Besides long and short tail descriptors,
keywords may also be classified according to whether they target category seekers, the company’s product or brand seekers,
or the competitor’s product seekers.
Category keywords are the generic short tail keywords, relating to almost any
product or service in the category. For example, Shampoo, Soap, Body Wash, Feel Fresh etc.
Brand keywords are the phrases that are tightly bound to a brand. Taking Dove
body wash as an example, these include “one-quarter moisturising cream”, “real beauty”, “self-esteem”
and “Dove body wash”.
Competitor keywords target a competitor’s keywords. This can be an effective
strategy especially for a small player if the target competitor is a much stronger player. If the
brand Dove wants to target Johnsons body wash, it may target a Johnsons keyword such as “for all you love”.
When pursuing competitor keywords, one needs to be mindful of legal implications especially when targeting
trademarks such as brand names, as this is illegal in several countries.
More examples of the use of category, brand, and competitor keywords, particularly
in the context of marketing strategy and the digital marketing funnel, can be found in Section
Keyword Strategy.
