Why and How to Use Long-Tail Keywords in Your SEO Campaign

What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

Long-tail keywords are keyword phrases consisting of two, three, four, or more words. Long-tail keywords provide more detail than keywords comprising of just one word, and often include brand names, model numbers, sizes, locations, and colors so that they are much more specific.

The key to the success of any SEO campaign lies in choosing the right keywords to focus on from the start. Keyword research is often very confusing for beginners, and it takes time to learn which keywords are worth your while targeting and which you should leave well alone. One option to consider is to focus on long-tail keywords.

The Benefits of Targeting Long-Tail Keywords

Targeting more specific long-tail keywords has a number of benefits. Most people searching for these keywords have already carried out less-specific searches and have not found what they were looking for. If you match their specific search query exactly, there is a good chance that the searcher will want to click through to your website.

Long-tail keywords are also typically less competitive than many standard keywords. With the most competitive keywords you could try to optimize your website for years and still not get onto the first page. The amount of traffic that you generate using a long-tail keyword is usually lower, but if you rank for a large number of long-tail keywords, the traffic could build up over time to become quite significant.

How to Choose Long-Tail Keywords

There are a few techniques you could use to choose the best long-tail keywords to target. One simple technique is to type the start of a keyword into Google, which will immediately come up with suggestions based on searches that have already been made. This can also be a good way to generate ideas for content.

You can also use a free tool like the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to generate a whole list of keywords and find out how many people search for them each month. Type in a simple keyword and see which long-tail keywords are generated, then look out for the keywords that have the most searches and the lowest competition to find the best ones.

When you have a long-tail keyword that you would like to focus on, it is a good idea to use a keyword tool to find out how much competition you will face from the other results that appear for that keyword. There are many such tools to choose from, and they will all be able to suggest how easy or difficult it will be to get onto the first page of the results pages, helping you to decide whether you want to focus on that particular keyword or not.

Start Creating Content Focused on Long-Tail Keywords

Once you have a list of potential keywords to target, start to publish content on your website or blog. High-quality, detailed content focusing on the keyword phrase is the way to go, and it is a good idea to try to use your keyword in the title and once or twice in the content itself. Publish content regularly focusing on different long-tail keywords, and you could find that you are able to start generating traffic in a short space of time, which could then continue to generate traffic for many months and years to come.