Keyword
What is a keyword? Types of keywords
In the realm of digital marketing, a keyword refers to any term—consisting of one or more words—that users enter into search engines to perform a search or query.
Keywords are used in SEO strategies to rank a website, a product (in the case of ecommerce), or a blog post at the top of search engine results. Therefore, they are of vital importance for website owners.
1. Types of keywords
When creating your keyword strategy, keep in mind that there are different types of keywords. Among all the options, we can highlight two main groups: based on search intent and based on length.
Let’s look at each of them in more detail:
Keywords based on search intent
This evaluates the reason or intent that led the user to perform the search. This type is subdivided into four categories:
- Navigational. When the user directly types the name of a company, brand, or website into the search engine.
The user’s primary intent is to access the official website, but for convenience or because they don’t know the exact domain, they use the search engine to get there. For example: Mailrelay, Netflix, etc. - Informational. These have a very simple search intent: finding specific information.
Here, the user simply wants to learn about a specific topic. For example: sending bulk emails or golf club distances. - Transactional or commercial. These are intended to bring up pages that sell products or services.
The user’s primary intent is to make a purchase or acquisition. For example: buy padel shoes. - Commercial investigation. This is a combination of informational and transactional intent, where the user wants to gather information to likely make or plan a purchase.
For example: best fiber optic deals or most energy-efficient portable air conditioners.
Keywords based on length
This classification takes into account the number of terms the user enters to perform the search (the level of exactness or depth). This type is subdivided into three categories:
- Short tail. These are keywords made up of one or two words (in SEO jargon, they are known as seed or generic keywords). They have a high search volume since they are very broad. For example: email marketing, flashlight, chair, etc.
- Medium tail. In this second type, the user enters more specific search terms (two or three words). The search volume is lower, but since the search intent is more specific, the results are much better.
For example: email marketing software, camping flashlight, office chair, etc. - Long tail. These keywords are highly specific, offer very relevant results, and have a lower search volume. They consist of phrases with more than three terms.
For example: email marketing software Spain, rechargeable camping flashlight, office director chair, etc.
2. Keywords and digital marketing
Using the right keywords in your content provides highly interesting benefits and possibilities for your marketing strategies, going far beyond just improving your SEO ranking.
- Generate organic traffic. Based on the user’s search, you can determine which stage of the sales funnel they are in. This allows you to drive already segmented organic traffic to your blog, making it easier to convert them into customers.
- Content discovery. A keyword analysis can reveal keywords you originally didn’t consider, allowing you to create interesting content that wasn’t initially planned.
- Improve digital authority. They help us become recognized industry leaders and improve visibility through mentions from other websites or blogs.
- Better user understanding. By knowing the keywords they use, you can understand user interests and provide the exact information they need more accurately.
3. How to conduct keyword research
Conducting keyword research allows us to discover the keywords that are easiest to rank for or find real opportunities to improve our SEO.
To perform keyword research, you need to use tools that provide reliable data. Some of the most popular ones include:
- Google Keyword Planner.
- Keywords Everywhere.
- SEMRush.
- MOZ.
- Sistrix.