What Are Long Tail Keywords?

Including long tail keywords into your website content is an extremely effective search engine optimization (SEO) technique. In today’s article, we’ll come to a better understanding of what they are, how to use them, and how they positively add to a robust SEO strategy. 

What Are Keywords?

Before we dive into what long-tail keywords are, let’s make sure we’re clear about what keywords are in general. Keywords are words or short phrases that indicate what your site is about and what sort of content you have on it. In the world of SEO, they are the words or phrases that people will type into search queries. Your goal is to rank for keywords that are relevant to the content on your site so that people in search of it have an easier time locating it in search results. 

The goal of keywords is to make sure that you are constantly driving traffic to your site from search engine results. Which keywords you use will determine how much traffic you will receive. This is why you need to do your research to know which keywords will best help you achieve that goal. 

How Do You Choose Keywords?

You need to be extremely careful when choosing your keywords because what you think your site offers can often differ from how others would search for your site. That is why you need to think about who your audience is and their thought processes and how that connects to your site and what it offers. This requires you to do some research and some brainstorming on the wants, needs, behaviors, and language patterns of your audience. You need to consider how they will word their search queries and how you can rank in alignment with these queries. In addition, utilize keyword research tools as well as constantly engage with your audience through forums and customer surveys in order to get a better idea of how your audience behaves on the web.

What Are Long Tail Keywords?

Long tail keywords are a step up from standard keywords. That is because long tail keywords tend to be more specific and longer in length. Because of this, long tail keywords tend to generate less search traffic to a site. However, they usually lead to more conversions, since they are more specific. In the long run, long tail keywords will result in higher website traffic, as you will attract far more interested site viewers who are more willing and eager to buy and engage with your product or service. 

Long-tail keywords are most helpful when you find your website competing head to head with similar sites in your market. Perhaps there is a lot of competition for ranking for your main keywords and you are looking for extra ways to stand out in search engine results. Regardless of whether your website is struggling to compete or not, long tail keywords are a great way to attract people with very specific interests, needs, and intentions. Long tail keywords provide a gateway for site viewers whose search queries fit within a very specific niche and with far less competition. 

Why Are Long Tail Keywords Important?

Long tail keywords serve an enormous purpose. First of all, their length and specificity allows for less competition when it comes to ranking. Thus, it is easier to rank for long-tail keywords and find interested audiences. Since niched groups have harder times finding the content that they desire, your inclusion of a solid list of well-researched long tail keywords will make your site a hot commodity among those with specific interests and increase your website traffic by a significant amount.

Another thing to consider is that despite the fact that long-tail keywords generally receive less traffic than standard keywords, they will attract a far more interested audience. This is because individuals who find your site using them are more keen on buying your product or service. The more specific the search query, the more likely that people are actually looking to purchase something. With this in mind, implementing long-tail keywords is a means of improving communication between you and the ideal customers you are trying to attract. Long tail keywords are used by individuals who are truly interested in what your site offers so implementing them is going to help you increase brand awareness and revenue among people who are truly interested in what your site offers. 

How Do I Start Using Keywords? 

Now, how exactly does one start to incorporate both keywords and long-tail keywords into an effective SEO strategy? Well, you’ll need to recognize that it is not enough to just try a few keywords out and see what happens. If you try to guess what your audience is searching for without making any real attempt to learn about their search queries, you are going to see inconsistent results. If you want real success, one of the first things you’re going to want to do is conduct thorough keyword research. Now, you do not have to do this all on your own. You can conduct research simply by engaging with your current audience and looking at online forums or social media pages that are related to the content, products, or services that your site provides. 

Although these can give you some general introductory insight into your audience, it is strongly advised to use a keyword research tool such to help you pinpoint what sorts of keywords would best suit your site. There are many keyword research tools to choose from. One of the most popular is Yoast. Yoast SEO can help you to find keyphrases based on your focus keyword. In addition to strengthening the content of your text, it is great for finding long tail keywords as well. 

Where to Place Keywords

After you’ve conducted your research and have created a list of keywords, you’re going to want to place them in areas on your site where it is very clear that your page has what your audience is looking for. That means placing keywords in places like the title and in the text itself. You should also place your keywords in places such as your URL, meta descriptions, alt attributes of any images you have on your page. These are basic keyword placements but a necessary and extremely important start for you to get the exposure you’re looking for. 

Avoid Clickbait Keywords

As many of us know, clickbait has become a popular practice among content creators. Even though clickbait might increase the number of views on your content and perhaps temporarily increase site traffic, it is detrimental in the long run. Clickbait reinforces high bounce rate and lead to annoyed or even angry site viewers who did not receive the value they expected. This will ultimately damage your reputation and your appeal in search engine results. 

How Do I Start Using Long Tail Keywords?

Now that you’ve accounted for keywords, you can now start implementing long tail keywords as well. Using your basic keywords as a framework to pull from, you can create long tail keywords that will help you reach audiences who have more niched interests or who are looking for one thing in particular. A great place to garner inspiration for your long tail keywords is in the mission statement or about section of your website.

In your mission statement, you’ll be able to describe your brand to new site viewers and explain to them all of your wonderful and unique attributes. You can go into detail about what your site has to offer and how it is different from its competitors. Once you’ve written the most polished and comprehensive mission statement, you’ll be able to begin some research for your long tail keywords. Think about how the details that you described in your mission relate to how your audience will search up when scouring the internet. 

Long Tail Keyword Types

The Main Topic of Your Website 

Now that we’ve properly defined long tail keywords, we can consider a few different examples. Let’s begin with your site’s main topic. The main theme or topic of your site is considered the main keyword that people within your audience are going to search for. For example, if your blog is about movie reviews, then this would be the main keyword. If you have a blog centered around relationship or dating advice then that in and of itself would be a keyword. 

Variants of the Main Topic

Now, even though your main topic is going to be a central theme around every blog post you would create for that blog, it does not mean that it is the one and only keyword you are going to rank for. In fact, it is the stepping stool of creating the rest of your keywords. You need to use the main keyword as inspiration and create content with long-tail variants of this keyword. If we think back to the prior example of having a blog that creates film reviews, some long tail keyword examples are sci-fi movie review, romance movie review of 2021, James Wan movie review, etc. Proper keyword research can help you pinpoint the best long-tail keywords to use depending on your blog’s main topic and category. 

FAQ:

• What is the best keyword research tool?
• What is a long tail keyword?
• How can I conduct keyword research?
• Why are keywords important?
• How do I start using keywords?