Links vs Content and Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords
Posted by Michael D Jensen on June 14th, 2007
Opposition in All Things, Links vs Content
Everything in life has its opposites. There is light and dark, hot and cold, black and white, and of course links and content. Even years after the debate began, the debate still continues. Before I uncover some insight into the answer to links versus content, let me give some background.
When search engines came into being, it was all about content. We still see a lot of companies going off of 1990s philosophies of search engine optimization, focusing solely on meta tags (keywords and description), page titles, header tags, and even using hidden text and links. Google came into being (and was actually named BackRub first) and changed the face of search forever by giving weight to “citations” or links. So now instead of a top 10 results page full of pages that had lots of the keyword you used listed, the top 10 would be full of pages that others linked to using the keyword you just used.
Over time Google has evolved and has hundreds of factors that contribute to its algorithm. The top 2 factors, according to search marketing experts, are (1) Keyword use in Title Tag and (2) Anchor Text of Inbound Link. Obviously there are other important factors, such as who is doing the linking, and the context of the link, and so on. But obviously the title of the page still has importance too.
The Keywords Hold the Answer
So, is it content or is it links? The answer lies in the keyword. Is your keyword in the short tail or the long tail? Now before I explain, let me cover short and long tail keywords, to make sure everyone is up to speed.
Long tail keyword is by far a more common term versus short tail keywords, mainly because “short tail keywords” really just means “keywords”. Look at the graph below, you’ll see the left hand side is where the more common keywords are. They are more popular, more used, and also more competitive in most niches. As an example, short tail keywords would be like “home mortgage”, “home loan”, or “loan rates”. Short tail keywords are typically one, two, or three word keyphrases. The right hand side, the “tail”, contains lots of keywords with less popularity, less traffic, and the landscape is typically less competitive. As an example, long tail keywords would be like “home mortgage provo utah”, “30 year fixed home loan”, or “credit union loan rates”. Long tail keywords are usually three, four, five, even six keywords long.
Finding out if your keyword is long or short-tail is pretty simple. Most you can just look at, count the words, or ask a friend. For others, if you really want to be more certain, you can consult a keyword research tool (SoloSEO happens to have a pretty good keyword research tool!)
Putting It All Together, and Doing Something About It
Back to links vs content, as promised. Hopefully I’m not oversimplifying here, but long-tail keywords can get top rankings (yes, even top 10) based on content alone. Contributions from internal linking structure, title tags, header tags, and so forth are all bundled into “content”. On the links side, links help you rank for short-tail keywords, the more popular and competitive keywords. The better your linking strategy, the better your ranking. I recently posted about anchor text of inbound links, and this gives several examples of sites that have very few if any instances of a keyword that they rank in the top 3 for.
Practically speaking, a good place to start is to organize your keyword list into short and long-tail keywords. For your long-tail keywords, order unique content or write articles for your site/blog. For your short-tail keywords, identify the top 5 keywords you want to rank for and analyze your competitors in that search field. Then pursue a link building/buying strategy that will get you there.
This article appeared originally in our June Newsletter, SEO For the Rest of Us. Subscribe to the SoloSEO Newsletter!
Visited 3568 times June 14th, 2007 Michael D Jensen
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Entry Filed under: Content and SEO, Keywords, Learn SEO, SEO
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1. Blog Your Way to Long Tai&hellip | June 14th, 2007 at 11:23 am
[…] In keeping with the theme of Michael’s earlier post called Links vs Content and Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords, Michael discusses the differences between long tail and short tail keywords, as well as links versus content. I have had a few people ask me how to best attempt to capture long tail searchers, and it is an excellent question, here is what we know. Obviously creating content to match the possible long tail searches is probably the best way to go to accomplish long-term organic results. This is done by creating new web pages, using the long tail search term as the topic of the page, the page title, but then considerable content needs to be placed on that page to support the phrase or concept to rank well. It can be challenging, especially when you are a small business person and have so many other responsibilities to juggle. Creating content isn’t as easy as some of the other strategies we implement in a SEO campaign, using many great tools which simplify the other steps. But content takes times, some research and brain power to create, so we see some avoid it, even though it can have potentially drastic positive results if done well. In fact, due to our own challenges of creating new content, Michael and I actually created a pretty good business called Applied Content which has trained writers research and create unique content for site owners, because we figured others would struggle as we did. We were right. […]
2. Links vs Content and Long&hellip | June 16th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
[…] Links vs Content and Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords | SoloSEO Blog Opposition in All Things, Links vs Content Everything in life has its opposites. … Long tail keyword is by far a more common term versus short tail keywords, … […]
3. Boost Your Online Sales w&hellip | June 17th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
[…] Links vs Content and Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords | SoloSEO BlogLong tail keyword is by far a more common term versus short tail keywords, mainly because “short tail keywords” really just means “keywords”. … Date: Jun 17th, 2007 · Comments RSS · Tags: Keyword Research […]
4. Google + SEO = The New &#&hellip | June 18th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
[…] 2) You’ll need to make sure your SEO is in tip top shape. Honda isn’t going anywhere ranking for that term, but you’re not Honda. Content alone is not going to do it, you’re going to need to build and/or buy some links. […]
5. Links vs Content and Long&hellip | July 6th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
[…] Links vs Content and Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords | SoloSEO BlogLong tail keyword is by far a more common term versus short tail keywords, mainly because “short tail keywords” really just means “keywords”. Look at the graph below, you’ll see the left […]
6. Stay Online Stupid…&hellip | July 31st, 2007 at 9:50 am
[…] And what about these potential searchers/clients, who are they, and how do they eventually find us. This is an interesting phenomena as well. We are seeing the way people use search change, they are getting better at search, as they have learned how to better use long-tail search queries to more quickly and precisely find what they are looking for. Additionally, potential clients, both old and young are now not afraid to look online until they find a company that fits what they perceive they are looking for. Even my mother and father have become Googleites, and can find what they need very well. We have heard from some clients that they were just “searching” around and essentially stumbled on to us, if we had not been online, or at least trying to be visible online, this would not have happened. People are willing to look for what they want, and spend time doing it, because they have learned it does make a difference in their experience. I would also suggest that many searchers understand that the best company for their needs might not be on the first page of the search engine results page. Experience with the search engines results has taught us all this reality. […]
7. Learn SEO Basics: Long Ta&hellip | October 18th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
[…] For an advanced look at the topic of short and long tail keywords, look at my post about Links vs Content. […]
8. The Short Tail and Long T&hellip | October 25th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
[…] Links vs Content and Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords | SoloSEO Blog Opposition in All Things, Links vs Content Everything in life has its opposites. … Long tail keyword is by far a more common term versus short tail keywords, … Date: Oct 25th, 2007 · Comments RSS · Tags: Keyword Research […]
9. In SEO - Be A Tortoise, F&hellip | October 30th, 2007 at 10:06 am
[…] There is no doubt SEO can be worth much to a company looking to increase sales, it can take a struggling company trying to make any sale at all, and turn that company into an online success story. Where they once wondered if they would convince anyone to buy at all, they now they struggle with cash flow, barely having enough cash on hand to pay vendors, so they can barely stay ahead of the orders onslaught. But to experience this kind of transformation in online sales, the SEO work must happen. We are going to need to focus on our site’s Keywords, Content, Links and effort must be spent to put it all in place. No way around it. We can use all kinds of great tools, and have the latest information to make our efforts as efficient and effective as possible. We can even hire others to do our SEO for us, but SEO is the price for long-term online rewards. SEO isn’t easy for most people, it isn’t a get rich quick scheme, there is nothing magic or extraordinary about it, but if the SEO work is done well, then success is more than likely, if not virtually assured. I like that about SEO, we can work harder at it than others do, and see success for our efforts. And as for all the other tortoises out there, I know you will like that about SEO too. […]
10. Ahead Directory | December 24th, 2007 at 6:10 am
Hi
I have found the page in Google while searching using “long vs short anchor text” . Your article helps to enrich my knowledge .My of my questions answered in our article. Thanks again. I have a question for what actually I m searching the web. Would you please let me know
Will a link anchored as “affordable directory submission” help me for “directory submission”?
11. SEO Manager’s Weekl&hellip | January 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
[…] Links vs Content and Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords | SoloSEO Blog Opposition in All Things, Links vs Content Everything in life has its opposites. … Long tail keyword is by far a more common term versus short tail keywords, … […]
12. RJL Enterprise SEO | January 20th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Great post regarding long tail keywords. This strategy is the “hidden gem” of SEO marketing.
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