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In 2023, it’s crucial to consider the role of long-tail keywords in your content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. According to a 2021 report from Ahrefs, 95% of all keywords get ten or fewer searches per month. These keywords, known as long-tail keywords, are easier to rank for in many industries compared to broader, short-tail keywords.
Understanding Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are more specific or longer variations of head terms, which are short-tail keywords. They can serve as supporting keywords in content that primarily targets head terms, or they can be used as topical keywords in standalone pieces of content created to rank for a specific search intent.
For example, if you’re building a webpage targeting the keyword “cheap car insurance,” supporting long-tail keywords could include terms like “best cheap car insurance companies.” These supporting keywords should be incorporated into your content. However, you might also decide to create a standalone webpage targeting another long-tail keyword, such as “car insurance discounts for seniors.”
Including and Prioritizing Long-Tail Keywords in Your Content Calendar
To include and prioritize long-tail keywords in your content calendar, you need to understand the two types of long-tail keywords: supporting and topical.
Supporting long-tail keywords are closely related variants of a primary keyword. They help improve the ranking of a piece of content for less popular variations of the primary keyword. On the other hand, topical long-tail keywords are very specific keywords that are not closely related to a primary keyword. They require standalone pieces of content to rank for unique and specific search intents.
When deciding how to include and prioritize long-tail keywords, it’s essential to analyze search engine results pages (SERPs) for a given keyword. If the search results for a variant of a primary keyword are similar to those for the primary keyword, it’s a supporting long-tail keyword. However, if the results are different and more specific to the variant, it’s a topical long-tail keyword that deserves a standalone webpage.
The Importance of Long-Tail Keywords
Both supporting and topical long-tail keywords are crucial for a successful content marketing strategy. Here are six reasons why:
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Easier to Rank For: Long-tail keywords have lower search volume and keyword difficulty, making them easier to rank for and driving traffic faster compared to head terms.
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Showing Completeness to Google: Including long-tail keywords in your content helps demonstrate to Google that your article is complete and relevant to a searcher’s query. This can improve your rankings and make your content more helpful.
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Ranking for a Larger Number of Keywords: Incorporating supporting long-tail keywords into your content can help your articles rank for additional keywords. As people search for slightly different variations of the primary keyword, the included long-tail keywords signal to Google that the article is relevant to those terms.
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Building Topical Authority: Topical long-tail keywords help build topical authority or relevance for your website. By creating standalone content targeting these keywords, you strengthen your website’s authority on specific topics, leading to improved rankings and faster rankings for new content.
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Ranking Better for Specific Intents: Topical long-tail keywords target specific search intents that don’t align directly with head terms. Google prioritizes content focused on specific keywords or intents, resulting in better rankings for more targeted pieces of content.
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Higher Conversion Rates: More specific content, driven by long-tail keywords, generally leads to higher conversion rates. Long-tail variants have higher conversion rates for transactional keywords compared to more general head terms.
Finding Long-Tail Keywords
There are several methods to find long-tail keywords. Here are four effective approaches:
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Think Critically About Customer Questions: Consider the questions and perspectives your customers have. Use your domain expertise and customer interactions to identify specific questions that can be turned into long-tail keywords.
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Use Keyword Research Tools: Tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Positional provide search volume estimates, keyword difficulty scores, and related keywords. These tools help validate assumptions and provide data-driven insights for long-tail keyword research.
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Compare Your Content with Competitors: Analyze your competitors’ websites using tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to see which keywords they are ranking for. Identify content gaps and find long-tail keywords that your competitors are targeting but you may be missing.
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Utilize Communities like Reddit or Quora: Explore websites like Reddit or Quora to discover long-tail keywords and specific questions that your customers may have. These platforms provide valuable insights and can uncover keywords that traditional keyword research tools might miss.
Optimizing Your Content with Long-Tail Keywords
Optimizing your content with long-tail keywords is essential for improving rankings and driving targeted traffic. Here’s how you can optimize your content effectively:
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Use Positional’s Optimize Toolset: Positional offers the Optimize toolset, which provides suggestions for supporting long-tail keywords to include in your content. These suggestions are based on the keywords used by top-ranking webpages for a given primary keyword.
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Optimize Title Tags and Permalinks: Include relevant long-tail keywords in your title tags and permalinks. These elements are important for both search engines and searchers to understand the content and its keywords.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating long-tail keywords into your content marketing and SEO strategy is crucial for driving targeted traffic, increasing rankings, and improving conversion rates. Use a combination of supporting and topical long-tail keywords to optimize your content and build topical authority. By understanding the different types of long-tail keywords and employing effective research methods, you can create a comprehensive content calendar that targets the right keywords. With the right optimization techniques, your content can rank better, attract more traffic, and ultimately drive business success.
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