Why Long-Tail Keywords are Pure SEO Gold

Wondering why long-tail keywords are important? You aren’t alone. Over 5,000 people ask Google “what is a long tail keyword?” every month. 

If you’re not a content marketing professional or SEO copywriter, long tail keywords are probably a confusing concept. You just learned the importance of keyword research and search term selection — and now it’s getting more specific?

“This is why I outsource digital marketing,” my startup founder friend told me recently. “I have no brain space left for SEO jargon.”

But understanding long tail keywords is quite simple. Let’s cut through the jargon and cover the following in this guide to why long-tail keywords are important:

• Long-tail keywords are just longer search terms. A long tail keyword contains 3+ words, and many of the most optimized long tail search terms are over 10 words.
• Long tail queries provide deeper insight into search intent. The more specific a keyword phrase, the more your customer tells you about their reason for searching — and where they sit in the sales funnel.
• Use broad keyword terms for webpages and pillar content, as you’ll capture more readers. Long tail keywords are exceptional as guideposts for targeted blog articles and niche content.
• Long-tail keywords are pure SEO gold. Over 92% of Google search terms are long tail queries, and they’re easier to rank highly for on search engine results pages (SERPs), and they produce a dynamite 36% conversion rate.

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What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

A long-tail keyword is a search query of 3 words or more. (Yes, it’s that simple!) 

Long tail keywords are narrow in focus and generally offer lower search volume than broader search queries. So what makes long tail keywords important? Volume and clarity.

• Volume. Long tail keywords make up roughly 92% of all search engine queries (Backlinko). That’s over 7.8 billion long tail search queries per day. 
• Clarity. Long tail search terms offer tremendous insight into the search intent of your reader. Longer search terms allow the searcher to find content that fits a narrower focus. They also lets you know precisely what they’re looking for, and how to serve them.

Long Tail vs Short Tail Keywords

A short tail keyword (or “head keyword”) is a brief search phrase that covers a broad range of topics. Short tail queries offer a far greater search volume, but aren’t nearly as specific as a long tail term.

So how do you know when to use long and short tail keywords as primary keywords in your content creation process?

Optimize your content for long tail keywords to focus on a narrow band of readers looking for specific information you can provide expert answers for.
Optimize your content for short tail keywords to reach a larger search volume about a broader focus topic.

The defining characteristic that sets long tail keywords apart from short tail keywords is their ability to identify and define the search intent of your audience.

Long-Tail Keywords Define Specific Search Intent

You’re far more likely to gain valuable insight about your audience from specific long tail keyword search data. 

Let’s use “Google Trends” as a short-tail keyword example. We know the user is searching for information about Google Trends — but what, exactly? Are they looking for the URL? Information about trending search topics? Analytics features?

A searcher who uses the long-tail keyword “Google Trends for local SEO” provides much greater detail about the information they hope to find. 

Focus your digital copy and articles around relevant long tail keywords to maximize search engine optimization for highly specific pieces of content.

How to Choose Long-Tail Keywords for Content Strategy

How do you choose the right long tail keyword phrase for a new piece of copywriting or digital content?

The good news: it’s relatively simple to identify potential long tail keyword options for new content and optimize existing content for a breakout search term.

Here are 3 ways to select the best long-tail search terms for your content:

1. Focus on relevancy over volume. Long tail keyword selection is more about relevancy than search volume. “I’d rather have 80% of 5,000 searches than 1% of 50,000 searches,” a fellow content strategist told CopyDash. Find a relevant keyword to your article, then optimize it to expertly answer the search query.
2. Use Google as a long tail keyword generator. Enter a seed keyword into Google search, and it auto-completes the short tail term with a list of long tail keyword ideas based on search volume.
3. Monitor your Google Analytics. Use Google Search Console to discover long tail keyword queries that lead searchers to your website and blog posts. Look for search terms with high impression counts, and see what URLs they help people discover. Then, optimize the content on those pages for those long tail keywords and related keywords.

Be sure to identify and use SEO tools and SaaS (software-as-a-service) platforms that provide insight into long-tail keyword trends.

5 Great SEO Tools for Long Tail Keyword Research

Here are 5 quality SEO tool options that help users find long tail keyword options. We’ve provided extra information about our current favorite keyword research tool, Answer the Public.

• Answer The Public. Neil Patel is the content marketing guru behind Answer The Public, a fabulous SEO keyword research tool that generates long tail keyword options based on a generic keyword query.
• Semrush.
• Ahrefs.
• Hubspot.
• Google Keyword Planner.

The Data: Why Long-Tail Keywords are Important

At CopyDash, we believe great writing is only as good as the data behind it. These data points and statistics indicate a strong relationship between long tail keywords and SEO success.

More Search Engine Queries Use Long Tail Keywords

• Nearly 92% of all search engine queries are long-tail keywords (Backlinko).
• CopyDash internal data suggests 7 out of 10 potential customers first discover a new website or business via long tail search queries.

Long Tail Keywords Can Improve SERP Rankings

• Pages and articles optimized for long tail search terms improve 11 positions on SERP on average (Embryo).
• There is less competition for Google featured snippets related to long tail search terms.

Long Tail Keywords Convert Better

• The average conversion rate for long tail keyword is 36% (Embryo).
• CopyDash internal data from 2023 shows organic website traffic from long-tail keyword searches was 29% higher than paid search traffic.
• The low keyword difficulty of long tail keyword terms allows new websites and brands to instantly compete for top SERP rankings (Ahrefs).

Long Tail Keywords are Cost-Effective

• Long-tail keywords are generally cheaper to bid for in Google Ads than head keywords (Embryo).
• PPC experts suggest using long tail keywords for most paid search bidding (Link Assistant).

Don’t Neglect Short Tail Keyword Strategy!

Too much of anything is bad for you. The same holds true for an overreliance on long tail keywords in your content development process and overall strategy.

You still need the catch-all, high search volume appeal of short-tail keywords to attract broad readership at the top of your sales funnel. 

A smart content marketing strategy utilizes both short tail and long tail keywords where appropriate. SEO copywriting agencies like CopyDash help business owners strategically select SEO keywords to drive unique search results for each page of digital content.

Conclusion

The list of potential keywords for your content strategy should include a healthy mix of long and short tail queries.

Business owners and marketing directors must utilize long-tail keywords to gain a fuller understanding of the specific questions their audience is asking.

• Long tail keywords are search terms of 3 words or more that help identify search intent and inform content strategy to best address the reader’s questions.
• Nearly 92% of all search queries are long-tail, indicating a desire for specialized and specific digital content.
• Utilize short-tail keywords to capture broad search focus at the beginning of buyer journeys, and work towards long-tail keyword content at the bottom of the sales funnel.

Schedule a complimentary strategy session with our founder — it takes less than 90 seconds to get started!