Long Tail Keywords are the new black! Long-tail keywords are in search engine optimization (SEO) search terms that contain more than two or three words. They are searched less often and are therefore less embattled and thus more cost-effective when ads are displayed for them (e.g. with AdWords). Long tail keywords are due to their length more specific and reveal the intension of the one who searches. Therefore you can achieve a higher conversion rate with them – unlike short head keywords, which have normally a lower conversion rate and in addition a high competition.
The term Long Tail originally comes from the commercial area. There it refers to rarely requested products, which can not be managed economically in classical business. In addition to the bestsellers, there is also a niche market for the same products, which is why they are kept in the assortment.
Why Long Tail optimization becomes more and more important
Previously you had to enter each word into the search slot, from beginning to end. As a result, long search queries were entered on rare occasions. When Google started using Suggest (see picture) to complete search queries, keyword combinations and significantly longer search queries were also made – which in turn is interesting for Long Tail SEO.
Since Siri, the Google search app and Cortana are searching for us, search queries are getting longer. With the personal search assistant it is like speaking to a person. It does not mean “OK Google! Parsnip picture.“ but “OK Google! Show me pictures of parsnips”. The Hummingbird algorithm and Rankbrain help Google understand our language better and provide the right answer. Why Google is capable of recognizing speech, the following video shows:
Optimization on Long Tail has benefits
The trend thus goes from short, single words to longer word combinations. According to Google, 15% of the daily search queries are new and have never been submitted before.
Quelle: Thinkwithgoogle
This means: website operators can enter the highly competitive market of the most popular short head keywords or try to attract visitors in the long tail segment. The lower competition has the advantage that ranking successes can be achieved more quickly. Thanks to the extended long tail search queries, the site operator can win the exact target group. The chances to be found are therefore increasing, as well as the chances for a conversion.
Blogs, that are optimized on Long Tail Keywords, automatically have a specialization. Thereby it is possible to control very accurate, which users come to the website. This visitors are expecting a specific answer to their search query.
How Long Tail optimizations works out
Long Tail optimization causes a lot of work and time exposure because often a huge amount of content is needed. It always starts with a keyword research. It’s important to find the right keyword or phrase. Besides the Keyword Planer you can also use the following tools:
- Google Suggest
- Googles related searches (below the SERPs)
- Übersuggest
- W-Fragen-Tool
Long Tails are often very precise questions that you should answer better than your competitors. This only works, of course, when you know your competitors. Die first 10 results that Google lists for a found Lon Tail Keyword are a goo indicator. In order to rank you have to answer the question in a better way. Better can mean:
- more user-friendly
- faser
- with a better web-design
- mobile optimized
- with additional overvalue
- with unique know how
- et cetera
Everything else is the usual SEO measures: technology, OnPage, OffPage, etc.
Due to the fact that this search queries are longer and more complex, often a longer answer must be given. If you use Long Tail Keywords, you often need more content. For many Long Tails, Wikipedia has the solution, unless it’s a “transactional query”, ie a search request with a purchase intent. If the question is only asked frequently enough, you can get a Featured Snippet on Google:
Our conclusion to Long Tail SEO
Optimization on longer search queries is the rule already. At it Long Tail optimization is no rocket science and is not fundamentally different from optimization on short-head keywords. Long search queries through Long Tail Keywords will play an increasingly important role in the future. Software such as Siri, Cortana and the Google-language search, which allows a human-like communication with the relevant search engine, is responsible for this. In the long term, Long Tail optimization will allow site operators to attract more visitors to their offer and reach the appropriate target group.