Building an SEO strategy around long-tail keywords can be extremely effective in achieving fast rankings with a targeted audience. We explain the advantages and the mechanics of the concept.
What are long tail keywords?
The long tail is an SEO strategy that consists in positioning yourself in search results on very specific queries, generally composed of more than three keywords.
To understand the concept of long tail keywords, it’s best to think of Google searches as one half of an exponential curve: on one side, a small number of keywords in high demand by users, and on the other, a large number of lesser-searched expressions on search engines. Except that, when added together, these expressions represent a significant number of queries. This is known as the long tail.
The expression comes from an article by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of the technology medium Wired, written in 2004. He notes that niche products on online sales platforms such as Amazon account for more total transactions than these sites’ best sellers. The analogy with the world of SEO is obvious.
Why are long tail keywords so valuable in SEO?
It’s important to understand this concept if you work in digital marketing, as it has a number of advantages.
On the one hand, it’s easier to position yourself in the first few pages for these long-tail keywords. This is because the competition is less fierce. Let’s take an example: the keyword “jobs” generates over 920 million results on Google. If we refine our search by indicating “marketing jobs”, we fall to 179 million. For “marketing jobs advertising”, we’re left with 33 million hits – 96% fewer! And it’s possible to further refine this search by specifying a city name, for example.
As a result of this lower density of competitors, keyword campaigns are also less costly in terms of cost per click. Obviously, a long-tail SEO strategy implies investing in a larger number of keywords, but this can be a wise choice when it comes to optimizing your advertising budget.
In fact, another great advantage of the long tail is that, since the query is more specific, the target audience is more precise and therefore more likely to convert.
How to successfully implement a long-tail keyword SEO strategy?
Now it’s time for action. To get started with a long tail SEO strategy, you obviously need to find and choose the specific keywords on which to build your content marketing policy. This is obviously the most complex stage.
There are several possible tricks to the trade. On the one hand, you can rely on Google’s autocomplete feature: when you type a word into the search engine, the algorithm automatically offers you related suggestions. This is a good first step. There are also tools for determining the relevance of keywords. Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool, for example, is a reference in this field. Or Google’s Keyword Planner.
Finally, there’s an opposite mechanic: instead of looking at the most popular searches in your sector, you can base your search on your customer base and your unique value proposition. In other words, choose the specific phrases that best characterize you… and that your customers and prospects are likely to use to find you!
The next steps are more common for digital marketing professionals: writing appropriate, value-added content to position yourself on the targeted expressions, or even organizing a few advertising campaigns to highlight some of your pages.
Good positioning !
Discover our trainings :
training.isarta.com 
