How long-tail keywords will benefit your blogging

There is no doubt about it that long-tail keywords remain to be vitally important when we’re speaking about  search engine optimisation (SEO). In actual fact, this type of keyword is the foundation of an efficient SEO strategy.

Don’t believe us? Well, have a look at the stats. Long-tail keywords represent 70% of all searches conducted on the Internet. Using these types of keywords are how you generate organic search traffic to your website. In the words of SEO and content marketing experts, they’re the holy grail of SEO. Thus incorporating long-tail keywords in your blog posts can assist you with maximising your organic search rankings as well as organic traffic.

Keyword stuffing is a no-no

We’ve all heard about keyword stuffing – in other words the overuse of a particular word. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this black hat SEO technique only applies to short-tail keywords. This is not the case. So whether you’re using short- or long-tail keywords you still need to adhere to best practices when it comes to optimising your content.

So before we get further into why long-tail keywords will benefit your blogging, let’s take a look at what the different types of keywords are.

Keywords can be either short-tail or long-tail:

• The term ‘short-tail keywords’ refers to those keywords which are shorter phrases and have a generic meaning. A great example of a short-tail keyword is “men’s shoes”. They are also sometimes call headwords.
• As opposed to this, long-tail keyword phrases are longer search terms which are more specific which better describe a specific thing or concept. To carry on with the men’s shoes idea a long-tail keyword would be “cheap Gucci men’s shoes”.

There is no particular point at which a short-tail keyword phrase changes into a long-tail. It is all relative. Thus, one and the same search term can be referred to as being long- or short-tail. This depends on what other term you compare it with.

Long-tail keywords and blogging

The term ‘long tail keyword’ originates in the book The Long Tail which was authored by Chris Anderson. In this book, Anderson demonstrates that there is a market for almost every product. In some instances, however, this market is exceptionally small. This being said, the enormity of the Internet makes your niche product, or your niche blog post, very profitable.

Almost all blogs have one principle topic. This is referred to as the head term, or main keyword, as we mentioned previously in this article. For example:

• Mom blogs are usually about children as well as family life;
• Food blogs are about eating, restaurants as well as recipes.

This means that all of your blog posts should be related to the main topic of your blog. A word of earning is to not over optimise for a couple of keywords as if you do then you could end up having a situation of keyword cannibalisation. The posts which you put on your blog could even be more long tail. You will discover all of these keywords if you have performed your keyword research correctly.

The chief topic or theme of your blog or website is the principal keyword (or key phrase) that you desire people to use in order to find you.  Write a lot of regarding all manner of long-tail variants of your key search term.

How to integrate long tail keywords when blogging

Whenever writing a blog always remember that long tail keywords are best.  Once you’ve chosen your long tail keywords, you’ll also need to decide exactly how you plan to integrate them into your blog.  It’s a fact that the vast majority of web searchers only look at the first page of search engine results, which is exactly where you want your blog to show up. So, long tail keyword optimisation is an important part of your blogging strategy.

Digital marketers and blog writers fully understand that the importance of good quality long tail keywords cannot be overemphasised.  To fully understand this and the impact of optimising your long tail keywords for your blog it’s really beneficial to complete a content marketing course to get miles ahead with your long tail keyword optimisation.

The benefits of using long tail keywords when blogging

Having a lower competition rate with long tail keywords in itself is a huge benefit when it comes to blogging.   Long tail keywords also tend to be more cost-effective than broad keywords as there are more likely to be fewer people bidding on them and long tail keywords are more specific.

Here are a few more benefits of using long tail keywords when blogging.

• Search friendly – Long tail keyword phrases are actually how users search online. More people are typing in phrases and even questions in their search.
• Improve audience connection – When users search using long tail keywords they’re more likely to convert as a customer because their search would display a better match which ultimately increases your conversion rate.
• Keep context – Remember to keep your long tail keywords in a context that strengthens your blog. Google favours long tail keywords that are kept in context to your content.
• More effective than broad single keywords – Long tail keywords are more specific therefore are more likely to perform better than broad keywords when blogging.

Research the right long tail keywords for your blog

The very core of your business and even your mission statement can help you choose the right long tail keywords when blogging.  Be careful to keep your long tail keywords in line with what your business actually does and the service it offers when you write a blog.

Make sure you undertake sufficient research on similar businesses to find the perfect long tail keywords that people are most likely to type in to find your business offering.

A good way to optimise your blog is to include your long tail keywords in your headings.  Keeping this tactic in mind, the blog title is really the most important.  Once you have created knock-out content the next step is optimising your blog post for the search engines.

Finding the right long tail keywords to incorporate when blogging will give your blog posts a better chance to rank well in Google and other search engine results pages.

Learn more about long-tail keywords and SEO with the Digital School of Marketing

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

Do you want to know more about how to make use of long-tail keywords – as well as other aspects of SEO – correctly for your business? If you do, then our SEO and Web Analytics Course is just up your alley. For more information, please follow this link.