| By focusing on a handful of obvious keywords you | | | | and "quarter horse training products"? Here is another |
| may be missing out on the 'real' keywords that | | | | example: 'Credit Cards' is the general keyword but |
| prospective customers are actually using to find your | | | | effective long tail keywords within this niche could |
| product or service. This article will give you the long | | | | include: 'good low cost credit cards for nurses', 'credit |
| and the short of Long Tail Keywords. Enjoy! | | | | cards for people with bad credit', 'credit cards with low |
| Ideas that are now considered common sense, or | | | | interest', 'benefits of corporate credit cards', and so on. |
| generally acceptable, rarely get linked to the person | | | | The core ideas about long tail keywords is that there is |
| who originally conceived them. Take the 80-20 rule, for | | | | less competition for them, so it's easier to get a good |
| example. Who remembers the Italian | | | | search engine rankings, and also the fact that people |
| economist,Vilfredo Pareto, who noticed that 80% of | | | | who search certain long tail keywords are much more |
| land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. His | | | | likely to be potential purchasers. If you can optimise |
| work was taken up by others until it entered everyday | | | | your web pages while delivering high value, informative |
| thinking. And today, for example, we take it as fact | | | | content that matches those particular search queries |
| that we probably spend 8% of our time with 20% of | | | | you are highly likely to attract visitors who are actively |
| our friends, or choose 20% of our favorite takeaways | | | | seeking actual information about products using your |
| 80% of the time. | | | | long tail keywords and other, similar, phrases. |
| More generally, of course, it is a common rule of thumb | | | | And there's no doubt that long tail keywords are a |
| in business: e.g., "80% of your sales come from 20% | | | | highly effective at attracting traffic. What's more |
| of your clients." In business, for example, Microsoft | | | | important, there are thousands and thousands of long |
| noted that by fixing the top 20% of the most reported | | | | tail keywords which no one or very few people are |
| bugs, 80% percent of the errors and crashes would | | | | pinpointing so can easily be utilised. |
| be eliminated. | | | | Here, then, are four major reasons why you need to |
| So far, so good. But what if you found out that - let's | | | | consider the use of long tail keywords to make your |
| take your website, for instance - the Pareto principle | | | | web pages user search engine friendly: |
| didn't hold up so well? That 80% of your major | | | | First, focusing on long tail keywords will slowly but |
| keywords only account for 20% of your sales? In | | | | surely lead to more search engine traffic because you |
| other words, by focusing on a handful of major | | | | will have many, many web pages indexed and ranked |
| keywords you may be missing out on the 'real' | | | | for specific phrases related to your products or |
| keywords that prospective customers are actually | | | | services. This means higher visibility and so a greater |
| using to find your product or service. | | | | volume amount of search engine traffic. |
| Most webmasters apply the 80-20 rule: that the top | | | | Next, long tail keywords lead to higher purchase ratios. |
| keyword provide 80% of the business, but in practice, | | | | Visitors who visit your web site because they have |
| this has proved to be the opposite. In other words, the | | | | entered long tail search phrases are highly likely to buy |
| keywords that are most sought after are actually | | | | your product or service or follow through on affiliate |
| rarely those that provide the most business. | | | | programs. By focusing on these long tail phrases, you |
| Let me put it another way: your web pages are much | | | | are actually zeroing in on a vast market of potential |
| more likely to gain more of their search engine | | | | buyers. |
| referrals via a mixture of low-volume search queries | | | | Third, long tail keywords lead to higher page ranking |
| instead of a tight bunch of keywords. And this means | | | | because of there is generally far less competition. |
| that by focusing on identifying the keywords which | | | | There is so much more scope for variation when you |
| receive a lower volume of search queries you will | | | | start digging for the phrases that people actually use |
| increase in the overall amount of prospective | | | | when they enter search terms. |
| customers from, say, Google, to your website. | | | | Finally, using long tail keywords means that your sites |
| What are these keywords? And how will they | | | | have the potential for greater monetization. People |
| increase my visitor traffic? | | | | who find your site because they used a search engine |
| Well, keywords such as this are generally recognised | | | | such as Google or Yahoo are high value for this |
| as Long Tail Keywords. "Long Tail" because they are | | | | reason: they are people who are looking for explicit |
| phrases that are usually made up of more than three | | | | information. So they are highly likely to follow relevant |
| words. For instance: "Paint" is not long tail, but "Outdoor | | | | advertisements or subscribe to your blog feed or |
| paint for wooden shed" is long tail. Or, take "shoes": | | | | ezine. |
| "Adidas running shoes" is almost there. But "Adidas | | | | So here's the nutshell: more long tail keywords equals |
| running shoes for women" is a long tail keyword. | | | | more potential customers equals more likely sales. |
| Can you see the difference between "horse training" | | | | Good luck! |