What are Keywords?

Before we start let's play a quick mind game. I want to find running shoes online and your job is to guess which words I'd type into Google to find it. Ready?

My search was "I want to buy comfortable running shoes but I have wide feet and I don't want to spend more than $80."

Notice how specific that search was? The more specific the search, the more likely Google can give you exactly what your looking for. Those phrases are called Keywords, and in this article we are going to discuss how to find the perfect ones for your business.

Short-Tail vs. Long-Tail Keywords

SEO has two main keyword categories. Short-tail keywords are quite literally short phrases and are usually 1-2 words. Some examples include "shoes", "dentist", or "pizza". Long-tail keywords however are more specific phrases that are usually 3 or more words. A good example would be "best running shoes for wide feet under $80".

We are trying to rank our website as high as possible so the logical assumption would be to fill your website with a bunch of short-tail keywords. Here's the thing though: short-tail keywords as you can imagine get millions of searches per month. BUT they are incredibly hard to rank for because you are competing with literally every company, big and small in your space for that same keyword.

Long-tail keywords may not have as many searches, but they also have WAY less competition. Another major upside is that people who do search for that long-tail phrase specifically are usually ready to take action.

Short-Tail Examples	Long-Tail Examples
Shoes	Best running shoes for wide feet under $80
Dentist	Emergency dentist open Sunday in Miami Florida
Coffee	Best light roast coffee for pour over