All language subtitles for 01 - Keyword concepts Long tail and short tail

- [Instructor] One of the concepts

you'll hear often in keyword research and SEO,

is the long-tail and short-tail of keywords.

Short-tail keywords are usually one or two words

that are very general,

but command a large number of searches.

For example, cars, travel or insurance.

These three terms are searched

millions of times a month.

However, they are so general

that we can't be sure of the intent.

These are very large targets

that contain no intent signals or context.

As search terms,

they are usually early stage

searching behavior that starts very general,

and evolves into more detailed searches.

Attempting to optimize

a website for these high traffic,

low context terms is very difficult,

and usually not recommended.

It can take years of time, money,

and effort to accomplish this.

However, it becomes easier

when you start with the lon-tail terms first.

In paid search,

these terms are highly competitive,

and very expensive.

Google pushes advertisers to target these words

with the broad match option.

We'll explore this more in detail

in a later video,

but basically Google claims

that broad match allows their AI to create

better targeted keyword matches.

Many paid search experts

disagree with this claim,

and I've seen enough

to make me avoid that option.

Traditionally, bidding on short-tail terms

may get a lot of clicks,

but it doesn't result in a lot of business.

In this case,

it could also count against your quality score.

If you want to compete

in these generalized short-tail terms

you'll be competing against

hundreds of other websites,

and it will take significant resources

of both time and money

to face that aggressive competition.

Now, the long tail-term is the opposite.

These are searches that contain

three, four, five terms or more.

They are longer because the searcher

is precisely defining their need.

With the additional detail,

the phrase contains more information and intent.

Place, time, features, needs.

Destinations are all dimensions

of long-tail keywords that provide

highly contextual information.

Because of this,

these terms cost less to bid on in paid search,

and there's less competition.

The more specific the search phrase,

the less competition there will be.

And here's the best part.

Because this is a searcher

who is being very specific,

when they find what they want,

they're likely to become a buyer,

a customer or a lead.

Long-tail terms have higher conversion rates,

but here's how using long-tail keywords

increases your short-tail visibility.

For my project,

hiking is the primary short-tail term.

You can see that outlined in blue.

Hiking California is short-tail high volume,

and I'll be using that word,

but I'll also be using it in context

with other phrases,

such as hiking trails in California.

Hiking vacations in California.

Hiking California's Big Sur.

Eventually, my long-tail phrases combined

will attract more visits with more rankings

than the short-tail phrase.

Also, do you see what's happening here?

There are hundreds of long-tail phrases

that I'll be using

in my content and optimization.

By using all of these long-tail terms

that have less competition,

I'll be able to start being found

for those first.

I'm also naturally using my core

short-tail word in these phrases.

As I gain success and visibility

for the long-tail words,

my website's relevance will build

towards visibility in the short-term as well.

This is why you don't have to stress

about the short and long-tails.

Use your long-tail to build up

early visibility and easy wins.