Keywords are helpful for giving your posts some direction and telling your audience what your content is all about—but they’re often so broad that you still end up drowning in the overwhelming noise of the web. As such, we need to use ever-more specific terms to reach those who want to hear what we have to say (or buy what we have to sell).
Today, we’re taking a look at why and how to implement long-tail keywords in your content.
Long-Tail Keywords: The Basics
What is a long-tail keyword? Well, the sentence you just read is!
Long-tail keywords were first conceived by Chris Anderson in his aptly named book: The Long Tail. They derive their name from the “long tail” of a search demand curve (sounds sexy, right?). So they might not be the most exciting thing in the world, but these highly specific search terms and phrases can help you reach and engage with the very members of your target audience that you want to sell to, and organically increase site traffic.
An example of a long-tail keyword might be:
- Keyword: Shoes
- Long-tail keyword: Best women’s running shoes for flat feet
While the former has a much broader focus, the lack of specificity means you are going to struggle to rank high, or at all, on search engines. If, however, you target long-tail keywords that address specific queries, potential customers are more likely to find you, click through to your site, and buy your offerings. The overall number of hits might not be as high as if you were to target the keyword “shoes”, but the conversion rate will be much higher with long-tail keywords. Therein lies one of the key benefits of using long-tail keywords in marketing.
Long-tail keywords are specific phrases with low search volume that target specific audiences, resulting in higher conversion rates. Although they may generate less traffic overall than broader keywords, their collective impact is significant.
Long-Tail Keywords: Examples
Oftentimes, long-tail keywords take the form of specific questions (though not always in their proper grammatical form). By targeting these keywords and “answering” these questions with your content or offerings, you can stand out from your competitors. Furthermore, long-tail keywords frequently target customers with an intent to buy.
Here are some examples of long-tail keywords and their more generic, high-volume counterparts.
- Broad keyword: Laptops
- Long-tail keyword: Best budget laptops for students 2024
- Broad keyword: Start an online business
- Long-tail keyword: How to start an online business with no money in 2024
- Broad keyword: Used cars
- Long-tail keyword: Buy used cars online in Los Angeles
Long-tail keywords focus on very specific questions or statements to reach and engage with the target audience.
Long-Tail Keywords: Benefits for Your Brand
As is likely becoming clear, there are numerous reasons to use long-tail keywords as part of your content strategy. In the following section, we’ll break these benefits down so you can fully harness each one.
Increasing Relevance
Importantly, long-tail keywords greatly increase your relevance for a specific query. Take for example the difference between the search “t-shirts” and “organic cotton t-shirts for women”. The latter is far further down the sales funnel compared to the former, and so the chances of someone finding your product relevant is far higher. Ultimately, utilising long-tail keywords helps you hone in on your desired target audience and increases the likelihood of getting them to buy what you’re selling.
Less Competition
As a consequence of the specificity of these search terms, you will have less competition. Take the cotton t-shirt example again. There are clearly going to be fewer businesses selling organic cotton t-shirts for women compared to just t-shirts. So your competition drops while your relevance increases.
Better Ranking
With less competition comes a greater chance of ranking for specific search terms. While many businesses and content creators struggle to rank on Google for generic keywords, long-tail keywords allow you to be high up on the first page for specific, targeted searches. So it’s an easy way to boost SEO without a lot of extra work.
Higher ROI
Since long-tail keywords often attract more relevant traffic, they tend to have higher conversion rates, offering better return on investment (ROI) for your SEO efforts. You’re not just getting traffic; you’re getting the right traffic.
Insight Into Your Audience
By researching keywords, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of what your target audience really wants. So the value of long-tail keywords extends beyond SEO; they’re also a valuable research tool that, over time, can help you make more informed decisions about your marketing efforts, and even other areas such as product design.
Better for Voice Search
Around 50% of people use voice search these days, so its importance is undeniable. When people use this function, they are far more likely to use longer phrases, which makes long-tail keywords very important if you want to rank for voice searches.
Building Brand Loyalty
By consistently delivering content that answers very specific questions, you build trust and loyalty among your audience. They’re more likely to return to your site if they know you provide the detailed information or specific products they’re looking for.
Long-tail keywords offer benefits such as higher relevance, less competition, better ranking potential, higher ROI, and insight into your audience. They’re also great for voice search and building brand loyalty.
Long-Tail Keywords: How to Find Them
Now that you know why to use them, you need to know how to determine which long-tail keywords serve you best. Well, you’re in luck, because it’s pretty easy (and free) to do so! The bad news is that anyone can do it, so you’re not alone in your efforts.
SEO Tools
A tried and true way to identify long-tail keywords is to use dedicated SEO tools such as Ahrefs. With these tools, you simply enter a keyword and it will spew out long-tail keywords that are likely to be connected. This can help you to get an idea of what you should be focusing on if you need some direction. What’s more, these tools will give you different variations of similar phrases, so you can determine which ones are likely to be the most valuable.
Autocomplete Searches
A free and easy option is to use Google’s autocomplete function. Simply enter the keywords you already have and see what Google suggests as longer searches. These will lead you to more specific queries and can help to point you in the right direction and show you what is being searched.
Suggestions in Google
Similarly, enter a relevant keyword on Google and then scroll to the bottom of the page until you find “Searches related to [keyword]”. These tend to be longer phrases that lead to more specific results, and can thus be used in a similar way to autocomplete searches.
Google Ads Planner
If you’re running paid ads, Google Ads Planner can also be a goldmine for discovering new long-tail keywords. This tool provides insights into search volume and competition levels, helping you choose the best keywords to target.
Social Media Interactions
Do your research on social media! Take a look at what people are commenting and posting. These questions and comments may well be long-tail keywords in themselves, and you’ll know they come directly from your target audience, making them highly relevant. An obvious benefit of this method is that this research is broad and will give you general insight into your target market, so it won’t be wasted time even if you come away with no new long-tail keywords.
You can determine the best long-tail keywords through tools like Ahrefs, Google’s autocomplete feature, Google Ads Planner, and even by monitoring social media interactions.
Long-Tail Keywords: How to Use Them
Armed with your list of long-tail keywords, how do you integrate them into your content strategy effectively?
- Incorporate them naturally: Long-tail keywords should be used naturally in your content—whether it’s a product description or a list post—rather than stuffing them in. Think about how you’d answer the query the keyword represents.
- Optimise placement: Make sure to include your long-tail keywords in important places like headers, meta descriptions, and image alt text.
- Use them in FAQ sections: Long-tail keywords often take the form of questions, making them perfect for FAQ sections. This improves both user experience and SEO.
- Create long-form content: Long-tail keywords lend themselves well to in-depth articles or guides, allowing you to thoroughly cover a specific topic.
To use long-tail keywords effectively, integrate them naturally into your content, optimise placement and FAQ sections, and consider long-form content for thorough coverage.
Long-Tail Keywords: Attract the Right Customers
Long-tail keywords, alongside broader keywords, are essential for your marketing strategy. Whether it’s telling Google what you’re writing about or directly engaging members of your target audience who are already far down the sales funnel, they are very helpful when it comes to reaching those who matter the most to you.
Implement the techniques outlined here and you should find your business performing better in no time!
