To a small business looking to compete online, the internet often feels like a daunting ocean filled with bigger ships that have more resources and manpower. How to beat them? Long tail keywords are the answer.
What Is the Long Tail?
You may already be familiar with the concept of “Long tail.”
The term was coined in 2004 by author Chris Anderson to describe a new trend ushered in by the internet.
“Long tail” refers to the distribution of certain numbers that tend to form a long curve that resembles a tail.
An example may help you understand the concept and their implications for businesses.
Think, for example, of book sales. Chances are that the best-selling volumes are classics and books about current affairs.
That’s the tallest part of the curve, but the tail is formed by hundreds or maybe thousands of niche books whose total sum may even exceed the sales of bestsellers.
Now, what if instead of focusing on the tall part of the curve, a bookstore decided to focus on the long tail?
That would be a smart strategy for a simple reason: there’s less competition in the long tail.
To continue with our example, if a bookstore decided to stock classics, they would be competing with basically every other bookstore within the same area.
By contrast, if they took advantage of the long tail by carrying a wide variety of niche books, they would have good chances of selling more books because people can’t find them anywhere else.
What Are Long Tail Keywords and How Can They Help You Grow Your Business?
Long tail keywords are the application of the long tail concept to the internet.
As we discussed in a previous post, keywords are the terms that people use to look for content on the internet.
For example, let’s say that you sell shoes. “Women’s shoes” is a term that people may google to find what you sell.
Of course, it would be amazing if you could get your website ranking high for the search “women’s shoes” on Google (or any search engine for that matter). Problem is, this is a very common term with high competition so you would be battling against juggernauts of shoe retail—your prospects of winning wouldn’t be very high.
But what if you used the long tail to promote your business? By embracing the long tail, you stop wasting resources on impractical goals (such as appearing among the first results for high-competition keywords) to focus instead on more realistic objectives.
For example, while ranking high for “women’s shoes” can be extremely hard, ranking as the first result for “casual women’s shoes in Pleasantville (or wherever you live)” is way easier.
It’s true: the number of people searching “women’s shoes in Pleasantville” is nowhere near that of people searching for “women’s shoes,” but the former term has the added advantage of being extremely focused. In other words, you know that people searching for those words are almost definitely looking to buy women’s shoes in your area.
The lesson to take home is that using long tail words on your website and content not only allows you to reach clients more easily, but also attracts people who have already made their minds about making a purchase.
More Digital Marketing Tips and Resources
If you are interested in learning more about digital marketing, here are some previous posts you may find interesting:
- How to create a content strategy for your small business
- Does bad grammar affect the way my website ranks on search engines?
- What is ROI in marketing?
- What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?
- Using the four P’s of marketing to grow your small business
Contact the Experts in Digital Marketing!
Interested in using long tail keywords to promote your business? The experts at Uniko Biz Solutions ware here to take your online marketing strategy to the next level.
Let’s work together! Contact us today by email (info@unikommp.com), telephone (888-698-6456), or Facebook for a free consultation or to learn more about our multi-channel marketing services.
