short tail and long tail???

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by kraftzy, Feb 15, 2009.

  1. #1
    Okay, i have stumbled into these two phrases many a times. Though I did some amount of research I couldn't really gather completely what these two are and how they are different and important. (you can call me a n00b for that!).... So can any1 please explain in simple what they are? How they are diff and what are the importance of each of them? I can really use some help on this.
     
    kraftzy, Feb 15, 2009 IP
  2. sultanofseo

    sultanofseo Notable Member

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    #2
    long tail refers to a keyword that is 2+ words in length. long tail KW has better chance of success in organic ranking as it usually has less competition than a single word keyword. for example: honda is a regular KW and honda dealership, honda dealership toronto, used honda dealership are all long tail kw
     
    sultanofseo, Feb 15, 2009 IP
  3. ObliviousOne

    ObliviousOne Banned

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    #3
    A long tail keyword is usually the better one to go with, they're easier to rank #1 on Google for. For example, search on google for "The Small Name Proxy Network" or "Small Name Proxy Network" and you will see that a lot of my four letter domain proxies will show up on the first spot on google.
     
    ObliviousOne, Feb 15, 2009 IP
  4. mokmok69

    mokmok69 Peon

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    #4
    If your site is new better to target long tail for mean while for easy organic traffic because long-tail is easy to rank on major search.
     
    mokmok69, Feb 15, 2009 IP
  5. Maximizationator

    Maximizationator Peon

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    #5
    This is a short-tail keyword: "keyword"

    This is a long-tail keyword: "this is a long tail keyword"

    Ranking for sort-tail keywords is more difficult, but these keywords typically get more searches.

    Ranking for long-tail keywords is less difficult, they get less traffic, but if they describe your page accurately, they tend to convert (sales) at a much higher rate.
     
    Maximizationator, Feb 15, 2009 IP
  6. rypher21

    rypher21 Active Member

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    #6
    long tail keyword is much prefered...The fact is, the majority searches are actually long tail searches...
     
    rypher21, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  7. Maximizationator

    Maximizationator Peon

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    #7
    If you target long-tail keywords, you'll spend more time up-front with on-page SEO, because you'll have to target many. If you're going for the short tail, the majority of your effort is going to be off-page SEO (link building).
     
    Maximizationator, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  8. adexchangeguy

    adexchangeguy Peon

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    #8
    The promise of long tail is that if you can aggregate enough of it, it's equal in impact (revenue) to the short tail. Targeting short tail or long tail may require a lot of word depending on the competitive set.
     
    adexchangeguy, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  9. seoservicesworld

    seoservicesworld Peon

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    #9
    sometime long tail keywords are best because they don't need to be work hard and conversion rate also good.

    But short tail kwyds are the source of huge traffic
     
    seoservicesworld, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  10. sHurng

    sHurng Peon

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    #10
    They two different SEO strategies, if your keywords are too competetive try long tail keywords they may do the job.

    For long tail keywords use the tool in my signature

    Peace
     
    sHurng, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  11. SEOVICE

    SEOVICE Peon

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    #11
    the longtail keywords are still alot of work but the benefits are good.
     
    SEOVICE, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  12. contentboss

    contentboss Peon

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    #12
    I would say on balance it depends on the niche. The gazillions of searches every month for 'loans' for example, probably outnumber all the combined long tails such as 'loans in michigan' and 'no questions asked loans' etc
     
    contentboss, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  13. seodavidjames

    seodavidjames Peon

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    #13
    Funny, but true explanation. And yes, they convert far better than generic short tails, however if optimised right, short tails can bring in higher traffic and the trade off may see more revenue from the generic short tail.
     
    seodavidjames, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  14. notepage

    notepage Peon

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    #14
    The Long Tail pertains to a relatively simple concept, that capturing all of the the small volume, and will result in a collectively large volume. With regards to the keyword long tail, the idea is that there are only a few words or phrases that receive a large number of searchers, but there are a huge number of obscure phrases or keywords that receive a small number of searches each month. By capturing top ranking for all of the less popular terms you could in effect receive more traffic than you would if you had top ranking for the popular terms.
     
    notepage, Feb 16, 2009 IP
  15. dickieknee

    dickieknee Active Member

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    #15
    I have always considered long tail to be keyword phrases with 4+ words, studies have shown the best results are those with 2-3 keywords in the phrase, single keyword phrases are pointless an not targetted, so your bounce rate is going to be very high.

    the more specific the phrase the fewer people are going to be searching for your product/ service but it will be targetted and the bounce rate will be very low, but in all reality if you are only getting a few hits then uyou will not make any money from that niche unl;ess you product is very expensive
     
    dickieknee, Feb 16, 2009 IP