Making Long Tail Keywords Work For You

In a perfect world, soaring to the top of the search result rankings on the most competitive, relevant keywords would be as easy as a Sunday stroll on the beach. Unfortunately for you, and the countless other digital players out there, the reality is that you need a lot more than just a care-free approach to content generation and optimization to get noticed on the web.

To give you a leg up on this front, let’s discuss how long tail keywords could be the key to standing out and connecting with the people that matter most to your brand.

Why Bother with Long Tail Keywords?

Generic, broad keywords offer up major results to the top players and are competitive for a reason, right?

While there’s no denying that if you rank well on targeted keyword terms you’ll be raking in the views and digital marketing reach, Rocco Baldassarre of Search Engine Journal points out that that’s a pretty big “if” to rely upon when it comes to connecting with your audience – especially for smaller organizations.

Instead of getting bogged down following the same path as your competition and targeting broad keywords, Baldassare notes that there’s plenty of untapped potential waiting for those who are willing to specialize in long tail keywords that pinpoint the unique traits of relevant demographics.

Take Advantage of the Web’s Many Tools

What’s the best way to begin identifying useful terms and building content around these offerings? Inc. magazine’s Jeff Haden suggests putting the web’s many great tools to use. From WordStream’s free Keyword Tool that generates long tail suggestions based on your industry and content orientation, to Google’s Trends analyzer – figuring out which terms work doesn’t have to be a herculean undertaking. If you’re willing to explore your social side, things like YouTube’s keyword suggestion page and even a good, old-fashioned search on Twitter can help give you an idea of what your audience is looking for.

Don’t Let Consumer Analytics Go to Waste

Haden goes on to point out that your consumer analytics are definitely a force to be reckoned with when it comes to long tail keyword generation and content optimization. Whether you’ve worked hard at harvesting this data first-hand, or you’ve bought into the world of “Big Data,” this information can often point to high impact phrasing and keyword terminology that hasn’t yet become highly targeted or sought after by the rest of your industry. Naturally, keeping this data current is a must, but doing so is well worth your time and effort as it helps out on a variety of digital marketing fronts, not just long tail keyword development.

Being Specific Goes a Long Way

Once you’ve started to map out some potential long tail winners, Caroline Moore of Business 2 Community suggests getting even more specific to further refine long tail keyword selections. Use powerful adjectives to qualify the phrase with location detail, colors, make, model, size and more. Framing the keyword into a searchable question with the help of “what,” “why,” and the rest of the “Five Ws” also works wonders.

Keep an Eye on the Competition

Finally, Moore advises keeping a close eye on the competition as you build a stable of optimized long tail keywords. Not only does this help clue you in on keyword variations that have passed a similar gauntlet, it can also serve as another avenue for uncovering keywords that have either gone underutilized or unexplored. At the very least, keeping a close watch on the competition will keep you up to date with what the rest of your industry is doing in terms of content and search optimization methods.

Dipping into the world of long tail keywords and building relevant content is a lot to digest in one sitting, but it’s never too late to start working toward a more efficient and refined usage of your content marketing budget.

Making Long Tail Keywords Work For You