Everything a Nurse Entrepreneur Needs To Know About Short-Tail vs. Long-Tail Keywords
Alright, nurse friend, I get that nursing school didn’t teach you annnything about search engine optimization (SEO), why SEO is a must-have for your nurse-owned business, or how to leverage the words on your website to be a money-making machine.
But nursing school did teach you how to research, right?
So just like you wouldn’t write up a care plan without some serious research and solid facts to back up your claims, you need that same approach when it comes to your SEO because you really can’t just slap a keyword haphazardly all over your website and expect to both rank for it and bring in an audience that actually cares.
Your keyword strategy directly impacts the visibility of your nurse-owned business and the ranking of your content on Dr. Google’s results pages.
Whether you're looking to cast a wide net or target a specific niche, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the different types of keywords will empower you to make informed decisions and maximize your website's visibility in search engine results.
You miiight need to grab some coffee for this post because I’m about to get nerdy AF and it maaay bore you to tears. But I promise to do my best to keep it fun, funky, and fresh (you know how I do). 🤪
Let’s get on with it and explore the essential differences between short-tail versus long-tail keywords and help you determine which strategy best suits your SEO goals for your nurse-owned business.
Keywords for a Stronger SEO Strategy
What Is a Keyword?
A keyword is a fundamental element in SEO and digital marketing. It’s a specific word or phrase that succinctly encapsulates the main topic or theme of your content, helping search engines understand your webpage's relevance to what a user searched for (or query). In essence, keywords act as the bridge connecting what users are searching for with the content that provides the answers or solutions they seek.
Understanding Short-Tail Keywords
Short-tail keywords, also known as head keywords, are brief phrases that encapsulate broad topics or concepts. They typically consist of one or two words and are highly competitive. For example, if you have a website for a medical spa, some short-tail keywords you might target could include "medical spa" or "medical spa treatments."
Short-tail keywords often have a high search volume and are easier to incorporate naturally into content, making them more user-friendly. However, short-tail keywords also come with their fair share of challenges. They’re more generic in nature and tend to attract a larger audience, which could potentially result in higher traffic that may not be your ideal audience or people ready to purchase from you.
Let’s look at some pros and cons of short-tail keywords:
Pros:
High search volume: Short-tail keywords have the potential to attract a large audience and generate significant traffic to your website.
User-friendly: Short-tail keywords are concise and easy to incorporate naturally into content, making them more user-friendly.
Broad reach: Short-tail keywords cover a wide range of topics, allowing you to cast a wide net and attract a diverse audience.
Cons:
High competition: Short-tail keywords face stiff competition, making achieving and maintaining high search engine rankings challenging.
Lack of specificity: Short-tail keywords are more generic, which may not always align with the specific needs and interests of your target audience.
Difficulty in ranking: Due to their popularity, ranking for short-tail keywords can be more difficult, especially if you're competing against established websites.
Understanding Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords, as the name suggests, are longer and more specific phrases that target a narrower audience. These keywords typically consist of three or more words and provide more specificity than short-tail keywords. For example, instead of targeting the short-tail keyword "medical spa treatments," you might focus on a long-tail keyword like "medical spa treatments for dark circles under eyes."
The primary advantage of long-tail keywords is their ability to attract a more targeted audience. By incorporating specific terms and phrases into your content, you can reach individuals who are actively searching for exactly what you have to offer, leading to higher conversion rates and more valuable website traffic.
But they do have their limitations. Due to their specificity, long-tail keywords generally have lower search volumes. So, while the traffic they generate may be more relevant, it may not be as substantial as that generated by short-tail keywords. Also, long-tail keywords can be more challenging to incorporate naturally into content, as they may appear more complex or less commonly used.
Let’s look at some pros and cons of long-tail keywords:
Pros:
Targeted audience: Long-tail keywords allow you to reach individuals who are actively searching for specific products, services, or information.
Higher conversion rates: By attracting a more targeted audience, long-tail keywords have the potential to generate higher conversion rates and more valuable traffic.
Lower competition: Long-tail keywords generally face less competition, making achieving higher search engine rankings easier.
Cons:
Lower search volume: Long-tail keywords typically have lower search volumes compared to short-tail keywords, resulting in potentially less overall website traffic.
Complex integration: Long-tail keywords may be more challenging to incorporate naturally into content, as they often consist of longer and more specific phrases.
Limited reach: Due to their specificity, long-tail keywords may not attract as broad of an audience as short-tail keywords.
Keyword Research for Those Wondering How To Know What Type of Keywords To Use in Their SEO Strategy
Before deciding on a keyword strategy, do thorough keyword research by identifying relevant keywords and analyzing their search volumes, competition levels, and relevance to your target audience. Doing this will give you valuable insights that can help you make informed decisions and optimize your website's visibility in search engine results.
There are various tools and techniques available to assist with keyword research. Some popular options include:
Google Keyword Planner: This free tool provided by Google allows you to discover new keywords, analyze search volumes, and assess competition levels.
SEMrush: A comprehensive SEO tool that provides keyword analysis, competitor research, and various other features to enhance your SEO strategy.
Moz Keyword Explorer: Another powerful tool that offers keyword research, difficulty analysis, and suggestions for related keywords.
Ahrefs: An SEO software suite that provides keyword research, link building, rank tracking, site audits, and various other features.
Ubersuggest: A free and paid SEO tool specializing in keyword research and new ideas (my personal fave for the one-time fee of their paid version).
By leveraging these tools and techniques, you can gain a deeper understanding of keyword trends, search volumes, and competition levels, enabling you to make data-driven decisions and select the most appropriate keyword strategy for your business as a nurse entrepreneur.
As an example, let’s look at a medical spa’s keyword research and the differences between short-tail versus long-tail keywords.
Listed below are a few short-tail keywords that a medical spa could potentially rank for:
Medical spa — search volume (SV) of 135,000 and keyword difficulty (KD) of 41
Medical spa near me — SV 60,500 and KD 39
Medical spa services — SV 260 and KD 47
Medical spa treatments — SV 390 and KD 40
I wouldn't say the search volume and keyword difficulty numbers here are terrible, and a newer website could definitely rank in these numbers.
However, specificity will help the search engine understand your content better, push it to a more aligned audience, and help your audience find the answers they're really looking for.
If we get a little more specific to target your audience's queries and search intent, your short-tail keywords will easily turn into long-tail keywords, and the numbers might look like this:
Revive med spa — SV 9,900 and KD 30
Using your business name in your keywords is absolutely necessary if you want to rank for queries related to your business name.
Your audience's search intent for these types of queries is navigational, meaning that the person making this search query already knows what they want — they just need help finding it.
It also appears that “Revive” is a very common name in the med spa industry, so that fairs well for the business ranked in the number one spot on Google. They'll naturally get the most amount of traffic, being ranked #1 over a newer website with a similar name, even if that isn't the business the user was looking for. And that's just something to consider when naming your business if you haven't already done so.
Medical spa San Diego — SV 1,600 and KD 28
If you have a brick-and-mortar business, targeting a specific city in your keywords will help you rank for queries with an informational search intent looking for your services in that specific location, and those queries could end up being transactional as well when the user decides to book an appointment with the medical spa closest to their location.
Getting specific with the location of your business will also help you show up in the “service + near me” queries as well (i.e. “medical spa near me”), which is a win-win, really.
Med spa facial treatments — SV 3600 and KD 33
These keywords are likely for an informational search intent and could even lean more toward a transactional search intent, in that this person isn't just looking for a med spa — they're looking for a med spa that offers facial treatments and will likely schedule an appointment once they've found the treatment they're looking for.
Getting a little more specific about what type of treatments your medical spa offers will draw in more clients looking for those specific treatments and, in this case, the search volume rises with specificity as well.
Let's take a look at the next example.
Medical spa treatments for dark circles under eyes — SV 30 and KD 23
Similar to the last example, these keywords are likely for informational search intent but also lean more toward a transactional search intent. This person will likely buy the best result they can find to help them resolve their dark circles.
Notice that the search volume for this example drops drastically. You'll want to keep this in mind because, while you want to be specific, being too specific will narrow your audience significantly.
In some instances, it is more than okay to target a keyword with a low search volume, thereby narrowing your audience, but only if you know your ideal audience is actually making those more specific search queries.
Choosing the Right Keyword Strategy for Your Nurse-Owned Business
When it comes to choosing the right keyword strategy for your business, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The decision should be based on your specific goals, target audience, and the nature of your website or business.
When making your decision, be thinking about:
Business objectives: Different keyword strategies may be more effective depending on your goals. Determine your primary objectives and how keyword strategy aligns with them. For example, if you own a medical spa, are you looking to increase overall website traffic, or do you prioritize attracting a more targeted audience, e.g. your local community, like in the “medical spa San Diego” example above?
Target audience and search intent: Understanding your target audience, their search behaviors, and search intent allows you to align your content with what your audience is actually looking for when they enter a particular search query. By deciphering the intent behind a search, you can tailor your content to better meet the needs and expectations of your target audience, ultimately improving the relevance and usefulness of their website or page.
Competition analysis: Evaluate the competition in your niche and assess their keyword strategies. Identifying gaps or opportunities can help you differentiate and stand out from your competition.
Budget and resources: While SEO is truly the most cost-effective marketing strategy for websites, consider your available budget and resources for implementing your keyword strategy, especially when it comes to paid advertising. Short-tail keywords tend to be more competitive and may require more investment in terms of time, effort, and paid advertising.
By zeroing in on your preferred SEO strategy, you can optimize the heck out of your website, bring in all your raving fans, and give your nurse-owned business the recognition it deserves.
Implementing Short-Tail vs. Long-Tail Keywords in Your SEO Strategy
TL;DR 😜
Your nurse-owned business can absolutely take advantage of SEO strategy to bring in clients who are looking for the exact service you have to offer.
Here are my best tips as a nurse-turned-entrepreneur who’s figured out this whole SEO thing for incorporating short-tail and long-tail keywords into your content:
Short-tail keywords: When targeting short-tail keywords, focus on creating high-quality, comprehensive content that covers the broad topic or concept. It should be well-structured and optimized for the keyword without keyword stuffing. Consider using variations or synonyms of the short tail keyword to increase relevance and avoid repetition.
Long-tail keywords: For long-tail keywords, create content that specifically addresses the needs and interests of your target audience. This means detailed information, tips, or solutions related to the long tail keyword. Incorporate the long tail keyword naturally throughout the content so it flows seamlessly and doesn't disrupt the reading experience.
Don’t forget! Regularly monitor and analyze the performance of your keyword strategy. Tracking your website's rankings, organic traffic, and conversion rates can help you identify areas for improvement and optimization.
Just keep refining, stay on top of trends, and don’t be afraid to test and tweak as you go — after all, SEO is a long-term game and adjusting your keyword strategy based on data-driven insights will have some siiick payoffs!
And if you’re feeling ultra overwhelmed by all this keyword talk, then I’ve got your back — check out my SEO services. I’ll do ALL the research for you to take your SEO strategy from “meh” to bombdotcom and really level up your nurse-owned business to bring in those high-quality clients who can’t wait to book with you. 🥳