The Importance of Long Tail Keyword Research
Today’s internet is not the same it was say, two or three years ago. Competition for keywords is quite competitive and keyword research is becoming more difficult. To be competitive in today’s online marketing environment you essentially have two options. First would be to concentrate on regional SEO where the competition may not be as intense; the second option is to look a lot closer at long tail keywords.
Popular measurement provider Hitwise has reported a 7% increase in the number of 5 to 8 word search queries over the last year which goes a long way to show that searchers are now more comfortable with search engines and also they are becoming more sophisticated in their use.
Searchers are no longer using one or two word search terms in their searches. Long tail keyword phrases have taken on more importance.
One of the first steps I take with a new client is to examine their analytics. This helps me to identify which search terms are being used to find pages. With a little tweaking of existing pages with some of the new search terms and the effect on traffic is often quite dramatic.
One and two word keywords are now history. The future is to optimize for terms which are at least three to four words in length. Keyword research needs to be more in tune now with users and how they interact with the search engines. Limiting keyword research to one or two words based on your product or service won’t produce much in the way of traffic in the future.
