Exhibit 26.10 Long tail and short tail keywords.
Keywords may be classified as long and short tail (Exhibit 26.10).
Short tail keywords are phrases with only one or two words. They tend to be
generic in nature, often pertaining to the category as a whole, for instance “shampoo”, “marketing”, “marketing analytics”,
“washing machines” etc. They generate high search volume, and since they attract high level of competition, the bidding for
these words tends to be high.
Marketers may use these keywords in their ads to draw high traffic to their home page.
Conversion rates, however, are likely to be low.
Long tail keywords are longer phrases that are more specific in nature. For example,
“anti-dandruff shampoo”, “marketing analytics for practitioners”, “gain-loss analysis” and “front-loading low suds washing machines”.
They generate low, but better-targeted search volume that leads to relatively higher conversion rate. They also
attract lesser competition.
