That's if you categorize your keywords based on. What are the different types of. Abbreviated keywords (also known as initial search terms) are short phrases of no more than two words. Users use abbreviated keywords to perform extensive searches or to search for general information.
These will usually be the first words that come to mind when describing your business. The same goes for customers; these are the keywords they use in the initial stage of their customer journey. However, despite their ability to generate tons of traffic, short keywords lack specificity, making them difficult to rank. Suppose someone performs a search using the query “spicy food”.
Google may not be able to discern the user's intent behind this keyword. This is why the SERPs for this search term can include recipe blogs, restaurants, and health information websites, all on the same SERP. Are you noticing a pattern here? Short tail keywords are very competitive, so it's generally not recommended to position them right away. This is especially true if your business has just started or if you haven't yet established yourself as a leading authority in your industry.
In addition, compared to short-tail keywords, long-tail keywords have higher conversion rates. Our keyword research tool is a great starting point for finding short, medium and long tail keywords. Start by entering the keyword you have chosen in the corresponding field. The system will then analyze it using the main SEO metrics before presenting you with several lists of keyword ideas. It is also possible to open any report related to keywords in the SE Ranking system and apply filters that specify the necessary word count for the keywords in the list (two words or less for short-tail keywords and four more words for long-tail keywords).
Initial keywords are words or phrases that you can use as a starting point in a keyword search process to unlock more keywords. If lucrative keywords are the result of keyword research, the initial keywords are the input. Low-competition keywords, or low-impact keywords, are the keywords that are usually easiest to rank for. The easiest way to find low-competition keywords is to use an SEO tool with a difficulty score.
At Ahrefs, we simply call it keyword difficulty (KD). Niche keywords are clear, specific topics that appeal to relatively small and often specialized parts of a given market. Niche keywords are similar to long-tail keywords. However, niche keywords aren't just about search demand.
It has a market-related aspect, so you'll have to spend more time researching what the keyword actually means. From there, you can use filters to refine the list of keywords. For example, low-competition keywords or keywords that contain specific words. Short tail keywords are usually one or two keywords.
They tend to be less specific, so they're actually quite generic keywords in your industry. So, if we think about skiing, skiing holidays, or snowboarding, these are all one or two keywords. They are quite generic when it comes to describing an industry, and these are examples of abbreviated keywords. Now, if we look at this graph, we can see, on the left side, that we have short keywords. And this represents around 30% of all search traffic.
Separately, these keywords have a high search volume, so things like skiing and snowboards also have high competition. Now, to the right of this graph, we can see that around 70% of all search traffic comes from long-tail keywords. Therefore, these are keywords that, separately, have less search volume, but that together represent a large part of search traffic. Okay, what we're going to do now is analyze the differences between long-tail and short-tail keywords in a little more detail.
If you compare this to long-tail keywords, the intent is much more specific. So maybe you are looking for a ski chalet with its own kitchen in Cipher (France), that is more specific and is a long keyword. When it comes to ranking, short keywords are harder to rank for because they're more obvious. People think that skiing or skiing is a key phrase and, since individually they have a high volume of searches, people also want to position themselves by those phrases.
For long-tail keywords, it's easier to position them because there's less competition. In terms of volume, although separate short-tail keywords have higher search volumes together, they are smaller compared to long-tail keywords. Now, one thing with abbreviated keywords is that it's easier to research. There are fewer keywords, so you'll be able to research what those words are faster.
Whereas with the long tail, more research is required, which you can see as a positive or a negative. This is a negative point, since it will take longer, but it is a plus point, since it is very possible that your competitors do not do enough research as necessary. For example, if a user types shoes into a search engine, they are likely to be looking for information about shoes in general. So, when we look at keywords, we'll look at, you know, the types of transactional keywords, navigational keywords, and informational keywords.
Understanding the different types of keywords and how they can be used in website searches can help website owners create more effective search strategies that increase their chances of generating traffic and conversions. This will help you find a list of specific keyword types that help your competitors rank first in the SERPs. Therefore, understanding the different types of keywords and their use in search is crucial to ensure that your website is visible and attracts the right audience. These types of keywords describe a specific customer group or demographic group and are used to target a specific audience.
This is another type of keyword categorized by length that combines the advantages of short and long search terms. So if someone writes ski holidays in France and, you know, I would say it's an abbreviated keyword, it's relatively difficult to convert because there are so many ski destinations in France and we don't know if they're looking for high-end luxury, we don't know if what they're looking for is cheap. It's natural to think that many of the transactional keywords will be highly competitive or at least, you know, more competitive than the other two types of keywords. For example, if a user types black leather boots for women in a search engine, they are probably looking for specific information about that product.
Some types of keywords don't fall into any of the categories described above, but they still play an important role in modern SEO. These are the words or phrases that people type in search engines such as Google or Bing when searching for information, products or services. The type of intent assigned to a keyword can tell you if a user wants to buy something soon, compare prices, or gather information. When the right types of keywords are included in relevant content, you'll receive an affirmative answer from search engines like Google. Below are seven of the most common types of keywords that are primarily used to optimize e-commerce platforms.
