If you’ve just gotten started with your content marketing, then you probably want to attract a lot of visitors to your website to read your blogs and learn about your products or services. And, you may think that targeting head keywords is the way to go since they tend to have a higher search volume.
One of the long-held beliefs of SEO is that small search queries have a higher search volume
We are about to shatter this principle.
According to one study that analysed almost two billion keywords, about 30% of the keywords with +10.000 monthly searches are made up of three or more words. On the other hand, 13% of the keywords with only ten monthly searches are preponderantly head keywords.
Not only that head keywords don’t always have a high search volume, but they also tend to be highly competitive. That means that it will be more difficult to get your blog post at the top of the search results page when you are targeting head keywords than if you were to focus on more specific keywords.
Don’t get us wrong. We’re not saying that you should forget about head keywords altogether. They definitely have a place and role in your SEO and content marketing strategies. But, we do want to make the case for long-tail keywords and how they can help you reach your target audiences and grow your traffic.
You might also be interested in CAN SEO KEYWORDS BE PHRASES?
What Are Long-Tail Keywords
As the name suggests, long-tail keywords are longer and more specific than head keywords. This type of keywords usually get less search traffic, but they have higher conversion rates than other popular keywords.
Let us give you an example.
Let’s imagine that you are a small business that sells jewelry. Your chance to get to the top of the search engine results for the search term “jewelry” is close to zero as there’s simply too much competition for this keyword. But, if you specialise in vintage handmade jewelry, then you can rank high for keywords like “vintage art deco ring,” for example.
But, there’s more to long-tail keywords than search traffic. Because they are so specific, it’s easier to rank for these search terms. Moreover, the people who are using long-tail keywords are more likely to convert. A person looking for a keyword so specific like “vintage art deco ring” is not just looking around, but probably has a buying intent.
These are just some of the most obvious benefits of long-tail keywords. Here are more reasons why they are a strong SEO strategy.
How Long-Tail Keyword Can Help Your SEO
1. People Are More Likely to Use Long-Tail Keywords Than Head Ones
Think about your online searching habits for a second. Do you go to Google and simply write “pizza” in the search box?
No.
You probably write something like “Pepperoni pizza recipe,” “best pizza restaurant Sydney,” or other long-tail keywords.
Either transactional, educational, or navigational, there’s always an intent behind an internet search. People are using keywords to buy something, learn about something, or get directions to a location.
2. They Can Help Advance Your Content Marketing Efforts
If you want to rank high in the search engines, then you need to create high-quality content. That is a fact. But, if you only focus on head terms, then coming up with content ideas might be a bit difficult. Not to mention, not very effective in meeting the needs of your target audience.
You can use a keyword research tool like Ubersuggest to generate keyword ideas. For example, if you enter “pool maintenance” into this tool, you will get content suggestions like “pool maintenance tips,” “pool maintenance hacks,” “pool maintenance schedule,” and so on. You can use these ideas to create your content calendar and write about topics that actually interest your target audience.
3. Voice Search Is on the Rise
When most businesses devise their SEO marketing strategies, they have this image of a person who sits in front of a computer and types their query in Google search. But, it’s expected that by the end of this year, 50% of all searches will be activated by voice. 20% of mobile queries are already activated by voice. And, if when typing people tend to use head terms when they are using voice search, they are more likely to use a long-tail keyword.
If you are driving and want to find a place to eat, you’re not just going to say “restaurant” to your voice assistant. You want to get a good answer the first time around, so you will probably say something more specific like “Lebanese restaurant Sydney downtown area.”
4. Long-Tail Keywords Can Help Prospects Through the Sales Funnel
We often think of the sales funnel in very simplistic terms. We imagine that consumers realise that they have a problem, look for a solution, and then buy the product that helps them solve that issue. But, the sales funnel is more complex than just that and consumers can get distracted or disinterested at any point during this process. Long-tail keywords can help you keep prospects in the sales funnel for longer.
Ranking high for your target keywords is excellent, but you need more than that to keep consumers interested. You need to provide valuable information and tell them why your solution is better than the competition. As we’ve shown already, long-tail keywords can help you generate content ideas that address some of the main stages of the sales funnel, such as qualification, presentation, and evaluation.
How to Look for Long-Tail Keywords
Hopefully, by now we’ve made it abundantly clear how valuable long-tail keywords are to your SEO and content marketing. But how can you find them?
Well, the simplest and most obvious place to start is Google.
Take a broad topic, such as “board games” and start typing it into Google. You will get plenty of long-tail keywords ideas such as “board games for kids,” “board games for 2,” and so on.
If you want to get even more specific results, check the“People also ask” box and you will get ideas like “what are the best board games” or “what are the 10 most popular board games.”
Take a look at the Searches related to” area at the bottom of the search results too.
Social media is another goldmine for keyword ideas. Hop on Facebook groups and other social media networks to see what your target audience is asking and how they are phrasing these questions.
Of course, manually collecting these keywords from Google or social media platforms requires quite some effort, so you may also want to use a professional keyword research tool like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs. All you will have to do is enter your head keyword, and the tool will generate new keyword ideas together will search volumes, CPC rates, difficulty, and so on.
Over to You
Keyword targeting and research are the cornerstones of an effective content marketing strategy. Get it right, and you will not only rank high for your target keywords but also boost your conversion rates since the people looking for those search terms have a specific intent.
Many tools can help you find great keyword ideas, but nothing compares to your ability to get in your target audience’s shoes and understand how they think and act.
The experts at Australian Internet Advertising understand user intent and how to create content that answers your audience’s questions and influences their buying decision.
Are you ready to talk to us?
