What are long tail keywords?

As we speak in the article “An Ultimate Guide to SEO (Search Engine Optimization)“,  you must have realized the importance of keyword research and using longtail keywords in the text. Unfortunately, long tail keywords have little search and competition. Also, Long tail words (3+ words) are longer than other keywords.

importance of long tail keywords
importance of long tail keywords

 

Even if a small number of people search for longtail keywords, when you put all such queries together, they make up the bulk of Google searches.

 

long tail search volume | smart strategy

 

(And this is more the case now that more people are using voice search)

92% of all keywords people type in search engines are long tail.

 

distribution of search queries
distribution of search queries

 

Why are Long Tail keywords important for SEO?

There are two reasons for the importance of using longtail keywords in SEO:

 

Reason # 1: Long tail keywords are not as competitive

Regarding SEO, long tail keyword competition is much less than “short tail” keywords.

(As a result, it is much easier to rank in them)

For example, a short keyword like “link building” has almost 6 billion results on Google.

Google results | smart strategy

 

So if you want to be number one on Google for this query, you must compete with more than 6 billion sites.

On the other hand, look at a longer query like “best SEO link building software.”

longer query search volume | smart strategy

 

This long tail keyword is much less competitive than the “link building” query.

The same applies to Google Adwords (PPC) ads with longtail keywords that can be cheaper than the popular superhigh query.

 

Reason # 2: Long tail keywords have a high conversion rate

Long tail searches are not just long words.

They are more memorable.

In other words:

People searching for longtail words have more potential to buy than those searching for short and general keywords.

 

How to find Long Tail keywords

Here are nine ways to find longtail keywords.

 

1. Google «Searches Related to…»

When you search for something at the bottom of the Google results page, there is a section called “Searches related to Se.”

This is part of the gold mine results for Keyword Research.

Here’s how to use it:

First, type in the keyword you want to rank.

Second, scroll to the bottom of the page. And look at “Searches related to…” for that keyword:

related search
related search

 

Several long tail keywords that suggest you.

Tip: Remove one of the keywords from the “Searches related to” section and search it on Google. Then, check the “Searches related to” results for that keyword. Repeat this to get a great list of excellent keywords.

 

2. Answer The Public

Answer The Public is a valuable keyword research tool focused on questions.

Type in the search field to use a short word and click on Get Questions.

This tool then shows the questions that people want to know about your topic:

And because queries are long questions, longtail keywords are generated almost automatically.

 

answer public | smart strategy

 

3. Forums and forums

Forums are an excellent place to find new ideas for keywords.

Think about this:

By the way, if someone asks a question on the forum, you know other people do the exact search on Google.

To use the forum to research keywords, go to the platform where your target audience is. You may have seen some examples of them before.

 

4. Google Autocomplete

You’ve probably seen you autocomplete with google.

And this is one of the convenient and simple ways to find long tail words.

Why?

In this way, you will receive suggestions directly from Google. Of course, many tools, such as keyword planner and keywordtool.io, can also be used to do keyword research.

 

5. Box People Also Ask

This method is a convenient way to find the keywords of the questions.

First, do a Google search for the keyword.

These are the questions that people search for on the subject of your keyword.

And if you open one of the questions, you will see an answer. In addition, Google will show you more questions.

 

6. Search Console Performance Report

Go to the performance section of the search console and check all the pages and their positions.

Why?

Few people go to the SERP’s second, third, or fourth page.

By checking the search console, you will find that some longtail keywords do not fit well, and you have not SEO your pages with them.

And when you optimize them, they come to the front page after a few days and weeks.

You can easily find these keywords in the search console.

First, go to the performance report section.

 

Scroll down.

search console performance report section
Search console performance report section

 

You are on the first page of Google results with these keywords.

To find the keywords on pages 2 and 3, sort the list by “Position” query:

search console position query
Search console position query

 

And set the number of rows to display to “500”.

Scroll down until you see positions 10-15.

Then look at the keywords in this position.

Put every good keyword in Google Keyword Planner to check their search rate.

If you find a keyword with good search potential, click on it.

And click on “pages.”

These are the pages that rank in the results for this keyword.

 

7. Google Trends

Google Trends is an excellent tool for keyword research.

For an SEO campaign, you need to know the most relevant keywords and their increasing search.

Here’s how to work with it:

First, go to google trends and enter your keyword in the search field:

 

8. Quora

Quora is a viral Q&A site.

 

How to use Long Tail keywords

When it comes to using longtail keywords in your content, you have two options:

 

Option 1: Create a post blog with the keyword long tail.

Your first option for creating a new blog post is to SEO with the long tail keyword you just found.

The downside of this option is that you have to produce a lot of content, and this keyword may not have a lot of monthly searches.

So for this option to be valuable, you have to create dozens (or even hundreds) of articles on long tail keywords.

 

Option 2: You can add longtail keywords to your content.

So to make this method worthwhile, I must pull out dozens (or even hundreds) of optimized articles on longtail terms.

Your other option is optimizing your page with the main keywords or the “Medium tail.” Then, add longtail keywords to your content.

 

In this case, in addition to receiving keywords that get a lot of search input, you also obtain information from less competitive long-term keywords.

 

Conclusion

In this article on the smart strategy, we deep dive into different sides of long tail keywords and how to use them.

Smart strategy as a leading digital marketing agency providing SEO services in Canada. For more information about our SEO services and a consultation with our SEO strategist, please contact us. Visit our LinkedIn profile to have more digital marketing infographics and summarized articles.