Suzanne Taylor • July 15, 2014

What are long tailed keywords?

Long tailed keywords are a type of keyword phrase that contains between three and five words

The word marketing is on a piece of paper

SEO is a free or low-cost marketing tool. It can substantially increase website traffic. However most experts agree that to convert these visits into sales you need to be more specific in who you target.

This is where long tailed keywords can help.

Long tailed keywords are a type of keyword phrase that contains between three and five words.

These words are used to define the contents of a web page. Like all keywords, long tailed key words help businesses to become listed in search engine results pages.

However they are much more specific and draw less traffic. Although this seems contradictory, in reality this technique draws higher quality traffic and results in a greater number of conversions.

Web users searching for these key terms are already committed to finding and purchasing whatever they are looking for.

Forward-thinking businesses invest a considerable amount of time identifying long-tailed keywords which relate to their business sector.

The process allows them to establish a niche market. It may perhaps be smaller than their competitors but offers the same level of potential.

Example

So although both companies might be offering plastic raincoats. The business which narrows down its content to ‘pink rose plastic raincoats’. They filter out any customer looking for purple, brown or yellow plastic raincoats. This increases the possibility of a sale.

Research

To really benefit from this marketing approach. You will have to find out which long tailed keywords are actually being searched for and this means research.

Consumers have become expert internet searchers and use very natural language to find what it is they’re looking for.

A long tailed keyword phrase will utilise this language and is likely to sound very colloquial.

Individually, each word is less commonly searched for but together they add up to account for a large proportion of search-driven traffic.

In modern times, Google has become the solution for people looking for answers.

People want instant responses and explanations to their problems. Search engines offer this efficiency.

Long tailed keyword searches are the most popular type of search.

Long tailed keyword searches are estimated to represent 70% of all search traffic!

Users have grown more confident in the capacity of the search engines to answer their query specifically rather than them having to sift through pages of results to identify what it is they’re look for.

The beauty of long tailed keywords is the fact they are less competitive to rank for which means you can carve out a smaller market that offers better ROI.

Research has shown the consumers who used long-tail search questions are more qualified and easier to convert.

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