Long-Tail Keywords: Don’t Just Focus on the Tip of the SEO Iceberg
One of the SEO companies used to have a photo of an iceberg on their homepage. I love the analogy of an iceberg regarding search engine optimization. A recent conversation with a client regarding their ROI on SEO held some concerns that they only got a handful of unique visitors in the last year for the keyword phrase we were targeting, promoting, and tracking.
The keyword is unique, and I don’t have permission to share it…. but in reviewing their analytics, they were only getting a handful of visits for that exact keyword. Analyzing their traffic further, we discovered over 200 additional visits per month for related keywords. The exact keyword provided only a handful of visits before, during, and after their SEO implementation.
However, there were 266 related keyword terms that the client was getting traffic on before the program. That grew to 1,141 related keyword phrases that they were getting traffic upon optimizing the site, enhancing the content, and promoting related keywords. Those 1,141 related keyword searches resulted in over 20,000 new visitors to the site.
What is a Long-Tail Keyword?
A long-tail keyword refers to a specific and typically longer phrase or query users enter into search engines. These keywords are more detailed and specific compared to shorter, more general keywords. Long-tail keywords are valuable in various digital marketing strategies, including SEO and PPC advertising, because they target a niche audience and often have less competition.
Here’s an example of a long-tail keyword:
- Generic Keyword: “Laptops”
- Long-Tail Keyword: “Best lightweight laptops for graphic design under $1000”
Long-tail keywords can help businesses attract more qualified leads and improve their chances of converting those leads into customers because they cater to users who are looking for very specific information or products.
Calculating SEO ROI
Those related terms are known as long-tail keywords, and there are sometimes more customers, money, and opportunities there than fighting it out with the competition on high-volume keywords. Related phrases can drive even more intent from your target audience.
The bottom line is that SEO is not like buying a keyword with PPC (enter broadmatch to encompass long-tail opportunities). Organic search has the opportunity to grow your traffic through an entire network of related keyword phrases. This is critical in your search engine strategy. If all your focus is on the tip of the iceberg, you’re not paying attention to the higher volumes of traffic that related search terms are bringing you.
Another strategy where this is an issue is local search. DK New Media recently performed an SEO audit on a service-based company that operated nationally. Their promotion, content, site hierarchy, and entire SEO strategy only targeted general service-based terms without any geography.
The competitors are eating their lunch – getting a hundred times the traffic because the competitors intelligently targeted geography as aggressively as the service topic. When this company was working with their SEO consultant, geography didn’t even come up in the conversation because the search volumes weren’t significant. The SEO professional focused on the tip of the iceberg… and missed the 90%+ of smaller, geographic keyword searches.
The company is in trouble… they have a lot of ground to try to make up if they hope to be a leader in service-related searches. The fact is that local search is the primary term when searching for regional services. You’re not going to search for car wash on Google… you’re going to search for your neighborhood or city in addition to car wash. There may not be high volumes of searches for Albuquerque car wash… but add up every city in the United States with a car wash, and that’s a HUGE number. And why would you want Denver car wash traffic?
It’s okay to direct a strategy on the tip of the iceberg, measure it, monitor it, and optimize for it. However, don’t forget that you’re only working with the tip!
