Shake Your [Keyword] Tail Feathers!

The long-tail, the short-tail, the peacock-tail (okay, so I threw that one in there for good measure)…what does it all mean?

A short-tail keyword is typically a one or two word term such as “feather boa”.  People who search such terms are typically in the early stages of the buying cycle, and are still researching.  Others may not be interested in buying at all; they simply may be looking for pictures or ideas.  Use such terms very sparingly in your PPC campaigns, as they tend to spend a lot and bring in a high degree of unqualified traffic.  If you do use such terms,  you will typically drive traffic to a category landing page.

A long-tail keyword is typically a four or five word term such as “light pink chandelle feather boa”.  People who search such terms are typically in the later stages of the buying cycle, and are getting ready to purchase.  Incorporate such terms as long as they are relevant to your business, and as long as they aren’t too specific that no one will ever search them.  When using such terms, you will typically drive traffic to an item landing page.

How does one determine which words to choose and in what ratios?  That is an inexact science, but Analytics “Evangelist” Avinash Kaushik provides a lot of insight into how to use the Google Search-based Keyword Tool when selecting keywords.

Good luck with your short-tail and long-tail keywords.  Take it from a “Robyn”; be sure to have fun, and once in awhile,  Shake Ya Tail Feather!

(Pictured at Google NYC, March 2008, from L-R: Farukh Shroff, Former Internet Marketing GM; Aaron Hagenbuch, Senior Search Engine Marketing Manager; Avinash Kaushik, Analytics “Evangelist”; Mike Jozaitis, Search Engine Marketing Team Leader; Jean Lloyd, Search Engine Marketing Team Leader; Robyn Snyder, Search Engine Marketing Team Leader)