Types of Keywords: 14 Keyword Types Explained, With Examples and Uses

Two keywords with the same volume can be worth very different things: one brings readers who want to learn, the other buyers ready to pay. Sorting them into types of keywords is how you decide which page to build, what to write on it and how to measure it. The stakes are high because search keeps renewing itself: Google wrote in its 2019 announcement of BERT that 15% of the queries it sees every day are new. This guide covers 14 keyword types, with an example for each and the page that should target it.

How are keywords classified?

A keyword is the word or phrase a person types to find something. No official list of keyword types exists: SEO and advertising practitioners use several overlapping classifications. The five that matter for a content plan:

1. By intent: what the person wants to do.
2. By length and volume: how broad or specific the query is.
3. By brand: whether a company name appears in the query.
4. By context: location, season, question form, AI conversation.
5. By role: whether the keyword is the main target of a page or a supporting term.

One keyword belongs to several types at once. "Best trail running shoes for women" is commercial, long-tail and non-branded. Each label adds information about the page that will rank.

Keyword types by search intent

Search intent is the most useful classification, because Google ranks the pages that best match it. Google's own Search Quality Rater Guidelines (version of September 2025) sort queries into Know, Do, Website and Visit-in-person intents; marketers use four close equivalents.

1. Informational keywords

The person wants to learn or understand: "how to clean running shoes", "what is pronation". These queries often start with how, what, why. They are very common and suit guides, blog articles and glossary pages. They rarely convert immediately, but they are the queries AI assistants answer most often, so being the cited source matters.

2. Navigational keywords

The person wants to reach a specific site or page: "nike login", "strava pricing". Only the brand owner can realistically rank for them. Your job is to make sure your home page, pricing page and login page come out first for your own name.

3. Commercial keywords

The person is comparing before buying: "best running shoes for flat feet", "hoka vs asics", "brooks ghost review". These queries call for rankings, comparison pages and reviews. They are fewer than informational queries but much closer to a purchase.

4. Transactional keywords

The person is ready to act: "buy brooks ghost size 10", "running shoes discount code", "book a gait analysis". The page to rank is a product, category or booking page, with price, availability and a clear call to action.

Keyword types by length and volume

5. Head keywords (short-tail)

One or two words, high volume, vague intent: "running shoes". Competition is fierce and the people typing them want different things. A category page or a pillar guide is the only realistic target, and usually only for an established site.

6. Mid-tail keywords

Three words or so, with a clearer need: "waterproof running shoes". Moderate volume and competition, often the sweet spot for growing sites.

7. Long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are specific, low-volume queries: "trail running shoes for wide feet women". Each one brings little traffic, together they make up a large share of searches, and their precise intent converts well. They are also the easiest way in: see our method to find low competition keywords. Length is a proxy: what defines the long tail is low volume and precise intent, not a word count.

Branded, non-branded and competitor keywords

8. Branded keywords

The query contains your brand or product name: "sorank pricing", "nike pegasus review". These branded queries convert best and measure your notoriety. Our guide on branded vs non-branded keywords explains how to track them separately.

9. Non-branded keywords

Generic queries without a brand: "cushioned running shoes". They are how new customers find you, which makes them the main growth lever of SEO.

10. Competitor keywords

Queries that name a competitor: "hoka alternatives", "asics vs brooks". A fair comparison page can capture people who are still hesitating, provided it states facts and limits honestly.

Keyword types by context

11. Local keywords

The query has a place or an implicit location: "running shop lyon", "physiotherapist near me". Google answers them with a map and local results, so they call for location pages and a complete Google Business Profile. See our glossary entry on local SEO.

12. Seasonal and trending keywords

Demand that peaks at a given time: "marathon training plan spring", "black friday running shoes". Check the curve on Google Trends and publish or refresh the page a few weeks before the peak, so it is indexed when searches rise.

13. Question keywords

Full questions: "how often should you replace running shoes". They feed the "People also ask" box, featured snippets and voice answers. Answer each one in a short, self-contained paragraph under a heading that repeats the question.

14. AI prompts

The newest type. A prompt is the request someone writes to ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity: "I run 30 km a week on asphalt and have flat feet, which shoes should I buy under $150?". Prompts are longer than search queries, carry context (budget, constraints, profile) and often end in a recommendation of a few brands. Their demand is measured as prompt volume, and the questions that matter can be found with AI prompt research. Prompts are the new keyword list for GEO: the page that answers them clearly is the one the AI quotes.

Primary, secondary and seed keywords

This last classification describes the role of a keyword in your work rather than the searcher's behavior:

• Seed keyword: the broad starting term you expand into a list ("running"). See seed keyword.
• Primary keyword: the main query a page targets, in the title, H1 and URL.
• Secondary keywords: close variants and subtopics that the same page covers in its sections. Assigning each primary keyword to one page, with its secondary terms, is called keyword mapping.
• LSI keywords: a popular label for related terms. Google does not use latent semantic indexing; the useful idea behind it is to cover the vocabulary of the topic. Our glossary explains the LSI keywords myth.

In Google Ads, keywords also have match types (broad, phrase, exact) plus negative keywords. They control which searches trigger an ad and have no effect on organic rankings.

The keyword types at a glance

How to use keyword types in your SEO and GEO strategy

1. Tag every keyword in your list with its intent, its length class and whether it is branded. A spreadsheet column per axis is enough.
2. Match intent to page type. Never target a transactional keyword with a blog article, or an informational one with a product page: Google shows what the searcher wants, and the format of the top results tells you what that is.
3. Balance the funnel. Informational keywords build reach and AI citations, commercial and transactional keywords bring revenue. A sound keyword strategy covers all four intents.
4. Start with the long tail if your site is young, then climb toward mid-tail and head terms as authority grows.
5. Add prompts to your list. For each commercial keyword, write the questions a buyer would ask an AI assistant, and check which brands are recommended.

Classifying by hand works for a hundred keywords; beyond that, a tool helps. Our free keyword research tool lists ideas around a seed term, and Sorank's automated keyword research analyzes your site, finds the keywords worth targeting and turns them into optimized articles in autopilot. Plans start at $49 per month on the annual plan, with a 3-day free trial.