A huge part of a successful SEO strategy is diversity of SEO methods. In other words, it’s important that you’re focusing on all of your options when it comes to improving your rankings and not just the ones that are going to make the most difference or going to give you the best results. While these approaches may be considered your first priority, you still have to have a well-rounded strategy if you want to be the most successful.

For many, thinking about a diverse strategy means creating categories like social media efforts, on-page optimization and design, and targeting the right keywords. However, it’s important that you break down these different efforts and look at all of the different options you have when working within those categories.

When it comes to one of the major approaches for SEO—keyword research—this means not only finding the top tier keywords, but also exploring long-tail keywords and optimizing for those queries at the same time.

A Quick Recap: What Constitutes as a Long Tail Keyword?

A long tail keyword simply means a keyword phrase that is at least 3 or more words. For example, the term “paper supplier” might be a top tier keyword for the paper industry, but the term “stationary baby shower paper in Memphis, TN” is a long tail keyword. Even if you were to cut that phrase down to “stationary paper for a baby shower,” that would still be a long tail keyword because it’s longer than 3 words and it is specific. In other words, a location factor doesn’t have to be a part of the phrase.

The reason that they don’t always get a lot of publicity is because they are not going to drive as much traffic as your one or two word terms because they don’t get as much search volume. Of course, on an individual company level this may not be the case overall, and in fact focusing on long-tail keywords could be more beneficial in the long run, which brings us to our next section.

Why Ranking for Long Tail Keywords Matters to Your Strategy

Below are some of the biggest benefits that focusing on long tail keywords can offer a website:

  • You get more targeted traffic. If you ranked for the term “cowboy boots” that would be great because a lot of people are probably typing in some sort of query with that keyword phrase, but this would then also mean that you’re getting people who are interested in cowboy boots of all colors, all styles, all materials, all sizes, and all locations. A long tail keyword such as “women’s white leather cowboy boots in Chicago IL” wouldn’t get you nearly as much traffic, but you know that those who do land on your page are particularly targeted and will be more likely to help your bottom line: Conversions.
  • Because you get more targeted traffic, that traffic is more likely to convert. Not quite as many people are typing in “car interior detail near me” as they are “car details,” but those who are typing in the first query are much more likely to buy. They know what they want which is why they typed in a search that was so specific. It’s not surprising either—targeted traffic is always more likely to convert than random traffic.
  • You will have less competition to deal with. Long tail keywords simply don’t have as much competition as your top tier keywords (in some cases you’re really only competing with local businesses), which also means you can have more success when it comes to rankings for less money/ resources. In other words, because you have less competition to deal with you will earn more visibility.
  • You will have a better handle on how to target landing pages. If you’re getting a very targeted audience, this allows you to really customize your pages so that you have the best chance of conversions. Make your content extremely relevant, and even consider creating pages that are targeted specifically to a long tail keyword that might be giving you a lot of attention.
  • From a Google standpoint: Google likes to see websites that have targeted pages. More tailored webpages and content means a better user experience, so although it’s tough to say whether or not Google takes this into account, it certainly can’t hurt if Google makes any algorithm changes in the future.

In the end, the biggest benefits you really see from focusing on long tail keywords is faster results. As you can tell from the way the points above are strung together, all of your efforts with long tail keyword research and optimization work in together to help you find the right audience, know how to optimize your pages, and hopefully lead to a higher conversion rate.

Note: This doesn’t mean that you should only be focusing on long-tail keywords. Your normal keyword strategy should still remain in place. Check out Marketing Agency No Risk SEO if you’re still working to create a keyword strategy in general.

How to Get Started Finding and Ranking for Long Tail Keywords

You can find long tail keywords similarly to the way you would find your top tier keywords, but below are a few reminds and extra tips that explain how to be successful:

Step#1: Research a Few Ideas on Your Own

The first thing you’re going to want to do is brainstorm ideas you have in mind and then go from there. Write down some of your top tier keywords and then think about phrases your audience may use to make those keywords more specific. You can use the Google Keyword Planner to try different phrases and check out the numbers (more on this in the next section), but I recommend using the “Searches Related To…” feature that shows up at the bottom of every SERP. As you can see in the screenshot below, when I typed in the top keyword term “flower arrangements,” I can just scroll to the bottom and I’m given this:

google

These are essentially long tail keywords according to the Google numbers. It doesn’t get much better than that. Of course there are also more advanced tools you can use if you’re interested, which you can learn more about here.

Step #2: Look at the Search Volume and Competition of Your Phrase

After creating a few keywords you may want to target, you’ll want to look at search volume using the Google Keyword Tool. This will then show you a whole new set of related keywords along with all of the data regarding search volume, competition, and CPC averages. As you can see in the screenshot below, the long-tail phrase “how to make flower arrangements” has a search volume of 1,300 average monthly searches, so it’s probably not a bad phrase to target. If you were to scroll down to see other similar phrases, you’ll see that those with around that same search volume have higher competition and a higher suggested bid.

keyword-planner

Of course you can also target by language, location, include negative keyword terms, etc. all on the left hand side of the page in order to get even more targeted results which you can learn more about here.

Step #3: Optimize and Link Build with Your Long Tail Terms in Mind

This is where things go back to being familiar. Once you know what long tail keyword terms you want to try and rank for, you have to use your skills that you use whenever trying to rank on Google (essentially SEO). This means link building with those terms in mind, creating and optimizing pages on your website so that you have the most relevant landing pages, promoting content on social media that caters to those keywords, etc.

Step #4: Repeat Your Research Every Few Months

Again, just as with your top tier keywords, you should re-research long tail keywords every few (1-3) months. This will help give you an idea of what efforts have been working for you in the past and where there are new opportunities.

What are your thoughts on finding and focusing on long tail keywords? Do you have any personal experience or tips you would add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.