What Is a Search Term?

We all enter hundreds of words into Google, Bing, Yahoo!, or other favorite search engines every day to find what we need. Since there are many more web pages compared to the past, you may have a little more trouble finding exactly what you’re looking for. Well, you may be wondering, “What are you going to overcome such a problem? This is where search terms come into play. If you want to learn much more about them, you’ve come to the right place! In today’s post, we will discuss them and teach why they are so important. In addition, we will explain to you the difference between a search term and a keyword. At the end of our guide, there are examples to help you understand them a little better. Let’s dive in!

What Is a Search Term?

The definition of a search term or a search query is pretty simple. It is a word or combination of words that an internet user types into the search box of any search engine. These can be a single word, such as [coffee], or a group of words, such as [automatic coffee grinder]. Let’s try to dig into that a little bit more.

When you submit a search query, search engines display their search engine results pages (SERPs), including organic and paid searches. In this case, the result pages can be very generic or very specific, depending on the word or phrase you type. Let’s give a quick example. [computer games] is a broader term, while [call of duty] is a narrower term for gamers.

Here is another example of search queries. [the best manual coffee grinder] is a specific phrase that tells exactly what the person wants to learn. On the other side, when a user types [coffee beans] into Google, there will be dozens of different results.

Why Is a Search Term Important?

Now, the key questions are “How do search engines work?” and “Why are these important? It’s straightforward to understand. You know what you want to learn, but Google, Bing, or others don’t. How are you going to tell your favorite search engine what you are searching for? Search queries allow search engines to guess your search intent, so they can serve the right result pages and provide the valuable information you need.

Let’s remember our coffee examples. Suppose that you type [coffee beans] into Google. What do you want to learn? Do you want to learn Arabica or robusta coffee beans? Or do you want to learn about top coffee-producing countries like Colombia, Ethiopia, or Indonesia? At this point, you should write Google search terms as a clue to determine what you want to learn. 

Search Terms vs. Keywords

You may want to learn the difference between a search term and a keyword, if any. Most people say these are the same things, but it isn’t true. Let’s try to explain it to you.

As we touched above, a search query is anything you type into the search box of search engines to find something specific or describe a topic you want to learn about. On the other hand, keywords are particular words search engines consider to crawl and index web pages in their search result pages. 

Of course, there is a common point between these two terms. Well, what is this? A search query generally matches search engine algorithms and helps them understand what their users are actually looking for. Since you have a chance to turn the right search queries into keywords, your ads will be able to target the right group of customers.

Firstly, let’s try to understand the significant difference a little better with a simple example. 

Search term examples:

• [blue super skinny jeans]
• [super skinny jeans for women]
• [women super skinny jeans]
• [size 28 super skinny jeans]
• [best black super skinny jeans for women]

Keyword examples:

• Women jeans
• Super skinny jeans

Search Terms In Short

We are all using search terms to find something specific or describe a topic that we want to get information about. Today, we’ve discussed “What are search terms?” and explained their importance for search engines to crawl and index web pages in their results. So, shortly, use SEO search terms for better ranking. Before we finish our guide, let’s not forget one more pretty important thing; a search query is not the same as a keyword. To sum up, the difference is based on who uses the word. It’s that easy!