Short Tail Keywords
These are most likely the most well known and the most generic example of keywords. They would include very basic and all-encompassing words such as ‘flowers’ or ‘tv show’. Due to their very unspecific and broad use, they merely pick out a topic and offer little to no specific detail. So as you can imagine, not only is there a lot of competition for these short tail keywords; they are also known to yield little to no results or leads due to their entirely sporadic and somewhat random nature.

Long Tail Keywords
The opposite then, like the name implies, are long tail keywords. They zone in on exact and very specific topics such as ‘flower shop that delivers valentines bouquets’ and ‘what tv shows are on channel X tonight’. As you can, these are much more direct and deliberate search times that are looking for something very clear and specific. Due to this, competition for them can be that be lower (because they are so niche) and conversions can be higher as you are matching an exact defined need.

Broad Context Keywords
A layer between the two above would be what are known as broad context seo keywords. These are most often used when someone is researching something in particular and they want to know more about the topic as a whole and not in specific terms yet. Examples would include ‘romantic flowers’ and ‘new tv shows’. They represent warmer leads in that those searching for them are looking for something in particular, but have not fully decided (hence their less than fully specific search terms).

Branded Keywords
An additional type are known as branded keywords and they refer to specific brands that people know and are searching for. So if you sell particular brands, it can be useful to include them as keywords such as ‘Nike tracksuit’ and ‘Marvel movie’. You have to remember too that keywords like this will most likely bring up the official websites of these branded entities – so you will be competing with these as part of your SEO efforts.

Exact Match Keywords
Like the name suggests, exact match keywords offer those searching online just that – the exact match to what they are looking for. So this could be ‘traditional valentines flowers’ or ‘tv show reviews’ etc. They cater to an overall generic term that someone is looking for a bit more of a specific angle about, while not necessarily being a long term keyword. These can be great for the likes of review and global websites that can cater to a wide audience.