What is Long Tail SEO? and What They Are & How to Use Them – If you are looking to optimize your texts for natural referencing, perhaps you have already heard of the long tail.
This concept widely used on the Internet deserves particular interest for SEO. But what is the long tail, what is it for and how to use it?
Here is everything you need to know to master the long tail and implement your SEO strategy.
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What is the long tail in SEO?
Invented by Chris Anderson in 2004, the principle of the long tail was first used by e-merchants who sold their many items in small quantities.
Transposed later in the field of natural referencing, the long tail designates the sum of all the rare or little typed keywords by Internet users which generate more traffic than the sum of the main keywords.
The long tail brings together keywords that are not searched for by Internet users and therefore on which there is little competition. This is in particular due to the precision of the term, for example “blue men’s shirt”.
The graph below helps to better understand the concept of the long tail in SEO.
On this graph, the red part represents the main keywords. They are few in number but very competitive because they constitute a large part of the requests made by Internet users on search engines.
The blue part of the graph represents the long tail, that is to say all the keywords of lesser importance. A long tail expression generally comprises 3 to 10 words against less than 3 words for the most competitive expressions.
The interest in the long tail for natural referencing
Even if the keywords used in the long tail are little sought after and less used by Internet users, they should be exploited for several reasons:
- The long tail can generate significant traffic: the addition of the expressions of the long tail sometimes generates more traffic than the main keyword;
- Long expressions are less competitive: since the keywords used in the long tail are less competitive, it is easier to position yourself on the first page of Google results with a longer expression;
- The conversion rate is higher: the long tail keywords being more precise, they will bring you a higher proportion of qualified visitors, thus allowing you to increase your conversion rate .
The interest of the long tail for paid referencing
For paid search too, it can be beneficial to seek to bid on long tail keywords. The competition being weaker on these keywords, the return on investment is often more interesting:
- Long-tail keywords are cheaper: On Google Ads, you will be able to get lower costs per click on long phrases than on generic keywords, because fewer competitors are making the effort to rank for them;
- The return on investment is more interesting: the traffic is more qualified with the long tail keywords. You will generally get a better conversion rate with long queries.
How to use the long tail to improve your SEO?
When launching your site, it may be wise to focus on long expressions with low-competition keywords. You will indeed find it easier to position yourself on these keywords and you will generate more qualified traffic.
One of the easiest techniques for finding long-tail keywords is Google’s related search.
Start by typing a generic keyword into the search engine.
Then scroll down to the bottom of the first page of search results to find searches related to your generic keyword.
You then discover long tail expressions that you can use for your SEO. Obviously, it is advisable to rework the expressions found thanks to the semantics for example.
Even if you want to get qualified traffic to your site at all costs, don’t spare your efforts on competitive queries either. These will bring you stable and massive traffic.
As you will have understood, a good SEO strategy must combine long tail optimization and optimization of competitive keywords.
5 good reasons to use long tail keywords for SEO
Why fight on a competitive query when in SEO long tail keywords can bring in much more interesting traffic?
1. Less competition
We are not going to hide it, going to get a 0 position or even a top 3 on a competitive request, it is not easy.
When the most persistent will try by all means to position themselves on a short keyword, the most pragmatic will opt for the optimization of long tail keywords.
Less targeted than queries with a large number of monthly searches, short keywords are more difficult to place on the first page of Google.
2. Better conversion rate
On average, a long keyword offers a conversion rate 2.5 times higher than a generic keyword. Why ? Quite simply, because people who type a long query know what they are looking for.
Take for example the query “american restaurant”. It has more than 246,100 monthly searches. The request “american restaurant nearby” has 170.
One can easily imagine that a person typing “American restaurant nearby” would like to book a table. In terms of conversion, it’s still better than the query “American restaurant” which refers to restaurants, but also to risotto recipes or restaurant tops all over France.
The restaurant that will have optimized its site on “Italian restaurant + the locality”, will most likely come out on Google when a person from the area searches for this keyword on the internet.
It will also have a much better chance of appearing in voice search results such as “Alexa, find an Italian restaurant in Clamart”. People looking for that plan to book at an Italian restaurant. The conversion rate of this keyword is therefore much higher.
Another example with the query “risotto recipe”: it too has more than 74, 000searches. The first page of Google is occupied by sites that total thousands of pages.
On the other hand, the query “original risotto” only counts 170 monthly searches, but the first page is certainly occupied by important sites, but also by outsiders who have understood the interest of optimizing a long-tail keyword. .
3. The long tail helps the SEO of other pages
If you still want to position yourself on a competitive keyword, the presence of pages optimized on the long tail can help you bring “juice” to your page optimized on a short keyword. This is mainly thanks to the links.
It’s a bit like the principle of the semantic cocoon , we start from a generic query, and we expand to subjects related to the same theme by always deviating a little more from the main query.
The more pages you create that contain links to the main page (parent page or pillar page), the more it will weigh heavily in the eyes of Google. In other words, content written to seek to position content on long tail keywords gives credibility to all of your content on the same theme.
4. The long tail is suitable for voice search
Long keywords are more likely to be spoken in a voice search.
Another example “Tractor English” is a search that brings up exclusively online translators who tell you that “tractor” is called “tractor”.
While the search “what are the brands of English tractors” brings out lists of manufacturers, sales rankings of English tractors or even a site of spare parts for English tractors.
Again, we notice that the long tail keyword responds better to an interested audience than a general query.
5. The long tail is popular with search engines
Finally, the long tail keywords clearly answer the questions of Internet users. And that is an important criterion in the eyes of Google.
A person who types a long query is more likely to find content that interests them than a person who types a short keyword. So there is a much greater chance that he will stay on the site for a while.
A good sign for Google, which does not appreciate flash visits and high bounce rates . Your site therefore has a better chance of being perceived as relevant by search engines, thanks to the accuracy of the information you publish.
Read Also: 5 Tips to Rank Higher on Google in 2023
The Best and Effective Way of Blog Keyword Research
In addition, it is a good way to position your content in position zero. When you write an article that answers a question from an Internet user, your content has a good chance of positioning itself directly on the results page in the form of a site extract. Your site then appears as a referent on the question.
Long tail SEO: why integrate it into your strategy?
The long tail SEO allows for more targeted positioning on search engines. The principle is to reference pages based on components with a length of 3 words or more.
The number of combinations available is much greater, and the competition is much less fierce, which makes it easier to position yourself in the best places.
The SEO long tail also helps to separate yourself from your most important competitors so that you don’t get crushed by finding certain niches.
A way to generate traffic in a simple and inexpensive way that can make the difference for the development of your visibility in a medium or long term strategy.
Here is what long tail SEO can bring to your website and the development of stable and sustainable traffic.
How to Work Long Tail SEO?
To work effectively on the SEO long tail, it is necessary above all to choose your long tails well. Indeed, just like for the keywords, it is this combination of words which will make it possible to differentiate oneself in the eyes of the search engines to bring a more precise answer following a request.
In practice, long tail SEO works mainly in text and content writing as SEO based on 1 or two keywords. However, it is necessary to ensure that the combination of several keywords is present on many occasions, which may prove more difficult due to the length of the tail that it is necessary to insert.
The long tail also works in the same content with other similar long tails which generate a very positive synergy for the quality and quantity of traffic in acquisition. A study must therefore be used beforehand in order to allow the correct insertion of the different terms in your content.
Why is the long tail less competitive?
By increasing the number of words that make up the long tail, we exponentially increase the number of combinations available to work on a long SEO tail.
The longer it is, the more likely it is that the competition will be weak and the more it is possible to stand out from the competition to position yourself easily. Contrary to popular belief, only 18% of traffic is represented by the first 10,000 keywords.
The long tail represents nearly 70% of total traffic, which leaves many more opportunities to manage to deploy a new source of traffic.
A long tail is therefore less competitive due to the number of possible combinations, but also due to the increasing difficulty of SEO optimization without having to distort the content.
Each combination must be worked to cover the widest possible area and thus increase even more the chances of generating traffic.
Should We Only work Long Tail?
The long tail is a great way to acquire traffic in a stable and sustainable way. In addition, pages optimized on the basis of a long SEO tail are much more likely to lead to a conversion, which is a real advantage.
However, despite its effectiveness, it is recommended to set up other traffic acquisition channels, diversity being always the best solution to sustain the traffic of a website.
Long-tail SEO work generally comes in addition to more general content that will be targeted on a specific keyword.
By combining the different types of acquisition and by creating a tree structure on the website, all the pages will create a synergy effect that will be positive for each of them, which will generate more traffic.
Can we make shorter articles to work on long tail SEO?
In some cases, and since the competition can sometimes be very low, it is possible to produce shorter content. Especially on a long SEO long tail which ensures good visibility when typed.
To make sure of the quantity of content and the level of optimization that you need to integrate on your site, it is essential to carry out a study of the competition beforehand.
Low competition allows for shorter content while the presence of long and optimized content will force your hand to do the same by pushing the level of optimization to its maximum.
However, it will be more frequent in the case of the long tail SEO to encounter weak competition and by the number of much larger word combinations.
Long tail SEO
The long tail is ideal for positioning your content precisely. It is particularly effective to strengthen your SEO around a specific keyword for example.
By multiplying the positioning on long SEO tails, you maximize your chances of generating traffic, and you reinforce other content that uses similar keywords.
Before embarking on the creation of content optimized for a particular long tail, it is important to carry out a study on them in order to identify those which generate the most potential traffic.
Word combinations that don’t produce meaning or are never requested in a query generate little interest, because there is a good chance that the content will generate no or very little return.
The long tail is particularly effective when it is worked to answer multiple questions, but also to create an advanced semantic cocoon in order to allow all of your visitors to find answers to their questions.
However, this strategy requires a lot more work due to the amount of content to be produced, which is why it may be wise to outsource this part unless you have a team of qualified writers.
Our tip for creating long tail content
Writing content to position articles for long tail keywords can be tedious. It is indeed necessary to write very specific content, even if it is possible to write shorter articles than for competitive keywords.
Entrust the writing of your texts intended for the long tail by calling on professional freelance writers on Techjustify.com! They will know how to effectively write your long-tail content to optimize your SEO.