Long tail V.S Short Tail keywords – Which should you use?

Good day folks,

A lot of people tend to ask me this question: Would you go for long tail or short tail keywords and why?

Long tail keywords are keywords made of more than one phrase for example: “bahrain blogger list”, such a keyword will have a lower traffic volume than “bahrain blogger“.However it is usually easier to rank for such keywords locally due to the low search volume.

Short tail keywords are usually limited to 1-3 phrases for example “bahrain blogger“.Such a keyword will have a very high traffic volume and competition as well.Keep in mind that for such keywords you may be competing at an International level.

I personally have played with both, I compete with keywords such as ” Bahrain concierge” with a volume of 100-500 searches per month.Besides keywords such as ” lmra bahrain” with a volume of 27,000 searches per month.Please keep in mind that such decisions need to be taken at a management level as they may require time and funding.

Long tail keywords are easier to rank indeed but you will need to rank for a large amount of keywords to get traffic to your site.

Short tail keywords are harder to rank and you will compete with an International Market, these keywords can drive loads of traffic to your website but need a well driven strategy and evaluation to ensure a ROI.

I would suggest that you use a random mix of both Long and short tail keywords, It has been working well for me since the past 6 years as they say “Do not throw all your eggs in one basket”.

Stay tuned for my next post.