 Long Tail Keywords - What they are and why they're so important.
Long Tail Keywords
One of the newest concepts being used by smart marketers is called "long tail keywords" and they have a very specific purpose in marketing plans.
Long Tail Keywords are search phrases composed of three or more words that become a very specific search phrase used by consumers just before they actually buy your product.
Most searches done by consumers are more generic and limited to one or two words, like "fishing" or "cookie recipes." They are mostly just testing the waters or looking for some information to think about.
But when they are ready to buy, they will search with a shark-like focus to find exactly what they want. Those simple search terms mentioned above will become long tail keywords, like "fly fishing tackle" or "salt water rods and reels" or "chocolate chip cookie recipe books."
There's thought to be a well-defined buying process that consumers follow,
whether online or offline. The first few steps in this buying process involve the customer thinking about wanting something, looking for information online with search engines, finding it and comparing features and prices just to see if they can afford it or really want it. At this point, your customers are using one or two word keywords as search terms.
When they have decided to buy something, they search once again with long tail keywords to specifically define what they want to buy. This is where you want to attract your customers to your site. You can do that by using the same methods your customers are using to find what they want to buy...long tail keywords specifically selected to draw them to your products.
There are two good benefits for you as a marketer:
• Long tail keywords or multi-word specific phrases rank better with the
search engines than one or two-word generic phrases do
• People searching with long tail keywords are serious about finding the
exact product they want and are more likely to become buyers
Using these new keyword phrases will require more pages on your website due to the large number of possible combinations that might pertain to your products or services. By the way, Google loves more pages on a website. It makes you look more substantial and important to the indexing spiders.
Your new pages do not have to be completely different than your other pages, but different versions of the ones you already have with a focus on a specific long tail topic.
A few changes will make all the difference in your site traffic. Make a unique title, using a different long tail keyword, for each new page. Use the same long tail keyword in the description, metatags, main headline and body content. Just don't get so specific that you do not attract the traffic you want.
Change up your focus to keep an assortment of different customers visiting your site. Create a few pages sending you traffic from more generic keywords and more pages sending you highly targeted traffic, but in smaller amounts.
This entire search engine optimization process is a delicate balancing act that can either make or break your business. It is a learning process that you can master with good research and a dash common sense.
But don’t let it become an end in itself – too many marketers become obsessed with SEO and never actually do any marketing! |