Why are long tail keywords important for SEO?
Many websites are often launched in a hurry by their owners, without paying much attention to the correct optimization of their content. They do some quick research on the keywords to target based on the product they want to sell or the niche they want to write about.
Most of the time, the resulting keywords they decide to use are what we call short-tail keywords, for example, Nike shoes, coffee machines, baby strollers, etc.
These key phrases get millions of searches every month and, for a newbie, they light up their eyes with dollar signs.
The problem with this is that the keyword phrases they have decided on are not really buyer keywords but more generic and really not that great for optimizing your content. They would also be competing against large corporations that have been around for decades and have a huge advertising budget.
You may think that the more searches that are done for a keyword phrase, the more traffic it will attract to your website or blog.
This couldn’t be further from the truth…!
However, in this article I will explain why this is not the case and why you should use long-tail keywords for SEO (search engine optimization).
-
long tail keywords
Long-tail keywords are keyword phrases that have a “tail” that contributes to the organic keywords entered in an online search that your site visitors use (or query) when searching the Internet, whether they are they simply look for information or to acquire their particular service or product.
Short-tail keyphrases are usually no more than 1-2 words. Long-tail keywords are usually much longer, but more importantly, they are also much more specific.
-
So! What is a long tail keyword?
As mentioned above, these keywords are expressions related to your main topic. Long-tail keywords have much less competition as people discard them due to not enough people searching for that particular set of words. They are much easier to target and consistently produce more shopper-friendly website traffic.
Unlike conventional keywords (coffee machines or Nike shoes), long-tail keyword expressions are usually 3 words or more and usually no more than 5. They are a direct connection to a keyword phrase that a person I would type in a search engine ( Google, Bing or Yahoo) that will help narrow down your search. These keyword phrases are what you should focus on and use when optimizing your site content.
By using long-tail keywords, you will dramatically increase the likelihood that your potential customer will be a buyer. This is compared to using short tail keywords which will generate more search results but not necessarily produce buyers.
-
Examples of long tail keywords
Try typing “coffee machines” into a search engine, it will return around 16 million sites, but typing “isomac coffee machines Australia” will only return 18 thousand sites. 18 thousand search results is still too high. Other experts may go so far as to say that the returned search results of 18K are fine. It shows that by using more specific keywords, you can reduce competition and improve your chances.
My recommendation and personal preference is to look for search results in the region of three hundred to eight thousand. Now this may not always be the case. If you’re looking for local searches, these numbers would become irrelevant and you might only be seeing a few hundred searches.
As a general rule of thumb, when deciding to use local searches, it’s not worth searching for fewer than 50 searches a month.
Long-tail keyword phrases are less complicated to rank for on the first page, as well as get web traffic, compared to less specific, short-tail keyword phrases.
-
Other long tail examples:
• Australia baby carrier
• non-caffeinated types of tea
• non-caffeinated types of tea
• cheap Nike sneakers wholesale free shipping
-
Long Tail Keywords SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Targeting long tail phrases is a must for SEO purposes and also to help you get your business or blog indexed faster, as a result of fewer competitors and more than likely being seen by the right audience i.e. customers who are ready to buy him . You should also use this strategy for your site content, your blog, your videos, your website design, as well as your off-page optimization strategies.
-
long tail SEO strategy
Search engines are becoming more and more personalized, so it is very important to focus on long-tail keywords in your SEO campaigns.
-
How to find long tail keywords for SEO?
There are many different ways to find long tail keywords. You could possibly use keyword research tools or you can even spy on your competition to find unique keywords that no one is using.
Below are some of the tools I use to find long-tail keywords:
• Google keyword tool
• Google Autocomplete Tool
• Use of Google Search
• Google auto-suggest
Finally, when doing research on the keywords you are going to use, remember to take into account the phases that cover between 3 and 5 words related to your main topic. They are narrow and buyer specific. And finally have fewer searches.
I hope this clears up what long tail keywords are and why they are necessary for your search engine optimization (SEO).
