One of the primary objectives for any website is to drive organic traffic. Every day, we use high-volume keywords to attain a top position in Google ranking but often forget about long-tail keywords. The truth is that long-tail keywords make up 70 percent of all searches.

Therefore, you cannot overlook long-tail keywords and expect to survive in modern SEO. This article will take you through everything you need to know about using long-tail keywords for SEO.

What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

What Are Long-Tail Keywords

Most people don’t understand the meaning of long-tail keywords. These are search queries that contain more than two search words, which narrow down the focus of the search engine results to bring up more specific results.

Most long-tail keywords are lower volume and lower difficulty. You can understand better when you know the meaning of head keywords. Head keywords are high difficulty and high traffic terms that make up the whole topic.

While users search for them often, their searches are not always 100 percent specific to what your content promotes.

Examples Of Long-Tail Keywords:

Long tail SEO

Most people who are new to SEO may find it hard to understand the meaning of long-tail keywords. The best way to understand this phrase is by looking at an example.

The best starting point is the keyword “SEO.” SEMRUSH reports that this keyword gets over 110,000 exact keyword searches every month.

If you search for the term “SEO” on Google, you will get it in the first position of websites such as Google, moz.com, and wikipedia.org. Therefore, it becomes almost impossible to outrank these sites with an ordinary blog or website.

Therefore, how do you rank the keyword “SEO” in the search engines? The secret is going a step higher to add a tail or tails to the current keyword to narrow down your search engine competition.

If you add the term tips, the keyword will change to “SEO tips.” This keyword has become less competitive than the term SEO even though it is still hard to target this phrase.

Renowned and large websites dominate the top results in the search engine. Therefore, you must be extremely careful about framing your long-tail keywords. Something like “SEO tips for beginners” may help you rank better.

The number of people who search for “SEO tips for beginners” is less than those who search for the phrase “SEO tips.” However, the benefits you get from such a long-tail keyword are higher than the difference in traffic.

How To Use Long-Tail Keywords Effectively?

How To Use Long-Tail Keywords Effectively

Targeting long-tail keywords comes with several benefits to the user. You cannot understand the benefits of long-tail keywords unless you understand the meaning of the terminology ‘intent.’

Long-tail keywords match the intent of the user. Put yourself in the searcher’s shoes while thinking about the customer journey. You will discover prospects understand their needs and search for head keywords to learn more.

Prospects now become aware of possible solutions and search using keywords with the intention of making a purchase. Even though this explanation seems shallow, it summarizes the idea of intent quite well.

When you consider the intent of the keyword, you are considering the mentality of the user who would search for that keyword. For example, a person who is looking for “SEO” could be looking for a broader definition, while a person who searches for the term “SEO Services” intends to search the snippet listing and consume the available services.

Given the long-tail specificity of the search, visitors are expressing their intention to consume the services you offer. These people may also intend to read your content.

As a result, it is better to target long-tail keywords because they bring targeted traffic that has a higher chance of converting. These searchers are beyond the mindset of discovery.

These are people who are ready to move into purchase mode. Even though there are few, they are more valuable than a lot of general traffic.

The Intent of Primary Keywords Are Relatively Lower:

You can never tell a person’s intention by searching for a word like “marketing.” He could look for the definition or read an encyclopedia article on this topic. This explains why the Business Directory and Wikipedia rank highly.
You can narrow it down and target a phrase like ‘Marketing Agency India” instead of just using the term ‘marketing.’ The intent of the long-tail keyword becomes much clearer, and there is a high possibility that you will rank for it.
The challenge of using head keywords is that you will put much work into driving unnecessary traffic. When you drive traffic that doesn’t take much time on your page, you will tell Google that you don’t want to rank on those keywords.
It means that you will be wasting your time and effort. Before targeting a keyword, it is advisable to Google it. Ask yourself whether your content will be out of place in the search results. Don’t bother yourself with something that will not add value to your website.

Are Long-Tail Keywords Easy To Rank

How To Use Long-Tail Keywords For The Best Results_ Best Hacks!

It is easier to rank long-tail keywords than non-long-tail keywords. As long as you own a high-quality website, it is easier to rank long-tail keywords, especially for keywords with low competition.

The Number Of Long-Tail Keywords Is Higher Than Primary Keywords:

The list of long-tail keywords is endless. As a result, you can have an abundance of long-tail keywords that you need to target. On the contrary, you can run short of the terms to target when you go for head keywords.

When you target long-tail keywords, you increase your chances of optimizing your web content and creating more pages. Sites with more pages drive more traffic and rank for more target keywords. It becomes more important when you rank for the best long-tail keywords.

The best description for this is covering your bases. For instance, targeting both the keywords ‘green tea smoothie recipes’ and ‘green tea smoothie ideas’ is two different posts, and having both of them rank to rank so that you benefit from any that the users search for in the engines. Remember, long-tail keywords make up over 70 percent of the total searches.

Long-Tail Keyword Increase Conversations:

Users who use long-tail keywords make their searches more specific and, hence, more targeted. These are ‘action’ or ‘buying’ keywords that have higher chances of converting. You can include a location like Florida in the keyword phrase to target local businesses.

Long-Tail Keywords Build Authority And Trust:

The other advantage of long-tail keywords is that they will help you to build website authority and trust. When you appear on the first page for any keyword, your website has trust and authority.

Using long-tail keywords will help you achieve this position in the SERPs. Several first placements and a solid SEO strategy will help you build the desired authority.

You Get Higher Traffic Than The Suggested Volume:

The available keyword research tools will help you approximate the traffic you get if you achieve a top position for a particular keyword. When dealing with long-tail keywords. The estimation is 100 percent correct.

The reason is that long-term keywords have a low volume, and so does the sampling, and hence, they underestimate. Several long-tail keyword examples deliver over ten times the traffic that the keyword tools show, and hence, you should not reject a keyword because the tools reflect low traffic.

How to Find the Best Long-Tail Keywords?

Most people have a challenge when it comes to finding long-tail keywords that have a high conversion. You can go for either a manual or automated process in your search.

1. Finding Long-Tail Keywords Manually:

Research the suggested terms and search for related posts on Reddit, Quora, and forums. You can put together a list of commonly mentioned phrases and head keywords. You can manually search long-tail keywords by;

Suggestions From Google Search Box:

    The best way to type keywords in the Google search box is to see the ideas that the search engine suggests. Once you get an excellent long-tail keyword, confirm with keyword tools like SEMRUSH to determine whether they are worth targeting.

    Google “Related Searches” and People Also Ask:

      The other manual technique for Google, your topic is checking the ‘related searches’ and ‘people also ask section’.

      Yahoo Suggest/Bing:

        Yahoo and Bing also make relevant suggestions while users type a search term. You can also use that because the tips you get are different from what you get in Google. Therefore, this strategy is worth exploiting while searching for long-tail keywords.

        Reddit:

          Reddit is that other goldmine for long-tail keywords. It will help you to find out what individuals are talking about. Once you understand your target audience, you will highlight some valuable long-tail keywords in Reddit.

          Quora:

            The lasting thing you can do is search for keywords in Quora. Quora users answer questions that you could answer using your content or ads. Quora is one of the best channels for finding long-tail keywords.

            It is one of the best sources of inspiration for blog posts. You can grab relevant questions as a title and type the content in the answer and your original research to create fantastic content.

            2. Finding Long-Tail Keywords With Tools:

            SEO tools like SEMRush can generate the list of relevant terms and various permutations from your head keyword research.

            SEMRush is an excellent channel for managing paid and organic campaigns. It has one of the best keyword research features in the market. The keyword magic tool will help you to find long-tail keywords in SEMRush.

            How To Use Long-Tail Keywords For The Best Results? Best Hacks!

            How To Use Long-Tail Keywords For The Best Results

            After finding the long-tail keywords, you must use them to create great content. The first thing you will need to do is choose one main target. Once you rank for one keyword, you scoop up several long-tail variations.

            Here are a few tips that will help you to rank for the long-tail keywords;

            • Place the keyword at the beginning of the headline and title tag
            • Use the keyword as the slug, i.e., in the URL after the domain
            • Your title should be in the H1 tag
            • Put the keyword in the H2 subheadings
            • The keyword should be in the first 100 words of the article
            • Use a few keyword variations in the body of your article.

            Finally, you will have a well-optimized and SEO-friendly article. It is easy to rank long-tail keywords, but this will not happen if you just throw text on a page.

            Low competition, long-tail keywords will get a top position in the SERPs as long as you use them well. You need to remember some things to get a high ranking in the search engine.

            The Role Of Content In Your Long-Tail Keyword Strategy:

            Content is the most important element for achieving and maintaining good ranking for your long-tail keywords. Your content should rock both in quality and quantity. The content you publish should answer the questions using long-tail keywords.

            1. SEO-Friendly Content And Its Impact:

              As you write your content, you must follow some simple but effective SEO copywriting rules to make it friendly to users and search engines. Some things that matter greatly are formatting, content freshness, and post titles. Once you learn these basics, you will discover they are easy to follow.

              2. Implement On-Page SEO:

                On-page SEO can help you achieve a better ranking in the search engine by using long-tail keywords. It makes your website more attractive in the search engine.

                3. Promote Your Content:

                  Don’t relax after using long-tail keywords in your content. You need to promote it on social media, among other techniques.

                  Barsha Bhattacharya

                  Barsha Bhattacharya is a senior content writing executive. As a marketing enthusiast and professional for the past 4 years, writing is new to Barsha. And she is loving every bit of it. Her niches are marketing, lifestyle, wellness, travel and entertainment. Apart from writing, Barsha loves to travel, binge-watch, research conspiracy theories, Instagram and overthink.

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