Short-tail keywords

Have you ever heard of short-tail keywords? These are keywords with a high search volume that can bring a lot of traffic to your website if they appear in the top 10 search results.

What are short-tail keywords?

Short-tail keywords – also known as head terms – are search queries that relate to very broad topics and have a high search volume. They are the opposite of long-tail keywords, which are more specific and generally have a low search volume.

Short-tail and long-tail keywords get their name from their position in the search demand curve.

Although head-terms can receive a lot of traffic, it is not necessarily of the highest quality, as it is a generic search that may not serve the right user intent for your product/service, which can lead to low conversion rates and a higher bounce rate.

Short-tail keywords are also much more competitive, making it harder to rank for these terms, especially if your website has low domain authority.

Why are short-tail keywords important?

Short-tail keywords are essential for keyword research because they are used as "seed" keywords. They form the basis of keyword research and help you generate thousands of keyword ideas.

And if you manage to rank for short-tail keywords, you can receive a large amount of organic search traffic. However, ranking for these popular search queries is extremely difficult unless your website has a strong backlink profile and thematic authority. Furthermore, short-tail keywords are also typically expensive and competitive in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Please note that ranking for keywords with high search volume does not always lead to a high volume of visitors to your website.

How do you find short-tail keywords?

1. Check your short-tail keywords in GSC

The first thing you should do is check the starting keywords for your own website – assuming you are already getting some traffic from Google.

That's how it works:

• Contact your Google Search Console (GSC)-account.
• Go to Performance in the sidebar.
• Click on Queries and sort the list by the number of impressions.
• You will receive a list of high-volume keywords for which your website ranks (but does not necessarily receive traffic).

This method is not perfect, but it is a good starting point if you haven't yet invested in keyword research tools.

You can also view the organic keywords report in the free version. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) use to obtain a similar list.

2. See which keywords your competitors are ranking for.

With the GSC or the free AWT, you can only check the ranking keywords of your own website (or any website for which you can verify ownership in the GSC). However, if you have access to the right SEOWith tools like Ahrefs, you can easily find the main keywords your competitors are ranking for.

• Open the organic search terms report for the desired domain, sort the list by search volume and limit the search positions to 1-20 (to exclude less relevant results).

Similarly, you can find out the short-tail keywords of other top websites in your niche – especially among your competitors that are performing well in search engines.

3. Helpful Tools

There are also a number of useful tools that can help you, many of them free. Some examples are:

• Google AdWords Planner: A good starting point if you're looking for keyword ideas and ranking opportunities. Here you can examine how your own website performs for specific terms, or even spy on your competitors to find out which terms you could potentially rank for.
• Google Search Console: This shows how your website performs for specific search terms and how users find your site. This allows you to see which pages are being clicked and use this information as a basis for your keyword strategy and the optimization of the relevant pages.
• Google Autocomplete Tool: Use Google's autocomplete tool to see what other terms users are searching for. To do this, enter your main service or product into the search bar and then leave a space to see what Google suggests.
• Similar search queries: It is worth checking the "Related searches" section in Google to see what similar terms people are searching for and what kinds of questions they are asking.
• Related Google search queries: Take a look at the "Related searches" section in Google to see which other search terms you can optimize for. This section is usually located at the bottom of the results page.

Short-tail keywords vs. long-tail keywords?

The main difference between long-tail and short-tail keywords is that short-tail keywords have a higher search volume, are more general and competitive, and generally have lower conversion rates.

Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, typically have a lower search volume, are more specific, can be less competitive, and generally have higher conversion rates. In fact, search queries for long-tail keywords have a 3 to 5% higher click-through rate!

Here's an example to give you a better idea of ​​what a short and a long search would look like:

Let's say someone wants to buy a new pair of sneakers. When they start their initial online search and don't know exactly what they're looking for, they might enter a general term like... «running trainers» enter it into the search bar.

However, if someone knows what they are looking for, they can use a long-tail search term that contains more details, such as... "Long-distance running shoes for high mountains"This indicates a higher degree of intent. The level of detail in the search determines how relevant the search results will be to the user's intent.

Depending on the size of your company and your goals, you should use either short-tail or long-tail keywords, or both. If you are a well-known company with an established website and high domain authority, you are more likely to rank for short-tail keywords and have the opportunity to generate massive amounts of organic traffic.

If, on the other hand, you are a less well-known brand with low domain authority, you should target longer-form keywords that have less competition and offer higher ranking opportunities. Longer search terms are also necessary to target informative terms and reach users further up the customer journey funnel.

Both types of keywords have their value, but regardless of which you use, remember to use them sparingly and not to over-optimize your content, as this can be penalized by Google and negatively affect your ranking.

Should one use long-tail or short-tail keywords?

As a company, you need to decide which terms are most relevant for your website and your ideal customer base. After all, you know your business better than anyone else.

However, when it comes to developing your keyword strategy for optimizing your website for search engines and selecting the right long-tail and short-tail keywords (head terms), we always recommend consulting experts.