Long-Tail Keyword
A long-tail keyword is a longer search phrase, usually made up of three or more words, with lower search volume but clearer intent and generally less competition than a short head keyword. Taken individually they bring little search volume; together, however, very specific queries account for a substantial share of all searches – Google states that around 15 % of the queries it sees each day have never been asked before.
In practice
Long-tail keywords are particularly valuable for smaller and local businesses, because they offer realistic chances of good rankings without a large advertising budget. Because they often resemble the natural language of questions – "which cat food for overweight cats" rather than just "cat food" – they also suit spoken queries and optimisation for AI answer engines (AEO). Content that deliberately picks up long-tail keywords therefore often answers specific user questions instead of merely covering a general topic.