This isn't the first time we've touched on the long-tail keyword topic. Two years ago, we published a post explaining what long-tail keywords actually are and how to select long-tail keywords. If you haven't had a chance to read this article and this topic interests you, we encourage you to do so – here's a link to that post on the long-tail keyword . If you prefer watching and listening, you can find a video on the Verseo YouTube channel on this topic – here.
It is not our intention to duplicate that entry or refresh it after all these years.
Therefore, this time we won't go into detail about what the long tail is or why it's worth focusing on long-tail SEO. We'd like to suggest how to prepare your website for long-tail SEO and what best practices support it. It's also worth learning how to identify your actual long tail.
For whom will the long tail be particularly important?
However, a brief reminder is essential. SEO specialists define long-tail keywords as more complex, meaning more precise and unique, keywords that generate traffic for a given website. Such a keyword phrase consists of several words. While the long-tail may often account for the majority of traffic leading to a given website, it is highly diversified internally. There will be no clear leaders—the most frequently occurring keywords. However, if this internally fragmented pool of keywords, when gathered together, generates valuable and converting traffic to the website, it means it's worth considering and nurturing. The long-tail shouldn't be underestimated...
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The long tail will be particularly important for online stores. This doesn't mean that websites presenting services won't benefit from it – they definitely will, though on a different scale. However, it is precisely the extensive websites with a rich offer that will benefit most from optimization to strengthen the long tail. Considering how, under the influence of the situation in 2020, commerce has become more online than ever before, it's definitely worth strengthening your online store.
Can you monitor long tail phrases?
Can the long tail be captured, analyzed, and extracted from it the most valuable morsels? Absolutely. SEO specialists have specialized industry tools at their disposal that allow them to assess, for example, how many phrases Google associates with a given website are in the top 10. These tools perform a comprehensive assessment of the website, separate from the phrases specified in the SEO agreement and monitored. Sound complicated? Let's illustrate this with an example. We're SEOing a brand new online store that has just launched. It doesn't yet have any traffic and no phrases appearing in the top 10 on Google.pl. When signing the contract, we agreed to conduct detailed position monitoring for 200 keywords selected in collaboration with the client. Verseo measures position for these phrases daily. This information is visible in the client's dashboard and in reports they receive periodically. This tells us that, for example, after six months, 150 of the 200 phrases included in the contract are in the top 10. But does this fully reflect the scale of this website's online visibility? Another tool might show us a four-digit number of phrases in the top 10.
By testing a website using SEO tools that do not know the provisions of the contract and the list of keywords, we can determine how many phrases generally related to this website are in the top 10, i.e. after entering how many phrases this website will be displayed in the top 10 search results for a given phrase.
The number of keywords in the top 10 for a given website can fluctuate month-to-month. When dealing with a website with a history and established online visibility, we can compare the results from before SEO began (e.g., the month before signing the contract) with the current results. This comparison allows us to see how much the SEO specialists' efforts have contributed to the website and how they have increased its visibility in the top 10.
Both parameters – measurement in the context of keywords specified in the contract and measurement performed using additional tools and relating to the website as a whole – are not mutually exclusive or in conflict. Their combination provides a more comprehensive picture of the effectiveness of SEO and the support it provides the website.
Is there any other way to understand your long-tail keywords beyond paid SEO tools in the pro version? The free Google Search Console tool comes to the rescue. It provides a wealth of useful information, including search queries that lead to clicks and page visits, and also estimates the position of keywords generating impressions and clicks. Analyzing the phrases visible there allows you to identify those that match your long-tail criteria, assessing whether they generate clicks and their positions. For clarity, it's worth noting that these criteria, which help identify keywords responsible for page visits, apply not only to long-tail keywords. They also help identify shorter but valuable phrases that can be used for promotion but that, for various reasons, weren't included in the initial set of keywords for SEO.
Generic phrases versus long tail
We can say right from the outset that general phrases shouldn't be contrasted with long-tail phrases. They are entered into search engines by different groups of potential customers and, as a result, serve different functions. The more complex phrases characteristic of long-tail phrases indicate more precisely expressed expectations regarding the product the potential customer is looking for. General phrases are most often entered exploratoryly and at the beginning of a pre-purchase search, when expectations are not yet fully defined. These general phrases can indicate a search for information or a casual inspection, rather than an immediate desire to make a purchase.
How to effectively support long tail?
Effective support for long-tail keywords can begin at the stage of building or optimizing an existing website. We've identified four key elements that are important for long-tail optimization, but don't require any complex website interventions.
- Meta title and meta description
We've mentioned the importance of meta tags, such as meta title and meta description, for SEO in our publications. Since long-tail optimization primarily applies to product and category-related subpages, it's crucial to ensure the meta tags for these subpages are well-designed. Setting identical meta tags for the entire website is a major mistake. Such duplication is clearly undesirable from an SEO perspective. We understand that manually setting unique meta tags for each product is a significant challenge. Therefore, automatic meta tag generation is essential, using, for example, a unique product name (or product category name in the case of category subpages), followed by a suffix such as the store or company name. If pagination is used and products from the same category appear on more than one subpage, it's also important to ensure these meta tags are unique on subsequent page views. A solution might be to cleverly incorporate a tag like "page 2," "page 3," etc. What can be done to ensure unique and non-duplicated descriptions? In this case, you can leverage unique content published on subpages, which will become the basis for the meta description. It's worth emphasizing that the meta title tag is more important than the meta description in SEO.
- Headlines on the page
We'll discuss the importance of headings in diversifying content in section 4, dedicated to content. It's worth including headings on your page and using keywords in them. If you have a subpage dedicated to women's tracksuits, for example, instead of the generic "women's," it's worth including keywords in your HX headings that describe your offerings: women's tracksuits – cotton, pastel, oversized, printed, etc. Of course, all the keywords and terms that make up the long-tail don't have to appear in a single heading. In such a case, it's worth spreading them across several headings. Of course, a page can also have a heading that doesn't include keywords – not every heading needs to contain them. However, it's worth dedicating at least some of your headings to keywords and terms that may become keywords in search results.
- URL address
Keywords and phrases used to search for products from our offer can also be included in subpage URLs. We don't encourage the machine to change existing, even imperfect, subpage URLs – an incorrect approach can damage the website. However, if you're considering adding new subpages or redesigning your site, when planning the new structure and subpage addresses, ensure they contain important keywords in their entirety. Referring to the example from the previous point: it's better to have the term "women's tracksuits" in the subpage URL than just "women's." A product subpage should also have a user-friendly URL address that incorporates specific keywords. However, don't overdo the URL length, as an address longer than 100 characters is excessive. Blog posts are also more likely to be affected by this problem than product subpages.
- Content matters
Of course, in the case of an online store, you can identify the best-selling products and product categories. This pool is most often reflected in a set of keywords, which is saved as an annex to the SEO agreement. These are also the phrases for which position monitoring will be conducted – daily research allows for the detection of dips and spikes, or whether a phrase has entered the top 10. However, potential customers enter significantly more variations on search queries than the list of keywords selected for monitoring typically includes. They add features that are important to them. By analyzing the terms that led to website visits, it's worth knowing which words and phrases to use when describing the available product or service. Rich content that addresses search queries – not just the most popular ones – supports SEO with long-tail keywords. The best place to introduce content supporting long-tail keywords is on the product category page or the product itself. Recognizing the enormity of content optimization (not just for long-tail keywords), we encourage you to approach it in stages. It's better to gradually implement new content, even in small increments, than to abandon the idea entirely.
Content published on a website must be visible to search engine spiders so it can be indexed. It must also be unique if it is to positively impact SEO. It's safe to say that all the rules for good content that apply to optimization also apply to strengthening content for long-tail keywords. As a reminder, this is:
- uniqueness – the text on the website should not be duplicated on other websites,
- don't skimp on words - an extensive text will be better than a superficial approach to the topic,
- the text should not be monolithic, it is worth using paragraph division, using headings and placing keywords in them,
- the text should be linguistically attractive and correct, encouraging people to read it, and at the same time providing information that will facilitate consumer decision-making,
- available to web robots,
- systematically developed.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- Long Tail in e-commerce and services: For whom is this type of phrase most important?
- Content Marketing: The Best Ways to Support Long Tail SEO
