Explaining the difference between main keywords and long-tail keywords

In this post, we will endeavour to address the differences between main keywords and long-tail keywords, and how they should complement each other for the benefit of the overall SEO strategy of your business.

To do this, we will look at each of these concepts and give you some tips on how you can use them when designing your search engine positioning strategy.

What are main keywords?

As the name implies, this refers to the main keyword or keywords for your business. They summarise in a syntagm what your website is about. For example, if you sell cosmetics products through your e-commerce, your main keywords will be “online cosmetics shop”, “buy cosmetics online” and all variants closely related to the main activity of your business. Think of it as follows: what would a user search for to reach the concept of your store? We are talking about the store in general, not the specific products or services within it (“buy makeup online” and not “buy pink blusher online”). Most answers to the previous question could definitely be considered as main keywords.

The nature of these keywords is fairly simple to understand. They have many searches in search engines and are tremendously competitive. At SEO level, they are very difficult to position, but once that is achieved, you are guaranteed a considerable volume of traffic. In addition, all this traffic will be perfectly qualified considering that users have searched the exact term that defines the main activity of your business in Google (or any other search engine).

Let us summarise the main features of main keywords:

• Large search volume
• A lot of competition
• Difficult to position
• They attract a lot of traffic
• Interesting for the website in general

What are long-tail keywords?

These keywords, unlike the previous ones, are search terms that are much more specific and go into more detail. If we continue with the example of the online cosmetics store, some long-tail keywords that could be associated with it could be “snail slime face products”, “buy rejuvenating creams online” and other searches that your potential customers could perform to find more specific (less general) products or services. Similarly to with the main keywords, consider the following: what would your potential customers search for to come up with some of the products or services (and not your store in general) that you offer? Those answers could be considered long-tail keywords.

This type of keywords is characterised by having a much lower volume of searches than the main keywords, being more specific and concrete. At SEO level, they are much more accessible when it comes to positioning. However, the volume of traffic they will bring to your website will be much lower than the main keywords. That said, if we look at the traffic quality, it is worth mentioning that this type of keywords provides equally qualified visits or sessions.

Here is a summary of the main characteristics of long-tail Keywords:

• Lower search volume
• Much less competition when it comes to positioning
• Less competition fighting for them
• Attracts little traffic
• The traffic obtained is of equal quality

How to complement main keywords with long-tail keywords

Any respectable SEO strategy would need to combine both typologies. Except in very specific cases (such as micro-niches and mega-niches) we must opt for a pattern of keywords that conjugates both main keywords and long-tail keywords.

There are very different techniques and strategies to achieve this. Nevertheless, here are the basic notions of two models whose difference lies in the starting point:

On one hand, from the very beginning you can go all out for the main keywords of your main business. As the positioning of the main keywords increases, they will drag the long-tail keywords towards the top positions as well. These types of strategies are recommended for those powerful companies that have the time and resources to reach the top positions in search engines even if the keywords they are betting on are highly competitive.

On the other hand, a more scalable method would be to start focusing on the long-tail keywords, gradually gaining traffic and authority and then opt for the main keywords. If you have a low budget or your notions of SEO are not very advanced, it is a perfect strategy for you. You will gradually increase your positioning with words of little volume and little difficulty. The results, although with slow progress, can be seen in the short term and this will give you strength to keep growing.

The importance of a good Keyword Research

A best practice is to do a keyword study before starting your business’s SEO strategy. This will guarantee you a fairly broad knowledge of the state of the sector in which your business activity is to be developed.

If you have limited resources a good way to find new long-tails is to start typing your main keyword in Google and then the system itself will suggest new keywords. Another way to do this is, directly, to see what keywords your direct competition uses and start fighting for traffic from there.

Remember that if you need more information about it, you can look up a whole dedicated post about different SEO tools, including various resources to analyse the status of a keyword, your position within the search rankings and many other factors that will help you keep everything monitored, and focus on what benefits you can bring to your online business.

Now that you know what main keywords and long-tail keywords are, you have to take a step forward and apply the best practices to your dropshipping store.