Long-Tail Keywords in SEO: The Definition, Role, and Success Tips

Keywords make up the biggest part of every search engine optimization strategy, as these are the queries people use to find the needed content, brands, products, and services on the web. By integrating popular search queries into your content, you make it easier to find your prospects and bring your website higher in search results pages (SERPs). But not everything’s that easy.

Search queries can indeed affect your rankings a lot, but only when used right. In order to make the most out of them, it’s important to know what differences between them exist and how each kind affects your SEO.

Generally, search phrases can be divided into three categories:

• Fat-head: Maximum 1-2 words (e.g., “shoes”);
• Middle: 2-3 words (e.g., “women’s shoes”);
• Long-tail: 3+ words (e.g., “best women’s shoes on Amazon).

Long-tail keywords are more extensive and, thus, accurate search queries. They typically have lower search volumes and competition. However, they often have higher conversion rates.

Thanks to being more specific, these queries indicate a stronger user intent. Consumers who use them typically have a better idea of what exactly they are looking for. That is, they are more purchase ready than those who use fat-head queries. Thus, if you start using them in your content, you can drive more quality traffic and boost your conversions.

In this guide, we are going to walk you through this matter step by step and help you understand how to use this kind of query for maximized outcomes.

How to Find Long-Tail Keywords

Research is always the key to the effective use of keywords for SEO. It helps you determine what queries your prospects use when searching on Google, analyze these queries, and pick the ones that will strengthen your content strategy and overall marketing tactic.

So how do you find the right long-tail queries? Below are the top four tactics that will help:

1. Use Google’s Keyword Planner Tool

Being undoubtedly the most popular search engine, Google definitely knows what its consumers are looking for on the web. Thus, one of the easiest ways to improve your SEO campaign is to use Google’s Keyword Planner.

This is a trending tool that helps you discover the best queries for your campaigns. It generates a list of queries based on your settings in seconds and provides you with valuable insights into each. With this tool, you can learn the search volume, competition, and even future forecasts for every query. And one of the main reasons it’s so popular is that it’s absolutely free of charge.

The best thing about Google’s Planner is that it uses relevant data and refreshes its forecasts daily. It even takes into account any market changes, current conditions, seasonality, and other factors that can affect the effectiveness of certain phrases. Thus, with its help, you can empower your campaigns with the best long-tail keywords that drive traffic and conversions.

Source: Google Ads 

2. Use Other Keyword Research Tools

Apart from Google Planner, there are many other great tools that will help you generate the right ideas for your campaigns and analyze your keywords’ impact on SEO. Some of these tools are free, and others might be paid. In any case, there are plenty of options to pick from. The only question is how to choose the right one.

Unfortunately, there is no universal answer to this question. Every business has its own needs and objectives. Thus, the right research tool must be chosen based on your company’s specific requirements. 

Luckily, you can use websites like Top 10 for this purpose. On this website, you can find unbiased reviews and comparisons of the best SEO software. It will help you find the right option that matches your needs.

3. Analyze Your Competitors’ Websites

Unlike simple and straightforward fat-head queries, long-tail keywords are much more targeted. They must be perfectly aligned to your specific niche and product/service type. Due to this reason, finding the right ideas for your brand can be rather challenging. And that’s when competitor analysis comes in handy.

To get started, identify your direct competitors and make a list of them for a more convenient process. Then, thoroughly analyze their sites and blogs. With the help of competitive research tools, find long-tail keywords used by your competitors. After this, analyze these queries for volumes, competition, and effectiveness. And pick the strongest ones for your strategy.

4. Ask Your Customers What They’re Searching For

If you are wondering how to find queries that your target audience uses most often to find the needed information and products, one of the best ways to identify them is to ask your audience directly. This approach can give you much more valuable insights than any other tool.

Encourage your customers and prospects to share feedback. Also, leverage email inquiries and surveys to collect more data. After collecting enough data, analyze the language your target audience uses to describe their needs and pain points or ask questions related to your brand and products. By using this approach, you should be able to identify potential key phrases for your SEO strategy.

How to Use Long-Tail Keywords in Your Content

In order to drive a lot of targeted traffic with the help of long-tail phrases, you need to research relevant phrases and then include them in the content on your website. Here are the primary areas where you should use them:

• URL: The web address of each specific page helps search engines rank your site accurately, and it also shows up in SERPs. That’s why a URL should be easy to read and relevant. And it also must include your primary targeted phrase.
• Meta titles and descriptions: Your meta titles and descriptions also show up in SERPs and must include a query to help engines and people recognize the relevance of your content. Besides, they can affect user behaviours by gauging interest and making them want to visit your site. So your titles and descriptions must include a targeted phrase. But they must remain clear, logical, and natural to capture users’ attention.
• Headings: H1 tags are used to fuel readers’ interest and add more readability to your articles. At the same time, they demonstrate topic relevance to robots, which is why adding the right long-tail keywords into them can also boost your SEO.
• Throughout your content: The body of your content is crawled by search engines to determine how well it meets users’ search intent. Thus, you should naturally include the right queries throughout your content to keep readers engaged and rank higher.
• Image alt text: Although many business owners and marketers still tend to overlook this, image alt text is a new powerful tool for SEO. According to the 2022 SEO Market Report, millennials, who make up a large share of modern consumers, now demand visual search capability. Including relevant queries in the image alt text will help you satisfy their needs. Besides, this text improves user experiences, especially for visually impaired visitors, which can also positively affect your positions in SERPs.

Other Tips for Using Long-Tail Keywords

Now you know how to maximize your keywords’ impact on SEO by integrating them into different areas of your content.

Is there anything else you can do to ensure success?

Here are a couple of extra tips that should help:

Create Top-Notch Content

Although the use of keywords for SEO is crucial, the quality of content remains imperative. That is, no matter how many queries you will stuff into your text, it won’t work unless the quality of the text itself is flawless.

This brings us to the first important tip: always keep your content’s quality in mind. Carefully research your target audience to understand its needs, interests, and pain points. Then, use this knowledge to craft a copy that resonates with your readers.

Also, aim for value. Stay back from generic content and have an actual intent to help your readers. If you do this, the user experience you deliver will skyrocket. And so will the relevance of your content to your users’ needs. As a result, this can help you improve your rankings.

Optimize Other Factors That Affect SEO

It shouldn’t be a secret to you that Google uses a variety of factors to rank websites. The relevancy and quality of content are just the tip of the iceberg. At the bottom, there are also a few crucial factors that might keep you back from success:

• Slow loading speed
• No mobile-friendliness
• A lack of backlinks or their poor quality, etc.

All these factors also determine how high your site will appear in SERPs. Thus, if you want to achieve the best outcomes, you must take a holistic approach to this matter. Instead of only researching relevant queries and placing them all over your site, be sure to optimize other areas too.

Conclusion

Long-tail keywords are a powerful tool that can help business owners and marketing managers improve their SEO and attract more traffic to their websites. Now you know how these keywords impact SEO, how to research them, and how to use them for maximum outcomes.

Use the knowledge and tips from this article to set up your SEO strategy for success. Start using long-tail queries to get to the first position in SERPs and boost conversions!

To get further assistance with your company’s SEO, reach out to TechWyse Internet Marketing! To book an appointment, call (416)-410-7090 or contact us here.

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