrificing the quality of your writing.

What is long-tail keyword structure? ›

Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they're closer to a point-of-purchase or when they're using voice search. Most long-tail keywords have lower search volume than short or “head” keywords.

What is an example of a long tail keyword on Etsy? ›

You see, long tail keywords are specific keyword phrases that string together multiple attributes into one search. Something like, “meatless lasagna recipe for vegetarians” or “traditional Sicilian lasagna recipe.”

Which is better long tail or short tail keywords? ›

If you're looking to target a specific niche or audience with highly relevant content, long tail keywords may be a better fit. Using long tail head terms makes it easier for a given page to rank on search engines in comparison to its short tail counterparts.

What is the difference between short tail and long-tail keywords? ›

Short-tail keywords are broad, generic, and popular terms that have a high search volume and competition. For example, "shoes", "pizza", or "travel". Long-tail keywords are more specific, niche, and targeted terms that have a lower search volume and competition.

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