How to Leverage Long-Tail Keywords To Rank for Years

The SEO landscape is changing rapidly. Competition on the SERP keeps increasing in this AI era. People keep churning out thousands of articles and optimizing them for SEO. 

Google has also made it harder for sites to rank organically, as ads take up more space on the SERPs.To create sustainable content that will rank for years, you should create helpful content based on longtail keywords. 

Why Long Tail Keywords Rank Easily

Long tail keywords are very relevant and specific. People searching for something online are looking for a particular solution. When they type their query on the Google search engine, Google uses several factors to determine the relevance of your site to these queries.

When you use longtail keywords, they are likely to match the search intent and rank high on the search engines.

Why Focus on Longtail Keywords

Here are a few reasons to consider using longtail keywords when  doing keyword research for your blog:

Rank Easily

Longtail keywords have several words and a lower search volume. This makes them less competitive and easy to rank for.

Provide A Better Search Intent

 Tracking search intent is a key SEO strategy. Longtail keywords offer a clear search intent since they contain three or more words. Therefore, they can help you get the exact audience you are searching for. 

Better Conversion

While longer phrases are used less on search engines, the people who use them to search for your products are more likely to buy your products and services. Since the person searching is very specific, they are closer to purchasing, leading to a better conversion.

Less Pay-Per-Click Cost

Longtail keywords can help you get more value for your dollars when using Google ads. Since they convert better, your campaigns will likely pay off better than when you target short phrases.

Examples Of Longtail Keywords

If we assume that your site is in the coffee niche, some of the broad terms that are short-tail keywords are:

  • Coffee
  • Iced coffee
  • Coffee maker

On the other hand, longtail keywords in the niche are phrases such as:

  • Best coffee maker under $100
  • Homemade coffee filters
  • Can you warm up iced filters

Top 5 Best Ways To Find Longtail Keywords

Some of the best ways in which you  can find longtail keywords are:

Use Google Suggest

The fastest and easiest way of finding longtail keywords is Google Suggest. All you need to do is type your primary keyword and let Google complete the suggestion.

 One of the reasons why this works is because Google will only suggest the phrases people are searching for. While not all phrases will work, they can still hint at what people are searching for.

This works in the same way as the Google auto suggestions. However, you will find the related searches at the bottom of the page of the SERP. Again, you will need to dig deeper into these keywords to find one that will work for your site.

Keyword Research Tools

Many keyword research tools can help you get longtail keywords. Some of the best ones, like Ahref and Semrush, are costly but quite effective as they will also show you the search volumes and competition level. 

While these data are not that accurate, they provide a hint of critical metrics. The Google Keyword tool is a great place to get started if you are on a budget.

Google Analytics

Your Google Analytics can show you the keywords that bring visitors to your site. You can dig deeper into these keywords to find longtail keywords you can target. While these keywords may be relevant to your site, you may not have them highly targeted to your site.

Check Your Search Query

If you run a campaign on AdWord, the site reports can show you the search query that drove people to your site. It will also give you more details compared to when using Google Analytics. For instance, the keywords bring conversion rather than just traffic. From there, you can find longtail keywords that you can go after.

Online Forums

Another great place where you can find longtail keywords is question-and-answer sites. These include:

  • Yahoo Answers
  • Reddit
  • Quora
  • Answer the public
  • Linkedin answers

Quora can help you find user-generated questions and answers on different topics. On the other hand, Reddit is a community of people who discuss various issues.

Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis in Seo is critical. This involves finding and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. Find out the longtail keywords they are ranking for and see if there are gaps in their articles that you can capitalize on.

 Again, you can use tools such as Ahref, Moz and Semrush to find out which of their longtail keywords have less competition. You can then create better content than the sites.

Brainstorm

You can also do mind mapping to determine your primary keywords and their related subtopics. You can then expand on these topics to get more keywords. Use phrases like “how about,” “what if,” and “how can” to think of creative keyword phrases. 

You can also use phrases such as best, review, vs. to find more keywords from your seed keyword. Finally, you can use price, location, quality, and other details.

Conclusion

If you want to rank easily, you must focus on longtail keywords. The number of websites targeting them is lower than those targeting short-tail keywords.

 Again, while the search volume of the people who use longtail keywords is lower, those who visit your site are highly targeted and will turn into buyers. Therefore, use the above tips to find longtail keywords you can easily rank for. 

Benjamin is a writer with over ten years of experience in the content writing field. He holds a Bachelor's degree in  Journalism from Strathmore University. He writes on various niches such as product reviews, self-improvement, and making mone online. You can find him curled on his couch with a self-improvement book when he is not blogging.