Why Long Tail Keywords Matter in SEO

Why you should be concentrating on a longer tail keyword strategy

The time for singular keywords is over. People are getting more and more specific with their searches over time, and they're not afraid to use more words to do it. Short tail is a dead end as far as getting traffic from the SERPs simply because of the amount of big businesses monopolising the SERPs . Long tail is the way to go if you want to get an advantage.

That conclusion does lead to a few questions, so let's answer them:

1. What's with all the tails?

'Long tail' and 'short tail' are terms for keywords when multiple words are being used in order to search something specific. Short tail keywords are categorised as terms that have one to three words in them. Long tail keywords have a whole trail of them, 4+. The term 'long tail' was put forward by Chris Anderson in an exquisitely reasoned piece in Wired, explaining why it was possible to win more traffic from less popular searches.

Long tail keywords became popular in around 2009, when SEOs weren't getting the success they were after with traditional keyword targeting. After a brief surge, though, the popularity of long tail keywords plateaued.

2. Why focus on the long tail?

It's a logical question to ask why an SEO campaign should concentrate on the unpopular. After all, SEO is about getting in with the popular kids, right?

Well, no. SEO is all about getting as much relevant search traffic as you can get, and that means going after the smaller fry, too. Think of it as sharks versus whales: a shark might go after big prey, but only gets to eat once in a while. A whale feeds off tiny little creatures and always has a full belly (except the killer whale, of course).

3. How do I implement long tail SEO?

This is the big question. While traditional SEO strategies relied on placing a small packet of keywords throughout a site, things are changing. With Google's Hummingbird on board, plenty of SEOs are switching to having keyword-like phrases scattered throughout code and content.

What this means for the average site owner is that they have to be smart about keywords. Don't restrict yourself to a short list. Come up with a lot of related terms and, most importantly, make sure your content is relevant to the terms you're aiming for.

4. Where's the long tail headed?

Signs are that long tail keywords are headed more toward the 'long tail' part and away from the 'keyword' part. As Google's interaction with searchers becomes ever more sophisticated, and the search engine delivers results based on personal searching history, it's getting harder to predict how your content will end up in search returns. For this reason, it's probably a good idea to do what the big SEO companies are doing, and work on the concepts your content is putting across. If your content answers the questions your target searchers are asking, the actual words involved won't matter.

Further reading

*'The Long Tail and Why Your SEO Keyword Strategy is Wrong' at Forbes.com is a good commentary on the changed nature of keywords over time.
*The Moz blog's views on the long tail. Because it's the Moz blog.
*'The Resurgence of Long Tail Keywords in SEO' on SearchEngineWatch.

Now that you know about long tail keywords and have added that to your list of things to do. Check out how to get some inbound links using white hat techniques!