SEO Gemini

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Many bloggers and webmasters often refrain from utilizing long tailed keywords, especially since the search behavior indicates that the chances of a user searching for a long phrase in the query are very low.

On the other hand, we have to admit the fact that since they are more specific, using long tailed keywords is a surefire way of making your site appear among the first in the search query. Simply put, while they are not very popular, the long tailed keywords are easy to rank for. Not to mention the fact that if you use enough of them, you can bring in a lot of visitors. Let’s elaborate!

(Photo credits: Dave Dugdale)

Long tail keywords and traffic
If you are new in the online environment and you are trying to get users to notice you, then using long keywords is a generally good idea. Let’s imagine for a second that you are trying to raise awareness about your 3-stars hotel located in New York.

In this particular example, newcomers will not stand a chance against the big players if they focus on a short and efficient keyword, such as New York hotels. On the other hand, if they direct their efforts towards adding additional descriptive words for the New York hotel and find around 20 relevant long keywords, then they will not face the same level of competition.

This is the exact principle behind the long tailed keywords: a smaller effort to rank for the keywords and numerous sources to get visitors from. Does it work? Yes it does, since according to Google, 20% (1 out of 5) of the searches performed daily are unique.

Finding the best long keywords to build your campaigns on
In determining the optimal long tailed keywords, you will be confronted with two problems. First off, no search engine is able to provide you with the 20% unique searches information we talked about earlier. Secondly, none of the keyword research tools currently available (AdWords for Google or AdCenter for Bing) will show the keywords that have less than 10 searches.

However, this is the perfect opportunity to call on the help of paid search campaigns, because you can take advantage of the results indicating the broader matches for the popular keywords. After you get the results, you will need to browse through them and find the long tailed keywords (affordable pet friendly hotels in New York, for instance) and start creating content for them.

Other ways to look for long tailed keywords
Following is a list of the top 8 methods you can use to find relevant keywords for your sites:

• Run regular search query reports
• Localize your keywords
• Consider including qualifying terms
• Check out your competition’s keyword report
• Analyze your internal site search
• Investigate your search engine referral traffic
• Cloud your website content
• Use a professional keyword tool application

Site optimization is still necessary!
When we said that long tailed keywords will require less effort and time on your part, we didn’t mean that you can create some content for them and relax right after! After all, if the visitor does not find the information he was looking for on the page, he will move on to the next search result.

Essentially, maximizing the traffic for the long tailed keywords can be attained with the help of subheadings, bullet lists, encouraging comments and sharing on the social network sites or personal blogs, including relevant media files, etc. The bottom line is that you should use the content to offer the visitor exactly what he wants: clear and easy to understand information.

Final thoughts
Don’t hesitate to incorporate long tailed keywords in your next campaign! Even though they have a lower search volume compared to short keywords, in most cases, they have the biggest impact on your SEO campaigns. To summarize, here are the 4 principal reasons why you should not disregard them:

1. They are more relevant for the content and search engines prioritize relevance over search volume.
2. They have the ability to drive more targeted traffic and, because they are likely to be used at the end of the clients’ buying cycle, can easily translate into more sales.
3. Are easier to rank for and can greatly benefit smaller companies that otherwise have no real chance of competing with established corporations.
4. Even though they don’t bring you a lot of visitors, the leads they provide are the best any company can hope for.

(Photo credits: e-strategycom)

Byline
Hi, I’m Chad and I believe that researching keywords is the first solid step you should take to spearhead your marketing campaign. Using a simple keyword tool will start your quest well!