Jul 09
The Yes Side of Long Tail Keyword Use
Guest Blogger: Chad Henderson
As it relates to the recent discussion about the use of the long tail theory, I’m nowhere close to abandoning the strategy as an important component in keyword targeting. I thought it might be helpful to spend a couple of minutes expanding on my “yes” vote for the continued use of long tail keywords.
Web traffic is unlike typical business models where 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients. Most qualified web traffic is the reverse of that, where 20% of your business comes from your “top” key words, with the remaining traffic being generated from the remaining 80% of your key phrases. What it boils down to is trying to figure out the multiple variations of key phrases, and choosing key phrases that capture the market share.
To help illustrate this marketing point, the long-tail concept is demonstrated in the following graph utilized in some recent forum and blog threads concerning long tail theory. Here, Seth Godin discusses three “pockets” of the long tail and highlights three areas of importance on the curve.
Here are a couple of other examples of choosing long tail optimized keywords to give you a better idea about the concept:
- An online auto parts store choosing “ford mustang exhaust system” versus “auto parts”, or
- A dog training service choosing “dog obedience classes” versus “dogs”
In both of these examples, the selection of the “longer” key phrases will most probably result in more targeted traffic to the site, and thus more conversions. The moral of the story… don’t be afraid to use 2-4 word key phrases as your target key phrases, it may end helping your overall objective.