Question:

I’ve recently set up my own business online and, even though I’m convinced I’m one of the world’s true undiscovered geniuses, when it comes to SEO I am prepared to hand over a little time and money to the experts in order to get it right. However, I don’t want to get ripped off by a techie who tries to baffle me with Google-speak, so I have been to an Internet Marketing training seminar and am trying to learn a few of the basics of SEO. I think I’m beginning to grasp the main concept; but there is one term I don’t really understand that keeps on popping up - “long tail key words”.

Can you explain how they are different from other key words? And should I use them?

Heather Clapham

Answer:

Hi Heather, well it’s great that you are learning a bit about SEO before handing it over to the experts, and this is actually a very important question. At the very basic level, in the words of Gertrude Stein, a keyword, is a keyword, is a keyword (with a certain amount of poetic licence!), but it’s your selection of those keywords which forms one of the crucial building blocks of your SEO strategy. Working on the assumption that you already know what keywords are, and how to identify them in Google Adwords or another keyword tool such as Wordtracker, the next step is choosing which keywords you want to fight your battles for. In other words, the keywords which are the most important for each priority landing page of your site. So, how do you decide which of those words are the ones you want to target?

The common mistake a lot of people make is to immediately jump in and find the keywords with the highest number of people searching for them and begin their (uphill) battle. However, just as important as the volume of searches is the competition of sites using that word or phrase. It’s simple maths really; in general, the more people searching for a keyword, the more competitive it usually is. The concept of long tail keywords is based on the idea of using more specific, targeted keywords that, although having fewer searches, are less competitive and therefore easier battles to win.

In order to use the concept effectively, we have found that it pays to take a more Zen approach by choosing keywords somewhere in between the very low volume long tail phrases and the high volume, more generic keywords. If you picture the selection graph as an arc with five points -1 being  a high number of searches (the more generic keywords), and 5 being the very specific, targeted keywords with low search volume – target the keywords which sit around the number 3-4 position. You can then go about creating some landing pages specifically for these keywords, which can be optimised much easier.

So Heather, now you know! By the way, if you want to do your Internet Marketing training with the professionals, why not try one of our great seminars?