by Phoenix Desertsong, SEO Expert
Search marketing experts love to mention "chasing the long tail" as one of the most cost-effective ways to improve your search engine optimization (SEO). "Chasing the long tail" just means finding keyword phrases that are specific enough to be relevant to your specific product or service. Still, you also want them to be just broad enough to get enough of an audience to get your voice heard. This is, obviously, much more easily said than done.
Longer keyword phrases are going to be often much less expensive to bid on when it comes to advertising, as they come with lower search volume, too. But, it's just as important in organic search to chase the long tail keyword phrases. While you may get less traffic from them, that traffic will be a lot more valuable to you. Let's learn why "chasing the long tail" keywords is a good idea.
Why Are Long-Tail Keywords Useful in SEO?
One of the most common examples used to illustrate chasing "long-tail keywords" is by adding a color to a certain phrase. For example, if you sell linens, "blankets" is a ridiculously broad term that gets hundreds of thousands, if not millions of searches a day. "Baby blankets" is obviously a lot more specific and has considerably more refined search traffic. But to "chase the long tail" so to speak, you need to find three or four word keyword phrases (or perhaps longer) that are more specific to what your customers are looking for.
For example, think of "blue baby blankets." That's a fairly common color for baby blankets. So it's not surprising that it's a search phrase that actually gets about 900 searches a month on Google alone. So, you might want to write some content about "Why Are Blue Baby Blankets So Popular?"
Now, why would you limit yourself to a specific color in your content? Preferably, you would have content around red or green baby blankets, as well. The concept of chasing the long-tail is more about zoning in on the types of people that are closer to ready to buying a product.
However, chasing the long-tail keywords must also consider the variations on a keyword phrase. I have mentioned "red baby blankets" and "green baby blankets" as possible options for content surrounding "baby blanket" searches. However, per Google's Keyword Planner, "green baby blankets" get about only 400 monthly searches, less than half of "blue baby blankets." On the other hand, "red baby blankets" , gets about 500 monthly searches, which is very close to "blue baby blankets" at about 900.
What does this research show exactly? If you have a section of your business devoted to baby blankets, this is rather important information to consider. It means that your blue and red baby blankets have twice the Google search audience as your green blankets. This is pretty powerful information.
Watch the Monthly Trends of Long-Tail Keywords to Optimize Your Online Marketing Efforts
If you are actually selling baby blankets, or any product or service, you want to be sure you know about the monthly search volume. But, don't just pay attention to the average search volume. You also want to know the trends for those keywords. Plug in these keyword phrases into a keyword tool like Ubersuggest, and you'll see that those averages can sometimes be misleading.
For example, "blue baby blankets" peaks at about 1,000 monthly searches in June-July, then December through early February. But from March to late May, those numbers drop to between 600-700 monthly searches. Meanwhile "red baby blankets" drop close to 200 monthly searches in April and May. Green baby blankets dip only in April and June, but are up in May.
These trends are important for a couple of reasons. On one hand, these trends tell you the relative search demand for particular colors of blankets. It also means that you should aim to be more aggressive with marketing certain colors of blankets when search volume is up. On the other hand, when traffic is down, it's likely more competitive, meaning content and product pages based around those keywords will be harder to rank. That's because your competitors are fighting for more of the searches. This is important to keep in mind so that you have other keywords to make up for those that decline during certain times of the year.
Why Not Just Optimize for "Baby Blankets?"
If you were to optimize for simply "baby blankets," which is a term that gets 40,000 monthly searches, you're going to be lost in the noise of all the other companies out there trying to rank on Page One of Google for that product. Focus in on the specific products people are looking to purchase, especially in a particular color. As the longer keyword phrases often don't have the same amount of competition, you can rank much more easily for the long-tail phrases. Then, you're much more likely to get someone's attention.
Think of some basic ways you can help focus your content on specific permutations of your product or service. WIth products, it can be basic as color, size, or model. For services, it can be services tailored to specific industries, niches, or needs. Just make sure that people are searching for that specific thing on a regular basis. It can be just a few hundred searches per month, if it's specific enough.
No matter what product or service you have to offer, there are still certain ways that people interested in what you have to offer will search for it that you can also rank well for and be found. The free Google Adwords Keyword Planner (with sign-up for a free Adwords account) is great for doing this sort of research. It can also give you other keyword ideas for content you should be producing surrounding your content.
Keep in mind that search traffic alone isn't everything. You need to be getting the right traffic, too. By focusing on the power of specific keywords, you get more targeted, more relevant traffic. Keyword research really can be your best friend,. While it takes some time, the basic info that you need is free to get and can lead to powerful results.
Need some long-tail keyword phrase suggestions for your own site? Leave a comment below, so we can check it out and give you some quick suggestions!
Longer keyword phrases are going to be often much less expensive to bid on when it comes to advertising, as they come with lower search volume, too. But, it's just as important in organic search to chase the long tail keyword phrases. While you may get less traffic from them, that traffic will be a lot more valuable to you. Let's learn why "chasing the long tail" keywords is a good idea.
Why Are Long-Tail Keywords Useful in SEO?
One of the most common examples used to illustrate chasing "long-tail keywords" is by adding a color to a certain phrase. For example, if you sell linens, "blankets" is a ridiculously broad term that gets hundreds of thousands, if not millions of searches a day. "Baby blankets" is obviously a lot more specific and has considerably more refined search traffic. But to "chase the long tail" so to speak, you need to find three or four word keyword phrases (or perhaps longer) that are more specific to what your customers are looking for.
For example, think of "blue baby blankets." That's a fairly common color for baby blankets. So it's not surprising that it's a search phrase that actually gets about 900 searches a month on Google alone. So, you might want to write some content about "Why Are Blue Baby Blankets So Popular?"
Now, why would you limit yourself to a specific color in your content? Preferably, you would have content around red or green baby blankets, as well. The concept of chasing the long-tail is more about zoning in on the types of people that are closer to ready to buying a product.
However, chasing the long-tail keywords must also consider the variations on a keyword phrase. I have mentioned "red baby blankets" and "green baby blankets" as possible options for content surrounding "baby blanket" searches. However, per Google's Keyword Planner, "green baby blankets" get about only 400 monthly searches, less than half of "blue baby blankets." On the other hand, "red baby blankets" , gets about 500 monthly searches, which is very close to "blue baby blankets" at about 900.
What does this research show exactly? If you have a section of your business devoted to baby blankets, this is rather important information to consider. It means that your blue and red baby blankets have twice the Google search audience as your green blankets. This is pretty powerful information.
Watch the Monthly Trends of Long-Tail Keywords to Optimize Your Online Marketing Efforts
If you are actually selling baby blankets, or any product or service, you want to be sure you know about the monthly search volume. But, don't just pay attention to the average search volume. You also want to know the trends for those keywords. Plug in these keyword phrases into a keyword tool like Ubersuggest, and you'll see that those averages can sometimes be misleading.
For example, "blue baby blankets" peaks at about 1,000 monthly searches in June-July, then December through early February. But from March to late May, those numbers drop to between 600-700 monthly searches. Meanwhile "red baby blankets" drop close to 200 monthly searches in April and May. Green baby blankets dip only in April and June, but are up in May.
These trends are important for a couple of reasons. On one hand, these trends tell you the relative search demand for particular colors of blankets. It also means that you should aim to be more aggressive with marketing certain colors of blankets when search volume is up. On the other hand, when traffic is down, it's likely more competitive, meaning content and product pages based around those keywords will be harder to rank. That's because your competitors are fighting for more of the searches. This is important to keep in mind so that you have other keywords to make up for those that decline during certain times of the year.
Why Not Just Optimize for "Baby Blankets?"
If you were to optimize for simply "baby blankets," which is a term that gets 40,000 monthly searches, you're going to be lost in the noise of all the other companies out there trying to rank on Page One of Google for that product. Focus in on the specific products people are looking to purchase, especially in a particular color. As the longer keyword phrases often don't have the same amount of competition, you can rank much more easily for the long-tail phrases. Then, you're much more likely to get someone's attention.
Think of some basic ways you can help focus your content on specific permutations of your product or service. WIth products, it can be basic as color, size, or model. For services, it can be services tailored to specific industries, niches, or needs. Just make sure that people are searching for that specific thing on a regular basis. It can be just a few hundred searches per month, if it's specific enough.
No matter what product or service you have to offer, there are still certain ways that people interested in what you have to offer will search for it that you can also rank well for and be found. The free Google Adwords Keyword Planner (with sign-up for a free Adwords account) is great for doing this sort of research. It can also give you other keyword ideas for content you should be producing surrounding your content.
Keep in mind that search traffic alone isn't everything. You need to be getting the right traffic, too. By focusing on the power of specific keywords, you get more targeted, more relevant traffic. Keyword research really can be your best friend,. While it takes some time, the basic info that you need is free to get and can lead to powerful results.
Need some long-tail keyword phrase suggestions for your own site? Leave a comment below, so we can check it out and give you some quick suggestions!
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