Long tail SEO

A vast assortment is not enough to acquire new clients.

What is long tail SEO?

Long tail SEO is a method that ensures satisfactory ranking in the search engine for a large number of keywords. It is perfect for large websites and online shops. Long tails typically generate more traffic than general phrases. The selection of longer and more precise phrases makes it possible to reach a desirable position quicker and boost conversion rate.

Who should take advantage of long tail SEO?

Long tail SEO is a method that is especially effective for complex websites, such as:

  • online shops,
  • informational websites,
  • web portals and vertical portals,
  • websites with opinions.

Long tail SEO is especially adjusted to online shop because such websites include information on many products. Each of them can be described by using many phrases. For example, a Lenovo ThinkPad E560 laptop can be found on the Net by providing such keywords as:

  • laptop Lenovo ssd
  • laptop Lenovo intel core i5
  • laptop Lenovo intel core i5 ssd
  • ThinkPad E560

and many more.

In the case of popular online shops, there may be hundreds of such computers. Keywords that may be utilized by users to reach them are exceptionally numerous. The solution that is perfect for a large quantity of phrases is long tail SEO. We optimize major sections, as well as a number of website subpages . Promoting the content of the entire website increases its popularity and visibility for a large number of detailed phrases.

Website optimization

In the case of long tail SEO, website optimization is exceptionally important , because it is typically impossible to acquire links leading to all individual subpages (as there may be several thousand of them). Therefore, there is the need for allowing search engine crawlers for efficient indexing. Our experts regularly analyze data taken from such tools as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and market trends to ensure the best adjustment of the website to constantly changing search engines’ requirements.

It is also important to focus on content extension. The majority of online shops have product and category descriptions that are too short. Additionally, they are frequently copied from producers and others shops. It may lower website’s position in the Google ranking, for it promotes original content. That is why it is worth investing in unique descriptions.

What affects keyword quality?

Long tail concept is not only useful in the case of online shops. It may be also used on smaller websites. By selecting proper phrases, SEO companies focus on their three basic features:

  • Search volumehat is – an average monthly number of searches for a given keyword by using Google search engine. Obviously, the higher the number, the greater the number of prospective customers that can be redirected to the website by focusing on a particular keyword,
  • Competition, which tells how many companies may be interested in ranking a specific phrase/keyword,
  • Accuracy – the better the adjustment of the keyword to a given product or service, the higher the likelihood that the users who have found your website by using it will become your customers.

Development of SEO

At the initial stage of SEO development, companies focused on keywords with highest search volume. t There was no competition then, so it was easier to reach Top10 for a specific phrase. Accuracy was also of marginal importance then. In the case of a significant number of visits by using certain keywords, it was highly possible that at least some users will become customers. Nevertheless, everything changed at one point. In 1996, there were 250 thousand websites on the Net. Now, there is over a billion of them!

With time, competition between products, services, websites, and marketing experts trying to optimize sites for specific keywords became much fiercer. At the end of 90s, it was possible to reach Top10 by buying a set of links. Today, it would be considered a spam and cause more harm than good. That is why nowadays small and medium-sized companies find it hard to reach Top10 for highly competitive phrases as top positions are taken by bigger or older companies. SEO experts have started focusing on other aspects of keywords – their accuracy and competitiveness.

According to the long tail concept, SEO agencies focus on niche keywords that typically include 3 or more words and are much easier to be properly positioned thanks to less competition. The disadvantage of the discussed solution is the fact that single long phrases are characterized by a much lower search volume than those including 1 or 2 words. However, it is still worth considering them, for long tails are much cheaper than those more general ones

Average search length has been increasing with time

It has become easier to optimize niche phrases for search engines

Let us assume that you own a car garage in Wroclaw that specializes in fixing French cars. Several years ago, it would be beneficial to opt for the „service station” phrase that is nowadays searched for 22200 times per month. After typing it in the search engine , Google displays over 10 million websites.

To reach Top10, you would have to become more competitive than all those 10 million websites. It would be not only difficult, but also costly. As your company operates on the local market, it is much better to go for a more specific phrase, for example “service station Wroclaw” that is searched for 1900 times a month. It is much less popular, but at the same time – it is remarkably less competitive. You do not need to limit yourself to one phrase. You may include dozens of even hundreds of them in your system. In the case of a servicing station, it is worth considering phrases from the provided table.

Higher conversion chance

Niche long tail phrases are utilized by clients at a different stage of the purchasing cycle. They typically have more precise expectations from users who opt for more general phrases. That is why they are more likely to make a purchase. Regardless or the traffic type (organic or paid one), keywords generating a lot of searches may not be the ones that translate into sales.

Going back to the example of a company from Wroclaw – it is difficult to state what users who have typed in „service station” have been looking for. It is problematic to state what repair type they would like to order, what car they have, and where they are at the moment. Said phrase is to general to provide more info on users’ intentions. When someone looks for “Renault servicing station Wroclaw”, it is possible to tell what he or she wants. Such users will more likely to turn into clients than those searching for more general phrases.

How long should a long tail be?

How long should a tail be? According to Hitwise research published on the MOZ blog, long keywords may generate 70 % of all the organic traffic.

A bit of history

A concept of long tail was formulated by Chris Anderson in October 2004 in an article for the Wired Magazine, where he discussed business models observed in the case of such companies as Amazon or Netflix. He wrote:

According to the long tail theory, our culture and economy are gradually less focused on a short number of hits (main products and markers) at the front of demand curve and gradually more oriented towards an exceptional number of niches at the bottom of the curve. (…) Those millions of niches create a long tile, which has been neglected for some time in favor of front hits.

Source: wired.com

Increase the visibility of your website for long tail keywords!

If you are the owner of an online shop or a website touching upon various topics, you should check for how many keywords your site can be visible by asking us about the long tail SEO offer. Such a strategy will ensure you valuable and conversion-oriented traffic not affected by changes in Google algorithms to such an extent as popular phrases are.