You know types of keyword, keyword is the foundation of any successful SEO strategy. But with so many multiple types, the keyword research journey gets difficult.
This guide dives deep into the different categories of SEO keywords, offering a clear understanding of their amazing strengths and applications.
From high-volume head terms to hyper-focused long tails, we’ll teach you to choose the keywords that best suit your specific goals.
whether aiming for brand awareness, local dominance, or targeted traffic, this comprehensive guide will empower you to make informed decisions and create content that resonates with your ideal audience Let’s have a look at 13 Major types of keywords in SEO.
What are SEO Keywords?
SEO keywords are the words or phrases people use to search for services, products, or information online. Furthermore, they are the phrases or words search engines use to rank and sort content. You optimize your web content around SEO keywords so you can get found and drive traffic to your site hopefully, in turn, driving conversions and sales for your business.
Instance, if you want to purchase a new jacket, you might type something like “casual jacket” into Google. Although that phrase consists of more than one word, it is still a keyword.
When you choose and use SEO keywords, the objective is to be sure that your keywords align with what your potential clients would be searching for, i.e., search queries and how search engines understand and categorize your site.
In the above case, the search engine defines the higher result. To answer the search query, it suggests similar questions and content that are deemed most valuable and relevant.
If “men’s casual jacket” is something your prospective people would search for and is relevant to your service offerings, you will benefit from extra exposure and site traffic when you appear top in search results for this phrase, which might be one of your SEO keywords.
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Why are Keywords Crucial in SEO?
SEO keywords are crucial as they help you reach your target clients when searching for information about your business online. Selecting and using the right keywords is necessary for any SEO strategy. The SEO keywords you choose to target must align with your SEO strategy and your overall business goals.
Ranking top in the SERPs can drive more targeted traffic to your website. This is why seeking keywords users search for is the first step of any SEO campaign.
SEO is possible with keywords. However, when you have a list of the appropriate keywords, you can begin working on important SEO tasks such as:
- Figuring out your website architecture
- Optimize sales and landing pages
- Write content for blog posts and YouTube videos
- Planing out category pages and product
What is the Role of Keywords in SEO?
In the world of SEO, keywords are often referred to as the heart of the process.
The reasons are:
- Increased Relevance: Keywords be sure your content is relevant and easily accessible to your target audience. By incorporating relevant keywords into your content, you inform search engines what your content is about.
- Higher Rankings: Optimal keyword usage notably improves your website’s ranking on (Search engine result page) SERPs. The top your content ranks, the greater visibility and traffic it gets.
- Better User Experience: With the right keywords, you provide your users with a smooth and hassle-free experience so they can easily seek what they want on your site.
Types of Keyword in SEO
Let’s understand the multiple types of keywords in SEO with examples:
Type of SEO Keywords: User’s Search Intent
1. Informational Keywords
Often, clients use informational keywords in the research phase to find more information about a particular topic. These keywords typically begin with the ‘”5Ws and 1H'”: who, when, why, what, where, and how. Optimizing content with informational keywords helps drive organic traffic to your site because potential clients use them to research services or products they may be interested in purchasing.
People using informational keywords find informative, insightful content that solves problems or answers questions.
Instance, if a searcher types “how to prepare rasgulla at home” into a search engine, they use an informational keyword. Your website might provide a detailed step-by-step guide on preparing rasgulla and meeting the user’s information needs.
Regularly using relevant informational keywords allows you to draw in more of your target audience, answering their queries and boosting your SEO ranking.
2. Commercial Keywords
Commercial keywords refer to advertising-related searches, like promotional offers and discount code businesses set up online to attract more customers over time. These terms bring users directly into content with your company and offer valuable insights about buyer’s preferences, which you can use when planning campaigns for future marketing efforts. These keywords usually add ‘buy’, ‘best’, ‘review’, ‘price’, and ‘comparison.’
Instance, suppose a person enters the search term “Best mobile phone under 15000”. This commercial keyword indicates that the person is likely to buy and is comparing their options.
By optimizing your website with these keywords, you can direct highly targeted, ready-to-buy people to your site.
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3. Transactional Keywords
People use transactional keywords when they are in the conversion phase of the buy funnel. They already know what they want and use particular purchasing keywords to help them seek the right place to buy. Clients ready to purchase often use transactional keywords adding terms such as ‘buy now’, ‘order’, ‘purchase’, and ‘discount codes’.
Instance, people who search “Order iPhone 16 Pro” in a search engine are likely primed and ready to purchase. By integrating relevant transactional keywords, you can capture these ready-to-convert users and guide them to your website.
4. Navigational Keywords
People use navigational keywords while looking for a particular site, service online, product, or brand. This type of query implies an intention to take action-usually visiting the site directly it allows marketers more opportunities for conversions if their page appears higher than SERPs for such terms. These keywords often add product names, brand names, or the names of specific services.
Instance, a person searches for “Adidas Running Shoes for Men”. If you have effectively optimized your website for this navigational keyword, the user should seek your site at the higher search results.
By understanding and utilizing these navigational keywords, you can be sure that your site is found effortlessly by people explicitly searching for it.
How do you find the user’s search intent keywords?
Tools, like Answer the Public and Answer Socrates, generate questions like who, why, what, when, where, and how. Thus, they are especially for brainstorming informational keywords.
Even if you use a tool that doesn’t have a specific feature for filtering keywords by intent, you don’t worry. You can still use modifiers such as the ones we discussed for each intent to generate similar keyword options. This displays your resourcefulness and adaptability in the face of SEO challenges.
Types of SEO Keywords: Length
1. Seed Keywords
Seed keywords, often called primary, are the fundamental terms associated with your brand or industry. These keywords contain one or two words representing your business’s main offerings.
Instance, if you sell leather bags in the e-commerce industry, your seed keywords might be as straightforward as “men’s leather bags” or “women’s leather bags.”
Seed keyword research is the first step in seeking mid-tail or long-tail keywords for a business.
2. Short Tail Keywords
Short-tail keywords are broad search phrases containing 1 to 3 words. They are less specific but have a high search volume, making them more competitive to rank for in search engines.
In the first stages of their buy journey, people use short-tail keywords to look for more general information. Instance, a user might search for “Dell laptops”.
In light of the fierce competition for short-tail keywords, how can you effectively incorporate them into your SEO strategy?
Given their high search volume, ranking for these keywords can crucially boost your visibility and attract a huge audience.
4. Long Tail Keywords
Keywords with long tails are often longer than keywords with short tails. People use them when they know exactly what they are looking for or are closer to the point of buying.
Due to their specificity, long-tail keywords are reduced competitive, making them a valuable tool for SEO, mainly for smaller businesses or those just beginning their SEO strategies.
Instance, a person searches for a “Waterproof mobile for underwater photography”. This long-tail keyword is particular, indicating the person knows exactly what they are after.
A business selling underwater photography equipment could hence greatly benefit from incorporating such long-tail keywords into its SEO journey.
But how can you identify the right long-tail keywords for your brand or industry?
Long tail keywords with reduced SEO difficulty and the correct volume count for your target country are great keywords for optimizing your content accordingly.
How to Find the Type of Keywords by Length?
The common way to seek keywords of different lengths is to use the autocomplete feature on a search engine such as Google. As you type, you will see multiple completions of your query-long and short.
The related searches and users also ask sections in search results are helpful, too. So, keyword research tools are a great way to seek keywords that are the length you need. Filters can be applied to most by setting a maximum or minimum number of words. Plus, there are SEO tools, especially for seeking long-tail, low-competition keywords.
Types of SEO Keywords: Match
1. Exact Match Keywords
These search phrases match the correct term or are a near variation of that precise term. They enable you to target your audience precisely, resulting in top relevancy and ad ranking, which lead to good conversion rates.
Instance, if you sell wooden furniture, an exact match keyword could be “solid oak bed.”
This keyword targets people who are explicitly looking for a solid oak bed, reflecting their exact search intent.
2. Broad Match Keywords
These keywords encompass any people searches that are variations or expansions of your keyword. They could add synonyms, singular or plural forms, misspellings, or variants.
Broad-match keywords are a good way to reach a large audience, but their broad nature can also lead to irrelevant traffic.
Instance, if you are a retailer selling utensils, a broad-match keyword could be “baking tools. “While this keyword might bring an audience searching for anything from baking pans to spoons, it could also attract an audience looking for baking classes or recipes.
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3. Phrase Match Keywords
These keywords are a type of keyword match that enables your ad to display when a user searches for the exact keyword or exact keyword with additional words before or after it.
They balance reach and precision, enabling you to target a larger audience than exact–match keywords without attracting irrelevant traffic such as broad-match keywords.
For example, if you are selling organic beauty products, a phrase match keyword could be “organic beauty products. “This keyword might also cover search queries such as “best organic beauty products” or “organic beauty products for dry skin.” This strategy be sure you capture a broader user while maintaining relevancy to your offerings.
4. Negative Keywords
These are the words you do not want to be associated with your site. Negative keywords are helpful because they help you avoid competition from sites using the same keyword and phrase combinations.
For instance, a commonly used negative keyword in Google Ads is the word “free.” If you are paying for ads, you don’t want to spend ad spend on searches for free products or services.
How to Find Types of Keyword by Match?
The match keyword is usually denoted by enclosing them in square brackets, like this: (keyword). For instance, if an advertiser targets the match keyword [black shoes], their ad will only be shown to people searching for the exact phrase “black shoes.”
Types of SEO Keywords: Role-Oriented
1. Primary Keywords
Also known as focus keywords, these are the core keywords that your content is built around. You want to rank for these terms to drive the most relevant traffic to your website.
Primary keywords must directly relate to your business and services or products. These keywords should be used in the title tags, headers, meta descriptions, and whole content.
For example, if you are a company specializing in custom-made jewelry, a potential primary keyword could be “custom-made necklace.” This term accurately describes your key offering and is one your potential clients will likely search for.
Secondary keywords support your primary keywords by providing additional detail. They are often topically related to the core keywords, helping search engines understand the depth and breadth of your content.
Incorporating secondary keywords into your content improves your site’s visibility in search results, and drives more traffic.
For instance, if your primary keyword is “custom-made diamond necklace” potential secondary keywords may add “handcrafted necklace,” “white gold necklace,” and “gold necklace for women.”
3. Competitor’s Keywords
In search engine results, competitor keywords are phrases that your business competitors rank for. By identifying and analyzing these keywords, you can gain insights into your competitors’ strategies for drawing traffic and apply similar tactics to your SEO journey.
What can you do with this information to your advantage?
For instance, if you are running a customized jewelry business and one of your competitors is “Kalyan Jwellary Store” you would use SEO tools to investigate the keywords for which Kalyan Jwellary Store ranks.
With this knowledge, you could begin, building content around this keyword, helping you compete more effectively with your competitor on the search engine results page (SEPRs).
How to Find Types of Keywords by Role-oriented?
There are many ways to seek role-oriented keywords. For example, start your research with a tool like Google Trends to:
- Research if there’s interest in a topic you are considering
- Check if that interest is consistent, waning, or upsurging
- Consider two or more potential keywords and compare their interest
Once you have found one with a decent amount of interest, enter it into your preferred keyword tool. Ensure the keyword contains:
- You could outrank on the first page if the keyword is highly difficult and the SERP has some to no websites. Look for a reduced competitive alternative keyword.
- A medium to low keyword difficulty score and the SERP have a few websites you could outrank on page one, hence it may be a great focus keyword. Use available filters to search specific semantic and secondary keywords.
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Types of SEO Keywords: Target-Oriented
1. Branded Keywords
These are search terms that comprise your brand name or product name. They are necessary to the SEO journey, particularly for creating brand awareness and reputation.
People searching with these keywords often have a higher intent, because already know your product or brand. What are the best ways to leverage these branded keywords?
For instance, consider a business like Samsung. Their branded keywords might add terms like “Samsung Mobiles” or “Galaxy S Series.” Users searching using these terms already know Samsung as a brand and find specific products.
The key to maximizing the potential of branded keywords is to be sure that your site and content consistently and accurately reflect your brand name and product offerings. Branded keywords are a direct reflection of your brand in the eyes of your potential clients, hence it is pivotal that they are used effectively.
2. Generic Keywords
Generic keywords are broad search terms that do not add brand-specific information. They often relate to your niche or products but aren’t tied to your brand. Due to their broad nature, generic keywords are highly competitive, encompassing a wide range of services or products within a given niche.
Therefore, given their competitive milieu, how can generic keywords be effectively used? For example, consider a term such as “smartphone”. It’s not brand-specific, but it’s still highly relevant to businesses in the mobile industry. Although, due to its broad appeal, the competition for such a term would be high.
3. Product Specific Keywords
Product keywords refer to search phrases directly related to your business’s service or product. They are much more specific than generic keywords and often add detailed information, like the model, color, size, or other product features. These keywords are used by people who know what they want and are often on the verge of buying.
Since they are so specific, they are reduce competitive and more accessible to rank for, making them a valuable asset in your SEO arsenal. How do you identify the right keywords for your business?
For instance, suppose you run an online furniture store. In that case, your product-specific keywords might add phrases like “Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra in Phantom Blue” or “Apple AirPods with Wireless Charging Case.”
People searching with such detailed keywords are likely ready to make a buy, and with the right strategy, you can level up your sales by targeting long-tail keywords like these.
4. Market Specific Keywords
Market-specific keywords are highly relevant to your specific industry or market. They are narrower than generic keywords and target a particular industry within your broader market or sector.
These keywords are useful in reaching your target people. But how do you seek market-specific keywords to drive the right traffic to your website?
Market-specific keywords for this business might include “chopping cutting board,” “cotton bed sheets king size”, or “water bottle for a fridge.” By targeting these terms, the retailer attracts consumers interested in eco-friendly home goods, increasing the likelihood of conversions and sales.
5. Review Keywords
Review keywords are search terms that add phrases or words indicating a person’s intent to seek reviews or feedback for a service or product. They are important to your SEO strategy as they can lead potential clients to your site at a critical point in their decision-making process.
But how do you leverage these review keywords to drive more traffic to your website? People searching with review keywords are about to buy, and positive reviews tip the balance in your favor.
For instance, consider a review keyword such as “iPhone 16 Pro reviews.” People employing such a search term are potentially close to buying an iPhone 16 Pro but find reviews to validate their decision.
By optimizing your site and content for such review keywords, you can attract these high-intent people and possibly convert them into clients.
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6. Customer-Centric Keywords
These keywords are search terms directly related to your client’s experiences, goals, and needs. They often add questions or phrases your clients frequently ask, reflecting their thoughts and concerns.
Using customer-centric keywords, you can bridge the gap between your business and the clients, offering solutions that align with their needs and expectations. But how can you uncover these crucial customer-centric keywords?
For instance, if you are an equipment retailer, your customer-centric keywords could be queries such as “best gym equipment for beginners” or “how to maintain a treadmill.” These keywords reflect your customers’ questions.
By targeting these keywords, you can enhance your SEO ranking and provide valuable content that addresses your customers’ customers, creating trust, and fostering client loyalty.
How to Find Target-oriented Keywords?
No matter, the research tool you use or the types of keyword you are looking for, the procedure is the same. Type a keyword that reflects the topic and the location, customer, market, or brand you are interested in keywords for. For instance, you type a market-specific keyword web design. Then, use the filters to view client-defining keywords (web design-related keywords for beginners). Use the same process for any targeted SEO keyword type you are looking for.
LSI Keywords: Semantic Keywords
LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Keywords are SEO terms that help search engines understand your site’s content. These keywords provide context, in which search engines to comprehend a page’s subject matter.
For example, suppose your primary keyword is “weight loss diet at home.” LSI keyword terms might be “healthy weight loss diet plans at home,” “weight loss recipes at home,” “calorie intake for weight loss at home,” and “best foods for weight loss at home.”
Incorporating these keywords in your content enhances your SEO journey and provides your users with a more comprehensive and relevant information source.
How to Find Semantic Keywords?
One of the easiest ways to search for LSI keywords is through the search engine. Type a phrase in Google Search to seek the relevant LSI keywords and search terms. For example, if you google the search term site, you will find the LSI keywords featured in the autocomplete drop-down menu.
FAQs on Types of Keywords in SEO
1. How many types of keywords in SEO?
There are nine keywords: short-tail, long-tail, short-term, long-term, customer-defining, product-defining, intent targeting, and geo-targeting. These keywords have amazing strengths that can help your SEO efforts in multiple situations.
2. What are the 4 types of search intent?
How can I determine four types of search intent:
Informational: People seeking awareness about a product/service often start with ‘how’, ‘what’, or ‘is it?’
Navigational: Searches aiming for a specific product in a known store, finding more information.
Commercial: Comparing features and prices after being familiar with a brand.
Transactional: Keywords used by ready-to-purchase prospects after comparing and being content with information and price.
3. What are short-tail keywords in SEO?
Short-tail keywords, focus or head keywords, consist of 1 or 2 words with high search volume. They have broad meaning and high competition, making it challenging to determine people’s intent. For example, due to its ambiguity, typing SEO yields varied results.
4. What are long-tail keywords in SEO?
Three or more words are considered long-tail keywords. However, they may have lower search volumes than short-tail keywords, they offer specificity. Examples involve ‘off-page SEO techniques,’ or best free SEO tools,’ which due to their specificity, aid in good page ranking and higher conversion rates.
Conclusion
SEO Keywords are the linchpin between prospective clients’ searches and the content you provide to meet those needs. They are vital to any business or site connecting over the World Wide Web. Thus, understanding the type of SEO keywords and how they powerfully place your page on the higher of a search list becomes vital as algorithms evolve.
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