Long tail keywords are more specific keyphrases and tend to be long search terms with 4 or more words.
Short tail keywords or seed keywords are more generic search queries that have one or two words.
The main difference between short tail and long tail keywords is the keyword search volume, intent and relevance of the search results. 
Keyword research is an important part of both search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search (Google Ads) which are pay-per-click PPC campaigns. In this guide, you’ll learn about short tail vs long tail keywords, and how they affect your SEO strategy.
Short-tail vs long-tail keywords: What’s the difference
Short-tail keywords are more commonly used and have a high search volume. Head terms are popular, competitive keywords.
These are very generic search queries people type into Google like “coffee“, “SEO”.Â
People searching with head keywords don’t know exactly what they want yet, and the search results reflect this broad intent. So we would often see mixed intent on SERPs with blog posts, product pages, brand pages ranking, as the search engine returns all possible results relevant to the query.
Long-tail keywords would be specific search queries like “SEO for beginners“, “latte vs macchiato vs cappuccino“. These are less popular keyphrases with a low search volume.
For more specific keywords, search engines would narrow down the search results to fewer and more relevant results. We would see fewer pages ranking and more relevant content that answers exactly what we are looking for.
Short-tail keywords are generic search terms with high search volume
The biggest benefit of short-tail keywords is the high search volume. For example, a head term like “coffee” has a monthly search volume of 11 million+ searches. That is a lot.
And the #1 ranking result is a Wikipedia page which gets over 111,700 organic traffic per month with this single page.
This illustrates the high traffic potential of ranking for head terms.
Short-tail keywords are highly competitive
While seed keywords have a high search volume, it does not help if you can’t rank for them. To rank for highly competitive terms, we would need to outrank Wikipedia which has a DA: 98/100. That is impossible.
Websites with a high domain authority in the 70s – 80s would rank below Wikipedia, and stand a good chance to rank in the #2 -10 positions for this main keyword. This generates high amounts of organic traffic to the ranking pages as well.
For most websites with less authority, it would be a better SEO strategy to target less competitive long-tail keyword phrases to drive traffic to the site.
Broad search results
We saw above that the “coffee” head term returns over 3 BILLION relevant results.
Search engines are not able to pinpoint exactly what the search term is looking for, so they return all possible results to match the query.
Low conversion rate due to a lack of specificity
People searching with head terms are looking for a broad range of information and may not know what they need yet.
The user intent may be mixed and vague. As a result, short-tail keywords have a low conversion rate.
Let’s compare that to long-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are specific search terms with a lower search volume
Long-tail keywords are more specific and descriptive. As a result, they have a lower search volume and less traffic potential than its head term.
For example, the long-tail keyphrase, “latte vs macchiato vs cappuccino” has only 260 monthly searches.
Long-tail keywords are less competitive and can generate significant organic traffic
However, the top 2 ranking results for this long-tail keyword generate a good amount of organic traffic as well.
The #1 ranking result generates 4200 monthly organic traffic to the page. This is not a small amount of traffic.
And the #2 ranking result generates 850 monthly organic traffic to the page, much less than the first result, but a good amount of traffic for one page. Notice how this website has a domain authority of just 23/100?
This is the benefit of targeting long-tail keywords. With a low domain authority, you can rank at the top of Google and drive a good amount of organic traffic to your content.Â
I wrote a detailed guide about SEO keywords over there and the 9 types of keywords to attract your target audience and increase search traffic. It’s a lengthy piece but will be worth your time.
Improved and more relevant search results
Search engines return more relevant results to a more specific search query. This means fewer pages are returned, less competition, and better chances of ranking.
Higher conversion rate
A person searching with specificity knows exactly what they are looking for and is more ready to take action on the page they land on.
That means more qualified traffic and a higher conversion rate from long-tail keywords!
How to do long tail keyword research
The best way to do keyword research is with Google.
Start your research with a broad term that your target audience would search for. See study the Google autocomplete suggestions. These are predictions from trends and the user’s personal search history.
I recommend getting the Keywords Everywhere extension to see the keyword metrics such as search volume and trends data. It is a wonderful keyword research tool and is super affordable too at $10 for 100,000 keyword credits.
The search volume data is pulled from Google Keyword Planner which is the most accurate source of data. The Moz DA link metrics for the ranking results are really useful to assess how strong the competition is for the target keyword.
Related keywords, People also search for, Long tail keywords
Then, scroll through the search results to find related keywords.
The People also search for keywords tend to be phrase match terms containing the original main keyword.
I love using Keywords Everywhere for long-tail keyword research because I can get a list of related keywords, monthly search volume data and study the search competition at the same time.
The focus would be to find specific terms and long-tail phrases that you can weave into a content topic that your potential customers would search for.
As long-tail keywords are detailed search terms, they would require a specific page or blog post that specifically answers the query.
A good strategy would be to collect a list of long-tail keywords and match each specific phrase to a target page or blog post. That way, we are creating highly relevant and targeted content to answer the query.
74 people reacted on this
Interesting! Sometimes I use a keyword string, and Yoast tells me it’s too long. But it normally has smaller words in it. Good to know that they are all valuable!
Thank you for the ideas shared. These really helpful in writing seo related articles
Really important for people to understand! Love how you explained it!
These are some very helpful tips, its always good to know the difference between things 🙂
It took me a while to understand what long tail words were, but once I figured it out and started using them, my blog site traffic improved drastically.
It’s nice that you have broken down these terms into something easy to understand. I hear the things like SEO, keywords, etc, but have little to no insight about what they truly are and how to successfully do them.
Hhhhmmmm…I rarely use single-word key phrases. I will begin using them next week and look out for any differences.
This was a really interesting and useful read. I will be looking to use more long-tail keywords in future as it might help increase the number of hits I get. Thanks so much for this x
I have never thought of focusing a lot on my SEO until recently. Now I’m always learning about it every day. This is very helpful. Thank you for sharing!
Long tail keywords can make a difference! I don’t take things like this as seriously as I should. I need to take a course in SEO. It has changed quite a bit since the course I took about 10 years ago.
I am grateful for the information. I need to start learning more about SEO.
Thanks so much for this! Such helpful advice. Every one of your articles that I read is better than the last. I’m very much a beginner and you are helping me beyond words!
Long tail keywords are so important! So many people still don’t understand how powerful they are for your SEO.
Long tail keywords are such an important tool for SEO. They can really help you hone in on your audience.
I am a beginner in SEO. Thanks for sharing this great tip
This is a fantastic post – I’m really happy I found it!
Waiting for your other post
Cheers 🙂
This is a good idea. Thank you for the great tips, your post is very nice.
Thank you, Tisha!
Hi, I wanted to ask if is good to go with long-tail keywords with search volume less than 100 monthly?
Great article Leanne.
Cheers!
Kelsey
Hi Kelsey, long-tail keywords usually have less search volume and it is expected they have an avg. monthly search volume of 100 or less. What this means is that ranking for the long-tail keyword with (<100 searches) would likely at best drive about 100 organic clicks to your site.
To answer your question - yes, that is still good to target long-tail keywords because (a) these keywords can drive SOME traffic and (b) long-tails tend to be lower down the funnel and those clicks are more conversion ready. 🙂
Hope this helps!
Exactly the information I was looking for. Will be saving this for later, thank you 🙂
Cheers 🙂
Leanne, this post is really helpful for beginners. You have explained it very well.
Thank you!
I have been working on long tail keywords all day today. This was perfect timing to read through and make sure I was hitting all the right details.
Cheers 🙂
Learning how to effectively use keywords is a huge focus of mine right now. This article was clear, concise and easy to understand. That’s really helpful because a lot of articles provide generic links to tools that are difficult to use or understand. Thank you!
So so happy to hear that, Angie! Keywords are the building block of SEO!
This is an amazing post….very informative. I will definitely take tips from this post in my future posts.
Thank you!!
Thank you for writing this post on SEO, I will be referring back to it as and when I am creating new pieces of content
Thank you for your kind words, Alison! So happy to hear that!
I like how you presented the process in a very clear and easy-to-follow manner. This is a great help for bloggers like me!
Thank you Mauie! Cheers 🙂
Thank you very much for these useful tips for choosing and short listing target keywords.
I love the idea of creating content around long-tailed keywords! I have a friend who’s new to blogging, and I highly recommended your site! Thank you for your generosity in sharing such helpful information.
You’re the best, Denay! Cheers.
As a new blogger, I would like to thank you for this very detailed easy to understand post. I hope I can make it work for our blog.
No problem, Phoebe! Cheers.
This is a great post for a newbie. Keyword research plays huge role in SEO and this post is the best that teaches how to do it in right manner. Thanks for sharing!
Cheers!
Awesome thanks for sharing. Do you have any tips on how to check how much competition each keyword has?
While I agree you want to write about what gets searched for more, I’d rather write about something that I have more chance of getting highly ranked for.
Great tips for finding the long tail keywords though!
Hey Mike! Generally, the higher a keyword’s search volume, the more competitive it is. Such as broad generic keywords like “travel” or “internet”. IMO, the sweet spot is a long-tail keyword which has about 1k-10k in monthly searches – targets a specific intent and have decent search demand. But back to your initial question, keyword competition would be how many websites/pages are competing for a keyword. The chances of outranking those sites in terms of content and backlinks. For this, I’d recommend SEMrush or Ahrefs to better gauge keyword competitiveness 🙂
I definitely need to start upping my SEO game with more long-tail keywords! Will definitely try out these tips 🙂
Awesome!! Let me know how it goes for you dear!
Some great tips here, finding long tail keywords can be tricky, but they are a key part of blogging strategy. Thanks for sharing!
Cheers!
This was a really helpful post, thank you! I think ranking for keywords has been difficult, so I’m looking forward to restrategize a bit!
Aww I feel you – Keywords can be quite overwhelming at first, but it should get better with more research and practice. Please keep me updated on your progress, Stine!
I’m so glad I read this, because I’ve been trying to up my SEO game. =) I love your idea of using Google to find long-tail keyword ideas. That’s gonna kickstart my brain and give me lots of blog topics to write about, too!
Awesome, Jaime! Yup, using Google’s auto-suggest tool is one of my favourite ways to find keywords too 🙂
Love the tips! One I started working better to understand SEO scores and Google rankings, my blog has grown tremendously!
Great to hear that, Stephanie! Cheers.
This is such a valuable piece of information, and you have explained it so clearly. I really struggle with SEO, so these are great tips for me. I am absolutely reading a few more posts on your blog now. Thanks for sharing.
YAY!!! Hope you enjoy the rest of my blog articles here, feel free to drop me a message if you have any questions at all, Divya!
Once again Leanne, you knocked it out of the park. Your ability to take vague, abstract concepts and break them down into easy to understand data is why I keep coming back to all your posts. Keep them coming please!
Thanks so much, Dave! Glad you’re enjoying my articles 🙂
Really helpful tips. Will definitely be using them.
Cheers!
Thanks Leanne, you really do make this a lot easier to understand. Appreciate that ✨
No problem, Elly! Glad you found my article helpful 🙂
You have a new follower! The behind the scenes stuff is so confusing to me – but this makes more sense than some of the other stuff I’ve read! Thank you for sharing 🙂
That’s awesome, Meagen! Cheers <3
I look forward to your posts so much! They’re so incredibly helpful and really demystify scary sounding terms!
x
Isabella
IG @IsabellaDavidVintage
http://www.IsabellaDavid.com
Aww you’re so sweet, Izzy! Thank you so much. Glad my articles have helped you demystify digital marketing. Cheers.
This is such a great blog post that I pinned it and saved it to read again later. SEO is such a struggle for me. Thank you!
Cheers!
Wow! This is amazing advice and gives so much clarity into keywording. I love how easy it is to do the research; Google seriously does everything. Thanks so much for sharing this!
You’re welcome, Monica! Yes, we can derive so much insights from Google alone!
Thank you so much for sharing this valuable info! Right now I’m trying to implement SEO strategies on my posts, and this explanation about seed KWs and long-tail KWs is very helpful!
YAY!! So glad to hear you found this post helpful, Denay!
Great idea! Infact, writing on long term keywords variations related to a particular niche will also indicate google that you’re an expert in that Topic 🙂
Let me know if I’m wrong about it.
This is a really good idea to locate relevant long tail keywords to your niche. I use this method sometimes when I’m adding SEO to a particular blog post. I like your detailed information!
That’s awesome, Amanda!! Cheers.