Everyone knows that keywords are important for boosting SEO. That’s the problem. Everyone knows, so everyone’s doing it = too much competition. But don’t worry! Because it’s not enough anymore to just include keywords in your blogs and titles–long-tail keywords are here to save the day.
What are long-tail keywords?
Long-tail keywords are the niche, low volume words or phrases that pertain to your business or blog topics. The term “Long Tail” was coined by journalist Chris Anderson in 2001 when he wrote an article called “The Long Tail.” In it, he foretold that the economy would shift from big-selling, one-size-fits-all products to millions of individualized niched products. Though the market for those niches is smaller, the limitlessness of the Internet still makes them profitable, i.e., supply and demand has shifted from the head (the popular, big-selling products), to the tail (the specific, niche products), and the tail is very long.
Examples of long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords work because of their specificity. They have less competition in search queries, which results in higher rankings, and they draw in searchers who know what they’re looking for, which results in higher conversion rates. A good example of long-tail keywords is “antique nightstand lamps” as opposed to “home lighting” or “house lamps.” Another great example would be “small business ideas for teens” vs. “business ideas.” The specificity of these keywords is so powerful that studies show website conversion rates come in 2.5x higher than head term conversion rates.
How to find long-tail keywords
Free tools
Google auto-suggest
Utilize the suggestions Google gives when typing your keywords into the search query. For example, when I type in “business ideas,” Google offers the following common searches:
To go even deeper, put an underscore anywhere in the keywords and Google will offer even more suggestions. For example, I’ve placed one at the beginning of the search:
Google’s “Searches related to” suggestions
If you search for something on Google and scroll to the bottom of the results page, you’ll find suggestions from Google for related searches. These are great real-life examples of what your customers are actually searching for. In this example, I’ve searched for “small business ideas”:
Soovle
Soovle is a free tool that combines all the suggestions from Wikipedia, Google, Amazon, Answers.com, Yahoo!, YouTube, and Bing in one place so you can really get down to business.
Answer the Public
Answer the Public is a keyword tool that basically helps you think like your clients by turning your keywords into probable search questions, using the words “who,” “which,” “what,” “when,” “why,” “where,” “are,” and “how.”
UberSuggest
UberSuggest takes Google Auto Suggest to the next level by providing competitive search data, keyword ideas, and content ideas.
Paid tools
ScrapeBox
Similar to UberSuggest, ScrapeBox populates exhaustive lists of long-tail keywords and then some. It prides itself on being “The most powerful and popular SEO tool of its kind! Used by SEO Companies and Freelancers from all over the world, trusted by major Fortune 500 companies.”
KWFinder
KWFinder is user-friendly and specifically designed to help you “find long-tail keywords with low SEO difficulty.”
HitTail
HitTail kicks things up a notch by being “the only long-tail keyword tool that provides keyword suggestions by analyzing your existing website traffic.” It works in the background while you’re doing other work and provides suggestions specifically tailored to your target audience!
LongTailPro
LongTailPro creates thousands of long-tail keywords from one seed keyword, or head term, specific to your business to “get you tons of high-converting online traffic regardless of your niche.”
SEMrush
SEMrush, considered the world’s number one marketing tool, does many things, one of which helps you find the best long-tail keywords for your website. Similar to LongTailPro, it takes one seed keyword and creates thousands of low volume, long-tail keywords to help you generate higher traffic faster.
Final thoughts
As you can see, long-tail keywords are the new black, and they’re not that hard to come by. Despite the Internet being so highly saturated with information, you can still stand out.
Be a marketing Titan:
- Search Google for long-tail keywords
- Learn to use tools that help you find long-tail keywords
- Learn to use tools that help you create your own long-tail keywords
- Call Titan Publishing for a free consultation on how to get the best SEO results
Hope Lagos
Production Writer