SEO – Keyword Research – Long Tail Keyword Length

It’s my opinion that the keyword length is unimportant. What is important is that:

1. The keyword has the search volume you are looking for.

2. The keyword or phrase has competition (both result numbers and page rank) that you can beat.

3. The keyword is relevant…in other words if someone finds your site by searching for “free blue widgets”, only to find you are charging for them??

4. The keyword or phrase should imply some readiness to buy.

In regards to point 4 above if the keyword was “buy widgets” and it met your criteria in points 1 and 2, it would also meet the requirements of points 3 and 4, if you were selling widgets.

It is true that long tail keywords usually imply more specific and (mostly) buying intent and as a result are usually targeted by internet marketers. I have no idea of the statistics, but I would guess that the majority of keyword searches which do signal some buying intent are 3 to four words in length. Or to put it another way, the longer the keyword phrase, the more probable it is that the searcher has some buying intent.

Of course, single word keywords can also signal buying intent…a classic one being a search for a product name. For example, a significant percentage of searches for “ipad” would be from people who want to purchase the product. Of course a “no brainer” two word keyword would “buy ipad”, but I can just imagine the competition for both those phrases, so both of those will probably dip out on criteria 1 and 2.

People are finding it harder and harder to find those “hidden gems’. That is, keywords or phrases which have a high search volume, but low competition. It should really come as no surprise, because pretty much all the keyword research tools, either paid or free, draw their results from the major search engines.

What it comes down to is how well you use the tools at your disposal.

A good comparison I like to draw, is that we all can go out and buy the same set of golf clubs that our favorite pro uses…yet he/she can use them to make millions a year, while we “hackers” have to rely on our day job!

I’m sure you see my point…there is some skill which is required with keyword research, and just like golf, we may not be able to become a pro….but we can certainly lower our handicap through practice and dedication.

So for what its worth, keyword length is not important so long as it meets your volume and search criteria…and most importantly, it has some buying intent. Traffic will still good if you have a keyword without buying intent, but it’s going to be the CTR and conversions which will suffer.

I’m sure there are many excellent one, two, three and four word phrases, and probably longer ones. At the end of the day, if you are in the marketing game, it does become a mathematical calculation.

That means what the answer is to:

A. (percentage of available searches X clicks to you site X sign ups X $) minus…

B. What it cost you to get the traffic. (expenses)

If A minus B is positive, you have a good keyword. If A minus B is a large number, then you have an excellent keyword!