In My Today’s guide, I will share with you The Definition of a Long-Tail Keywords, differences between Long Tail and Short Tail Keywords Benefits Of Using Long-Tail Keywords and 9 New strategies to find low competition long tail keywords.

What are Long Tail Keywords?

These are keyword phrases with at least three words. Other times, they have even five words.

They are used for purposes of refining search terms for a web page and also targeting searchers looking for something very specific.

Just like primary keywords, long-tail keywords define web page content for purposes of guiding a searcher and search engine results bots.

They are highly specific and have relatively low search volume.

However, they tend to drive quality traffic to a site that has a better conversion than traffic from normal keywords.

When an author uses long tail keywords, they are targeting a very specific market that might be relatively smaller than normal.

Ranking for long tail keywords can be easier and cheaper because lesser people are ranking for it.

Also, they have a good return to investment since a visitor using long tail keywords are in ‘buy mood’ and are attempting to filter out the search results to get something specific.

To use long tail keyword means that you need to know which keywords will lead to conversion.

That’s why research is the only way to know the long tail keywords to use and whether or not they will pay off at the end of your keyword campaign.

But what is better- targeting long-tail keywords or short tail keywords? Let’s discuss that;

Long Tail vs. Short Tail Keywords:

Keywords are a major factor when it comes to determining your SEO success or failure. However, for you to achieve success, you will need to do your homework and research well.

An LSI graph can help you differentiate relevant LSI keywords from irrelevant ones. Relevant LSI keywords are those that matches your user’s search intent.

So, back to our topic, would you rather focus on short tail or long tail keywords?

This is a common discussion among marketers, and today we will look into each type. But before then, let’s discuss what short tail and long tail keywords are;

Short tail keywords:

• These are keywords with less than 3 words. For instance, SEO services, best SEO agency, etc. They are also called head terms.

Long tail keywords:

• These are quite different as compared to short tail keywords. They have more than 3 words and are more specific.
  

• They may not have a large search volume, but the traffic they bring in is quality. Some examples of long tail keywords include “white diamond marriage ring,” or “white summer women’s leggings.”
  

• They are more precise than short tail keywords, which is why they have a better conversion rate.

Here is a deeper insight into these two types of keywords:

[1] Short Tail Keywords:

These have their pros and cons.

For example, they can drive massive traffic to your site, but this can be difficult for people with newer sites.

Volume: High

• In terms of volume, they are way better than long tail keywords.

• The shorter they are, the higher their search volume. By ranking them high, you will get massive organic traffic.

Competition: High

• Because of their high search volume, a lot of people target to rank for them. This makes competition for them high.

• Sometimes, it is very hard to rank on page one for such keywords because they are targeted by international-level companies that will be nearly impossible to beat.

Focus: Low

• If people are looking for women leggings, you might need to target those looking for a very specific type of leggings, such as “blue, warm summer women leggings.”
  

• This way, you will not be competing with big brands selling women leggings. If you target ‘women leggings,’ you will be up against big brands making these products

Cost: High

• These keywords are quite expensive. Google AdWords will charge you to advertise common search terms.

• Many people are buying them and thus for you to rank higher, you will need to pay a premium to rank above them.

Conversion Rate: Low

• This is one thing many people don’t like about short tail keywords- they have a low conversion rate.

• With 10,000 searches, you may find only 100 clicked your site, and only one or two of these customers actually converted.

• While these two customers may appear profitable, the truth is that it could have been easier and better to rank for long tail keywords.

[2] Long Tail Keywords:

These keywords may seem dormant at first, but once they start bringing in traffic, they bring in quality traffic that converts. Here are their pros and cons.

Volume: Low

• When compared to short tail keywords, the search volume of these keywords is far less. This may not be an ideal solution for some types of business.

• However, if you have product/services that you are selling, you might need to use these keywords to target a very specific type of customer.

Competition: Low

• The best thing with long tail keywords is that they have low competition.
  

• And even if you are selling a similar thing to someone else, and they have used a short tail keyword while you have used a long tail keyword, traffic will be geared to.
  

• And although it is relatively low, it is quality and has a better conversion.

Focus: High

• With long tail keywords, you will find highly targeted search traffic, which is ideal for some business.

• You will be getting people who are looking for that specific thing you are offering.
  

• This means you are more likely to get customer looking for you, and not customers you are looking for.

Cost: Low

• Another benefit of long tail keywords is that you will pay a lot less to rank them.
  

• Google AdWords offers a reduced price for searches that are precise and have more terms.

• For smaller business, this might be ideal because when you are selling more things to fewer people, this translates to a better ROI.

Conversion Rates: High

• Long tail keywords have a better conversion rate.

• Because of their focus being highly targeted, you will be attracting searchers who only want what you are offering. Of course, conversion depends on what you are selling.

• And even if a customer sees what you are offering, and fail to buy, they are far more likely to come back to your site to buy when they get ready.

Of course, this will depend on the type of business you have.

Of course, you are looking to cut costs and also be an authority in your niche.

The point of having a web business is not to draw in customers then have them walk away unsatisfied; your aim is to have them spend money.

If you want to increase your conversion and sales, then you will need to direct traffic to a specific type of audience.

As discussed above, short tail keywords are normally utilized by big brands, and thus it can be very difficult to break into higher rankings.

So, why would you even try to rank for these keywords? It’s better to target long-tail keywords.

However, short tail keywords can still work for you if you have a strong brand presence and domain authority.

Here are more reasons to focus on long tail keywords;

Why You Need to Focus on Long-Tail Keywords for SEO:

There are many reasons you should focus on long tail keywords.

Here are the main reasons long tail keywords are important to your SEO;

[+] They help you outrank your competitors:

• Studies have shown that long-tail keywords are more powerful than short tail keywords when it comes to on-page optimization.

• By focusing on long tail keywords, you may not attract a lot of visitors but with time, your visitors will be trusting you, and you can use that as a basis to rank for short tail keywords and outrank your competition.

[+] People use long tail keywords to search for what they want:

• The whole point of Google optimization is to present searchers with the most relevant information based on what they are looking for.

• Besides, Google raised the character capping in SERPs descriptions and titles.

• This shows that long tail keywords are being given the attention they deserve the attention they are getting.

• This is another reason to include long-tail keywords in your campaigns.

[+] Long tail keywords have a better conversion rate:

• As per research done by WordStream, landing pages have an average conversion of 11.45%. Long tail keywords have a conversion rate of 36%.

• This is a big difference. However, this doesn’t mean that your 2-5% conversion rate on your site will go up to 36% just by adding a few long-tail keywords to your content- there is no easy button in this life.

• However, what long-tail keywords do is to bring you quality organic search traffic.
  

• By writing blog posts related to long tail keywords, you can save a lot of money you could have paid for a PPC campaign on each of these keywords. Of course, it will take time before you see the results, but it will be worth it.

[+] The help you rank for short keywords:

• Ultimately, we want to rank for short keywords, and long tail keywords help us do this.

• You may not rank for many short keywords. Of course, you cannot rank high for all of the keywords you are targeting, some will be hidden further in search engines.

• To target people who are using such keywords, you will need to look for long tail keywords related to these keywords.

• Long tail keywords will bring you to top positions in SERPs which means your short keywords will get this exposure too.

[+] They give you more content ideas:

• If you do blogging regularly, you will find yourself running out of content ideas. This happens to everyone, and it is up to you to look for more content to give your readers.

• With long tail keywords, you can get new blogging ideas. Feed your long tail keywords such as “search engine optimization tips” in Google’s Keyword Planner tool and what will pop up- search engine optimization companies, local search engine optimization, etc.

• This means you can have a lot of topic to target using the term SEO alone.

• You can do the same for the keyword you have. This means you can have a highly-targeted blog full of content-rich, relevant content.

• And with more blog content, means more traffic. Just remember to work on your conversion features to benefit from your traffic.

[+] Integrate structured data on your long tail keywords to outrank your competitors:

• Structured data is one of the priority when it comes to SERPs ranking.

• Google has its Structured Data tool it uses to check the schema on a site.

• This code provides a search engine with rich, interactive results.

• By integrating structured data to your long-tail keywords will enable your site to show above all other search results. This is a new way of ranking, and long tail keywords help with that.

[+] Long tail keywords can help you answer voice assistant searches:

• In the past, marketers were only focusing on ranking for text articles, but things are changing now thanks to voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa.

• It is estimated that there are 10 million echo speakers on the market at the market. The numbers will keep rising, and people will expect marketers to embrace voice search.

• Devices will take over searches for humans. And with voice assistance gaining popularity, you can use this to your advantage by optimizing long tail keywords for voice search.

• Voice search is the future and thus be prepared for the change, or you will soon get outdated.

[+] Posts focusing on long-tail keywords offer more value to the reader:

• Long tail keywords not only strengthen your CRO and SEO efforts; they also ensure your reader gets real value.

• This is what search engines always aim for; they are looking to give searchers the most useful information related to their searches.

• The key to succeeding in your content marketing is to offer value. While video, apps, personalization, and infographics are important for your web users, you will need to provide more than that. Long tail keywords are a foundation for creating great, satisfying content.

[+] Long tail keywords are the main source of your organic traffic:

• If you look at your Google Analytics reports, you will notice that the vast majority of your traffic comes from long tail keywords.

• They generate clicks and get more impressions. You are just ignoring them.

• Therefore, focus on these keywords, and you will begin to see a significant change.

• You can use tools such as KWFinder to get detailed information on some of the long-tail keywords you can target in your niche.

9 Easy Ways To Find Long Tail Keywords With Low SEO Difficulty:

I’m sure by now you are convinced that long-tail keywords are the way to go, and I’m here to give you a foolproof strategy to find Long Tail keywords.

*1* Look at what you are ranking for:

• It is good to have a clear understanding of where you are standing.

• You can use a tool like Monitor Backlinks (it has a 30-day free trial, and you can use that to locate keywords).

• Scroll down, and you will see a list of keywords you are ranking for on a page-to-page basis. You may find your site ranking for some long tail keywords.

*2* Investigate related searches using Google:

• It is time to put together a list of long tail keywords you need to target with your blog posts.

• Google has a “related searches” section displayed at the bottom of a standard search result page.
  

• This is a great place to find long tail keywords to start with since they include searches people use to find your content.

• You will find that most of these keywords are very similar to your initial search query, but the long tail keywords you find on this page should not be targeted on individual posts.

• Google is smart enough to know that these are similar phrases, and thus when you use them in your posts, it could help with their LSI algorithm.

*3* Find Google suggestion:

• Google offers another way of getting long tail keyword ideas. To know more long tail keywords, type the word why or how followed by the keyword you are targeting.

• For instance, ‘Why does SEO services.” Google will try to finish your sentence with some previous suggestions most people have used when typing that phrase.

• You will find a couple of powerful long tail keywords you can add to your list.

*4* Answering people’s questions:

• If the above two methods didn’t give you satisfactory results, you can find out what people want to know in their searches using Answer The Public.

• This platform is designed to list many questions-based long tail keywords.

• This tool, as the name suggests, aims to answer public questions.

• It is a goldmine for marketers who want to enrich their list of long tail phrases.

• Using this site is easy, just type in the name of the niche or industry you are targeting and click on “Get Questions.” You will find a fancy looking graph listing the keywords for you.

• You will find questions that your ideal customer is likely searching for, which you now can target.

*5* Make use of Quora:

• If you want to learn more about your audience, head to Quora. Not only will you find something helpful but also long tail keywords to target.

• People always publish questions they have on Quora because they know that they will always get relevant answers.

• Therefore, if you type a keyword you are targeting, you will most likely find experts who have handled similar topics/questions that people have asked.

• If you see some questions not well answered or not answered, you can choose to answer them on your website.

• After you are done, head back to Quora thread and answer the question then include a link to your blog post where the reader can get a more comprehensive answer.

• This will not only drive referral traffic to your website but also give you relevant backlinks.

*6* Look on Wikipedia:

• Being one of the largest websites, you can use it not only to find information but also to discover long-tail keywords to target.

• Simply search for the key page of your niche and scroll to the bottom to find a content table.

• You will find headings for each sub-section.

• Analyze the subtopics and check to see if you could use them as your long tail phrases.

• Some may not directly be related to your original phrase, but as long as they are targeting similar keywords that provide value to your customer, why not target it?

*7* Check what your competitors are targeting:

• You can do this by searching in Google on what you have already covered and click on each URL that pops up for that keywords using Ctrl+F to know the position of your short-tail keyword.

• See the words around that keyword that your competitor has used.

• Now, go back to your content and see if you can include that phrase.

• You can even write a new post if the keyword can make up a topic on its own.

*8* Analyze your findings:

• Now you have a long list of long tail phrases to target. Your job is not over yet. You will need to go through your list and see if the phrases you are targeting are worth the work.

• Analyze search volume using Google Keyword Planner. This will give you a detailed analysis of your keywords.

• As a rule of thumb, only target those long tail phrases with over 500 when you are looking to create a post around the phrase, focus on bettering your quality for keywords with 100-500 search volume to match your competitor’s quality, and integrate a couple of the keywords with 0-100 search volume.

• Also, look at the keyword difficulty using KWFinder.

• Make sure to focus on keywords with low difficulty scores (20 and below). These will be quicker to rank.

*9* Start tracking your long tail keywords:

• After integrating these keywords into your content and creating blog posts around them, it is time to use Monitor Backlinks tool to see how they will be fairing.

• This tool will be tracking your keywords for you and will send you regular updates on how they are moving up/down the rankings.

Of course, an upward movement means you are doing a fantastic job.

We hope that you have benefited from this guide!