Short-tail keywords, also known as head terms, are generic search terms usually made up of just 1 to 3 words.
They are broad and cover wide topics or themes related to your industry.
For example:
Search terms like “phone” or “smartphone” are considered short-tail keywords.
If someone Googles “phone,” it is impossible to understand exactly what information they are searching for.
So why are they popular?
Short answer – They have tons of search volume.
Hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions) of people search for these types of keywords every month. Ranking for just one short-tail keyword can drive thousands of visitors a month to your site.
But with all the search volume comes a lot of competition.
That’s why short-tail keywords are typically hard to rank for. You usually need a high domain authority website to get to page one.
Think of short-tail keywords as more like the main topics in your niche.
They cast a wide net but lack specificity.
People use them to start their search journey, discover a bit more information and then make another search for a more specific long-tail keyword.
It’s important to know that short-tail keywords should only play a small role in your SEO strategy.
They are mainly worth targeting for well-established websites with strong domain ratings.
What Will I Learn?
Short-tail keywords are important for SEO because they create topical relevance and can help you rank for general searches.
Ranking for them will help you reach a diverse audience and drive tons of traffic to your site.
But that’s not all…
Knowing the main short-tail keywords in your niche can help you find high-value long-tail keywords to target.
Let me explain:
Short-tail keywords should be “seed keywords” for your content strategy. You can use these keywords to map out your website’s main categories and topics.
This helps you create a strong silo structure for your website that Google can easily understand. From there, you drill down into more specific, long-tail keyword variations that actually make your money.
For example, if “coffee maker” is a short-tail keyword for your coffee website, long-tail keywords to target could include:
These long-tail keywords will have lower competition, higher conversion rates and drive actual leads and sales for your business.
At the end of the day, that’s the main goal of SEO.
Does that mean you shouldn’t target short-tail keywords at all?
No, not necessarily. In most cases, you should target both.
This is because covering all keyword types on your website will help you become a topical authority.
Being considered a topical authority by Google can significantly boost your overall SEO results!
Following these 5 steps to find short-tail keywords:
Start by listing the main topics in your industry. These are the broadest 1-3 word phrases that people will use in your industry.
This process helps you understand your niche from a high-level perspective and often reveals keywords you might have overlooked.
For example, a website about yoga might have:
These phrases represent broad search queries that people interested in yoga would use.
From this list, you can quickly drill down into specific long-tail queries.
That means they are great short-tail keywords for your website!
Next, use keyword research tools to find popular short-tail keywords.
My favourite tool for this job is Ahrefs. But you can also use Google Keyword Planner for free. The steps will be the same either way.
Here’s how I do it:
Type your niche/industry into Ahrefs keywords explorer.
Following on with our Yoga example, you can see that Ahrefs lists ideas in the Terms Match column.
Click “View all” to see all the keyword ideas it found:
Ahrefs lists tons of short-tail keyword ideas you can use on your site. The best part is that the main parent topics are on the left.
This will help you search further and find relevant ideas for your site. Pay attention to the relevance, difficulty, and search volume of the keywords.
Let those metrics guide you in choosing great short-tail keywords for your website.
Now, it’s time to look at your competitor’s websites and see what they are doing.
You can do all this research for free using Google!
Here’s how:
Type in your main industry keywords into Google.
Look for websites that are similar to yours.
For example, if you have a blog about Yoga, look for other blogs about Yoga. If you run a local Yoga studio, you want to look at other local Yoga studios.
Once you’ve found a couple of competitor sites, review their main website navigation.
This will give you some ideas of the short-tail keywords they target.
You can also drill down into their primary categories to find other potential keywords to target.
Answer The Public is a freemium tool that generates questions and phrases based on seed keywords.
That’s perfect for short-tail keywords!
It’s particularly useful for finding question-based keywords that people are actually asking.
Type in your main industry keyword and look through the results:
It might take some digging, but it’s worth the effort. Answer The Public will unlock some hidden gem short-tail keywords that you can use.
They also provide search and competition data to help you better determine which keywords are worth targeting.
Have you set up Google Search Console on your site?
This is a gold mine for finding short-tail keywords that Google already thinks are relevant to your website.
Here’s how it works:
Login to Google Search Console, click the Performance tab and filter by highest impressions first.
You’ll get a list of high search volume keywords your website already ranks for. These are great because Google already associates your site with them.
You just need to optimise your website better.
Click on one of the keywords and then select the Pages tab at the top.
Now you know exactly which page is relevant for that short-tail keyword. The next step is to do an SEO audit on the page and look for areas to improve.
Sometimes, it can be as simple as improving your on page SEO.
I recommend using this on page SEO checklist to do a comprehensive on page audit of the page.
Remember:
The goal isn’t to find obscure short-tail keywords. You’re looking for the most common, broad terms in your niche that you have a chance to rank for.
Follow these 5 tips to use short-tail keywords for SEO effectively:
The truth is that ranking for short-tail keywords takes a lot of work. Your goal shouldn’t be to rank for them outright!
Use short-tail keywords to structure your website and create comprehensive category pages. This is the best way to target short-tail keywords while also adding value for your users.
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