What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

What does Keyword mean?

A keyword is a phrase or word that describes what your content is about. In the case of SEO, keywords are the words and phrases that searchers type into search engines, also known as “search queries.”

Keywords are important as they are able to bridge the gap between what people are searching for and the content you are producing to satisfy that need.
Content on any given webpage can be a suitable search result for a wide variety of search query variations. That’s why marketers use keywords to optimize content both for searchers and for businesses.

Types of keywords:

A short-tail keyword can also be called a head term or focus keyword and refers to search terms that include no more than three words and refer to broad topics. This inherently makes them popular and high volume.

On the other hand, long-tail keywords are unique, highly focused, and target specific audiences.

Long-tail keyword strategies are especially beneficial when there is a lot of competition on the market or if the main keywords you are trying to rank for are abundant.

Most people believe long-tail keywords are easier to rank for and convert better, but is this actually true?

What are Long-Tail Keywords?

Long-Tail keywords primarily consist of three to five words, allowing you to target more specific niche demographics than generic keywords. Long-Tail keywords are also less competitive than generic keywords since they are designed to reflect how people search online. With long-Tail keywords, you are able to attract higher-quality traffic to your website, which in turn gives better prospects and a higher conversion rate.

An example of a Short tail: “How to cook instant noodles?”
(monthly searches: 1900)

An example of the Long-Tail: “How to cook instant noodles without a stove?”
(monthly searches: 50)

Why are they called “Long-Tail Keywords”?

In order to be considered “long-tail,” a keyword does not necessarily have to get less than 10 searches per month. And there is no specific threshold that qualifies a keyword as “long-tail.” It largely depends on the “head” keyword that you’re comparing it to.

For example, “sneakers” is a “head” keyword as it receives 550K searches per month. However, “how to repair sneakers” is a long-tail keyword since it receives only 50 searches per month.

There are many one-word keywords that receive fewer than 100 monthly searches. But there are also long-tail keywords that receive hundreds of thousands of monthly searches. Thus, a long-tail keyword is not defined by its length, but by its search volume.

How do Long-Tail Keywords work?

A long-tail keyword strategy is about establishing better lines of communication between your business and customers who are actively on the lookout for what your business provides.

When you google the word “laptop” (a very broad keyword sometimes called a “head term”), what are the chances you’ll end up clicking through to a sale? However, if you search “HP Gaming laptop Intel i7”, you already know what you want, and you’re probably prepared to pay right then.

Why focus on Long-Tail Keywords?

There are fewer websites competing for high rankings on the Google results pages for long-tail keywords than for more common keywords. The more specific the search term, the easier it is to rank for it. With so much content on the Internet, it is easier to find your audience for your niche. Focusing on a series of long-tail keywords can result in tons of traffic.

Businesses that want their content to rank in organic Google searches can use long-tail keywords to achieve this goal, but paid search marketers may find them even more useful.

Additionally, focusing on long-tail keywords has the advantage that even though they are used less in search, visitors that find your website via them are more likely to buy your product or service.

In terms of search engine optimization, focusing on longer, more specific search terms, to provide valuable content to the people who are looking for something very specific, in other words targeting the higher quality lead, which will help you increase the website and page authority as compared to your competitors and eventually rank for more popular keywords.

We offer Marketing and Sales Consultancy services to startups and corporates. This includes building Organic Reach, Lead generation through other platforms, Content Marketing for Leads, Website Optimization, Social Media, and Email Marketing.

At The Urban Chief, we are a group of marketing specialists, content writers, social media specialists, SEO specialists, strategists, and lead generators who have been helping brands grow online for the past 8 years.

Attract — Convert — Delight — Retain — Repeat…

We help brands generate leads and optimize to grow.

Get a Free Consultation with our Chief. Book Now