Long-tail keywords are uninteresting due to the low search volume and do not contribute to traffic to your website. That is not right! In fact, 70% of all searches are done using long-tail search terms. You did not know that? Never mind! Because this article will tell you what these keywords are about and which great tools will help you find the best long-tail keywords!
Generic vs. Long-Tail Keywords
In principle, a distinction is made between generic and long-tail keywords. To illustrate these terms, a fishing metaphor is used here. If you set sail with your small rowing boat and throw a net anywhere in the sea, you may run out of gas because the big fishing boats have caught all the fish. Or you are lucky and find some fish in your net. However, most are small and useless. If, on the other hand, you cast a rod with a good bait in the right place, you are likely to catch a really thick, tasty fish.
Similarly with generic and long-tail keywords:
Generic Keywords – High Search Volume and High Competition
Generic keywords are generic and nonspecific. The search volume for these keywords is correspondingly high. So, if you’re fishing for users with generic keywords, you have to compete against strong competition. If your page actually appears for the keyword in the contested page 1 results, it’s uncertain if it’s also relevant to the user’s intention. In the worst case, only users with an entirely different search intention will get to their site and jump straight back off, which in turn would damage the entire page from an SEO point of view, since a jump is a bad user signal.
Long-Tail Keywords – Low Search Volume but also Little Competition
For long-tail keywords, this is different. As the name implies, these are longer, more specific keywords. The user follows with a precise search a specific goal and has already pre-informed. So he is already much more advanced in Conversion Funnel than a user who does a generic search. So, if you’re casting the right bait for this user, targeting your content to the corresponding long-tail keyword, the chances of a good ranking and conversion are high.
How To Use Long-Tail Keywords For Your Benefit
So, in keyword research, you’re not just looking at a keyword’s search volume, but trying to find keywords that are relevant to specific searches. How to find the most relevant users! Just because the search volume for a keyword is low does not mean that it’s inappropriate for your purposes. Although every single long-tail keyword has a very low monthly search volume, long-tail search terms account for 70% of all search queries.
From this one can derive two findings:
- For almost a third of all search queries, users use generic search terms. These should therefore not be neglected, as even short keywords traffic can be generated.
- Users often use specific search queries to narrow down the results and get to their destination faster. Take advantage of this, for example, when optimizing your meta tags. In principle, the more specific the keyword, the lower the potential competition, and the higher the chance of a click and subsequent conversion.
For a better understanding, a small example: A user who enters the search term “Mallorca”, for example, might want to know about the number of inhabitants, the sights, or even a holiday. On the other hand, if he uses the Book Majorca hiking holiday», his intention is clear. While the search volume for “Mallorca” is very high, the AdWords Keyword Planner does not even record ten queries per month for the long-tail keyword. For a provider of appropriate travel but the second query is much more interesting since the user has a concrete purchase intent and the competition should turn out significantly lower.
4 Tools for Perfect Long-tail Keywords for Your Website
To catch the big fish, there are several handy and free tools to help you find the right keyword. The following tools are in regular use with us and will also serve you well:
1. keywordtool.io
This simple yet handy tool spits out any long-tail keywords or questions for any keyword. In this way, you can quickly generate new ideas for matching keywords, because the displayed results were actually entered by users on Google. In the paid version, the search volumes are also displayed. For brainstorming the free version but enough.
- pros: a free, easy alternative to the Google Keyword Planner (especially for long-tail keywords)
- cons: Search volumes are only displayed with a paid version
2. W-question Tool
Whether for a single keyword or a search phrase, the W-Questions tool will generate various matching. W-questions (who, how, what, where, why, why) who have entered into Google in this context. It’s easy to find out what potential users care about.
- pros: good for working out user interests
- cons: the focus is really only on the W-questions
3. HyperSuggest
HyperSuggest combines the advantages of the previous tools in a simple and clear way. With this tool, you can choose whether to insert the additional words in front of or behind the keyword you entered, or whether you want keywords for both options. In addition, with this tool, you also receive W questions about the keyword you entered.
- pros: clear user interface with four “suggest” functions
- cons: Recently, only 10 keywords are displayed. If you want to have the complete list, you have to complete HyperSuggest Pro.
4. Answer the Public
Granted, what the bearded gentleman is doing here is really confusing! But if you get involved with it, you get with Answerthepublic a sheer endless wealth of suggestions. Because this tool not only grazes loads of W-questions but also presents countless other specific search queries made by users about the entered keyword. Just try to bring the bored-looking Kautz with any keyword from the socket!
- pros: cool visual presentation
- cons: no search volume is displayed (the problem can be easily solved with the Chrome Extension Keywords Everywhere)
How do these tools help you?
Quite simply, these four tools not only help you develop new keyword ideas but also provide insight into what’s relevant to your users. If you know what your users are interested in, there’s nothing to stand in the way of creating user-relevant content with added value. And not only your users but also Google is looking forward to it – a win-win situation. After the research, you have a number of new possibilities. In some cases, this step will tell you which keywords are the most suitable for optimization. A broad result requires a further step in the selection process.
Select the Perfect Long-Tail Keyword
When the research for suitable long-tail keywords is completed, one now faces the question of which of these should be used best. The criterion by which this decision should be made is the search volume. This metric tells you how many users search for the keyword and helps estimate the traffic potential of the search term. The information is usually based on a monthly average – so it must be taken into account that it is not an exact number, but an estimate.
This is partly because some search queries are seasonal or vary greatly by region. But no problem, that can also be tested. Depending on the season, seasonally dependent keywords often fluctuate greatly in the search volume and are wonderful with Google Trends analysis:
But even in certain regions, the search volume of keywords can differ greatly. Our tip: Specify your region of interest in the AdWords Keyword Tool for the most accurate results possible:
The search volume can be searched directly for suitable long-tail keywords with Keywordtool.io to be determined. But you need a paid account. If you have an Adwords account and are running campaigns, you can do it in a few simple steps: Export an Excel or CSV spreadsheet from Keywordtool.io and copy the keywords into the Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Here you can also view the search volume, sort your chosen long-tail keywords by search volume, and select the long-tail keywords with high potential.
So the next time you look for strong keywords for your site’s meta tags, headlines, and content. The featured tools are your new friends to find the right baits for the big fish!
