Definition of Long Tail Keywords for SEO
The Long Tail is a term popularized by Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine in his book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More. The point of the book was that while there may be many purchases and customers on the larger side of a search, 'riches' are in the 'niches.' Optimizing your website and business for the fragmented search (long tail, specific searches vs. short tail, generic searches) is where the real money is. These individual, keyword-intense searches and purchases actually may outweigh the larger search volume for SEO purposes.
What does this mean for Search Engine Optimization? What it means is that long tail searches may be very important to your SEO strategy. Take a keyword search for a medical malpractice attorney, for example, and we could build out the search as follows:
Medical Malpractice - lots of keyword volume but low keyword value
Medical Malpractice Attorney - lots of keyword volume but low keyword value
Medical Malpractice Attorney San Francisco - little keyword volume but lots of keyword value
In terms of SEO strategy, a Medical Malpractice Attorney here in the San Francisco Bay Area would be wise to focus his SEO on these long tail searches, those that include many keywords and strongly indicate a potential client. The higher value of these long tail SEO keyword searches will outweigh the lower value.
|
