Feed: Keywords – What Are They? - AggScore: 20.0

Keywords – What Are They?

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When people talk about the Internet we often hear the term "keyword" being mentioned along with phrases such as short tail... long tail...broad match...exact match... low hanging fruit etc. . Well what exactly is a keyword anyway and what does all this mean to you as a business owner who has a web domain or advertises on the Internet ?  In this post we will first define what keywords are and in subsequent posts we will dive into how they can affect the success of your business. The meaning of keyword is a bit complex, however, the implications and impact of keywords is even more complicated. So much so, that hundreds if not thousands of books and reports have been written on the subject. There are loads of definitions online for you to examine... the following is our version: A KEYWORD is defined as a single word, multiple words or word phrase that is inserted into an online document or web site that serves as a code, cipher, reference point or identifier. Search engines use keyword(s) to match a search query placed by a user into the search engine's "search box". The search engine then supplies the searcher with the most relevant results for the keyword being searched, based on the search engines specific algorithmic calculations. An algorithm is a finite sequence of instructions, an explicit, step-by-step procedure for solving a problem, often used for calculation and data processing. Each algorithm is a list of well-defined instructions for completing a task, such as determining the relevance or value of web content as related to the surfers (searcher) search query. The returned results are based on the search engines statistical and historical values compiled in their company's database for that particular keyword or keyword phrase. The term "short tail keyword' usually refers to keywords that often include one or two words, are often highly sought after in terms of search engine rankings. These are the phrases that appear in search queries more often, therefore offer the best chance for traffic. But due to the generic nature of short terms, they are much sought after and hugely difficult to rank for. The results from short tail keywords often don't provide the searcher with very specifics search results. The term "long tail keyword" is usually more specific in nature. containing things like brand, model, etc.  Or it can be a short tail keyword coupled with what is referred to as a "keyword modifier" added on.  A modifier for example may define a keyword in the terms of geographic location.  Take the short tail term...used cars.  A pretty generic search term until you add a location to it such as Niagara Falls. The search term has just gotten much more specific as to where the searcher wants to look for a used car. The short tail is now becomes a long tail search because of it's specificity.  However, a true long tail would be a search as follows... 1958 Thunderbird Niagara Falls  ON... then we have a target specific long tail keyword search. This type of long tail is usually referred to as the "low hanging fruit".  It is a long tail search submitted by someone who is probably ready to buy...hence he's ready for "picking"...get the picture?

Does eBay Have Competition?

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It always seems that large companies find a way to lose sight of how they got to the top. One such company is eBay.