Do you find yourself constantly fighting to rank on the front page of Google? I know how frustrating it can be. You are not alone in this struggle, and from what your competitors are doing around you, they too have a hard time ranking high competition keywords. That is why today we’ll be talking about using longtail keyword research for competitive terms!
What are Longtail Keywords?
Longtail keywords are the search words or phrases that have a low volume of searches and little competition. These can be very specific to what you’re selling, resulting in more targeted potential customers for your product!
Why Should I try to Rank for Longtail Keywords?
Customers who use specific keywords when they search for a product are more likely to buy them than the generic searchers. When you want people to find your website or purchase something from it, using words that will attract their attention is key in boosting business and converting customers into sales leads.
Searching for longtail keywords is much easier than searching the common ones because a lot less websites compete to get high rankings and your audience will be able to find you more easily. If you want quick traffic, it will also help if you focus on some of those specific niche key words that are not as popular but still need attention and get decent traffic.
Finding your niche is important for your online business. One must carefully identify their audience and use more specific terms to get in front of their potential customers searching online.
For example, if you are the owner of a furniture recycled goods shop, it’s best to rank with “furniture made from reclaimed materials” because that phrase targets customers furniture made from reclaimed material, not something vague such as “furniture.”
How to Research Longtail Keywords
This is by far the trickiest part of any SEO campaign. If you’re not careful, it can easily turn into a black hole that sucks up all your time and energy without delivering anything in return.
We’ll walk through how to do this process by focusing on “keyword research” that is fast and works.
- The first thing to do is head over to do keyword research using keyword tools like the tools listed in the next section.
- You will want to use one of them to start doing keyword research. For each tool listed below, we will provide the pros, cons, and features.
SEMrush
SEMrush has the Keyword Magic tool which can generate a ton of new ideas for keywords to research. The keyword generator is constantly being updated with more words, so you’ll never run out of options.
“SEMRush assembles all your favorite search engine optimization (SE) tools in an easy-to-use interface that takes minutes instead of hours or days.” With over 18 billion different keywords generated by these 118 databases, there’s no way any marketing professional could ever find themselves at a loss when conducting longtail keyword research!
You can use the SEMrush by entering your keyword in its search bar, and then the interface will present you with a keyword overview report.
You can then locate all the data SEMrush has about the keyword you have entered.
The information provided includes:
- Monthly search volume
- Cost per click
- Number of results
- The competition level of the keywords you entered
Questions, keyword variations, and related keywords are previewed and give you a more comprehensive range of keyword ideas. A click on any one of these widgets will open for you the keyword magic tool.
Pros
- Provides a lot more detailed information about traffic, competitiveness, and other factors than Google Keyword Planner
- Checks for broken links on a domain or page in seconds. It also shows if there is anything that could be improved like images, content
- You can search for keywords without having to go through a process of elimination
- The tool is fast and reliable, with keyword suggestions coming in seconds
- SEMrush offers traffic estimations, estimates on how much traffic a keyword receives, and where that traffic is coming from
- Competitive intelligence allows you to know who you are competing with
Cons
- SEMrush does require a monthly subscription to use their service – but they do offer a 15-day money back guarantee if you do not like what you see after that time
- Pricing also starts out rather expensive at $99 per month
Google Keyword Tool
The Google Keyword Tool is a vital tool for all marketers. It’s an important part of the AdWords advertising platform and it also makes keyword analysis easy to do on top of helping you with your SEO goals!
This tool is a part of the AdWords platform and proves to be an invaluable SEO research resource. It also provides insight into pay-per-click advertising campaigns, which you can use for competitive analysis as well as cost per click information.
With this one program, you can analyze large volumes of monthly searches, determine competition levels in your own industry for PPC marketing, or even get real time data on what people are searching for near where they live!
You can do your searching based on websites, keywords, or a category. You will be able to get numerous alternative terms instead of just one search volume from the single term you are given relevant to your keyword research.
Google Keyword Tool has become an invaluable resource for marketers who want to learn more about individual words or products before starting a campaign or writing anything online.
Pros
- You can explore related keywords and phrases
- Discover what volume of searches each word gets on a monthly basis
- Get comparable search volumes from other countries (e.g., how many times per month does “car” get searched in Germany?)
- Using the tool is free
Cons
- Does not provide negative keyword list
- Search volume estimates you can’t trust
- Other tools show keyword difficulty where Google Keyword Tool shows keyword difficulty for ads
Longtail Pro
According to renowned SEO experts, Longtail Pro is one of the best longtail keyword search tools in the market. First launched in 2011, longtail pro works by generating a list of particular longtail keywords based on your root keyword suggestion you are looking for.
By proposing a single keyword or several root keywords related to a topic or niche, the system automatically generates a list of longtail keyword suggestions for you to use.
Using Longtail Pro is advantageous because it offers suggestions based on what people have already searched for online. It saves time by not having to figure out which words or phrases would work best.
Pros
- Finding low competition but highly targeted long tail keywords for your business
- Generating new content ideas quickly with their brainstorming feature (Make sure you check out all the different ways they can help generate blog post content!)
- You can get keywords suggestions in bulk to make things quicker
- Really cool is the competitor analysis screen helps you to see what it will take to outrank your competitors
- They have a score for keyword competitiveness that is extremely helpful
Cons
- It would be great if they increased the limit on manual and seed keywords
- There is also an annual fee and monthly subscription fee once you have reached certain levels in the program
- Does not have an intuitive interface for newbies
AHREFS
Searching for keywords manually can consume so much time. Ahrefs is a professional SEO and keyword search tool that helps you find keywords that you can target to rank for quickly.
Ahrefs is one of the most popular tools out there for online marketers that want an easy way to find new keywords without having to do a lot of manual work. With Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer tool, it only takes about 15 minutes from start-to-finish (depending on how many keywords you’re looking up) in order to come up with 100+ long tail keywords related to your topic or niche site.
You can also use Ahrefs for SEO purposes – including backlink analysis (which tells us who’s linking to our competitors), their unique Rank Tracker tool (which tells you what keywords are ranking for any given page), and the ability to see which pages on a site have broken links.
Pros
- AHREFs has a large database of keywords
- The company is extremely responsive to customer feedback, which helps them keep up with the latest trends and changes in SEO best practices
Cons
- It can take a while to weed through all the keywords and find what you need
- There isn’t any prediction on how well a particular site will rank – only search volume and difficulty score information is provided by AHREFs’ Keyword Tool
GrowthBar
The Growthbar keyword tool is a simple to use yet robust piece of software that helps you find the most profitable keywords online. It was created by an SEO expert who wanted to bring some consistency back into his life in marketing products or services successfully on social media sites like Facebook or Pinterest.
GrowthBar Keyword Tool works by doing all the hard work for you behind the scenes so that anyone – be they marketers, bloggers, journalists, new business owners with little experience developing content.
Pros
- The interface is pretty easy to use
- Has a Chrome extension that is very helpful
- GrowthBar is a simple keyword tool that can be used by beginners
Cons
- Growthbar is a slimmed down version of other keyword tools
- Other tools have more analytics capabilities
Moz
Moz has been around for over a decade and are one of the best-established companies, with their search engine optimization tools. Moz Pro can provide you access to keyword research software, competitor analysis features, detailed reporting capabilities and backlink analysis data.
You also have an extension that displays keywords on your computer screen when browsing online or using Google Search – making it easier than ever before to see what is being searched!
The keyword and SEO tool Moz remains one of the oldest providers in this industry they have had plenty of time perfecting their product line. There is something great for everyone at every level here: whether you want some basic SEO reports (free!) or if you need more advanced features such as rank tracking.
Pros
- You can access the keyword research tool, a competitor analysis tool, detailed reporting features, backlink analysis, and rank tracking software
- There is also a free chrome extension that displays keywords and competitor analysis data
- The interface is easy for beginners and very simplistic
Cons
- Limited integration capabilities for blogging platforms like WordPress or self-hosted blogs
- Pricing options limited and cost is high
How to Write Content Using the Selected Longtail Keyword
Writing to target longtail keywords is a surefire way to get ranked on the internet. Here are some tips for writing effective content that will rank highly and be relevant:
- Use simple, declarative sentences; this makes it easier for your reader’s brain to process information quickly
- Write concisely with clear instructions or explanations if necessary so there’s no confusion over what you’re trying to say
Define the Purpose of Your Content
Do you know what makes a blog post successful? Well, the answer is so easy: it is engagement. No one wants to read boring things over and again without any reason or meaning behind them. There should be something that piques your curiosity in each paragraph of every story, if not then there might as well have just been an essay with no real point!
The secret to keeping people’s attention spans for long periods of time lies within captivating headlines that make your readers want more than ever before (check out these 10 tips).
Don’t forget about asking questions too – they’ll keep people on their toes, waiting eagerly until someone answers those burning issues which can also increase comments because let’s face it we all like some form of validation.
What is the purpose of your content to provide instructions on how to do something, an opinion, or story? Make the content engaging and fun but also make sure it is content your readers would be interested in reading.
Understand Your Buyers
Know your target audience. Writing will be meaningless if you don’t know who you are writing to. This will also determine whether they read your blog posts as your topics may or may not be relevant to them.
- Know your buyers, you are not writing for yourself.
- Do market research and find out what is trending at the moment in order to stay relevant.
- Tap into information that people want or need (or both) so they will be more likely to read it rather than skip over it.
Research on Longtail Keywords
It is essential that you select the correct longtail keywords if you want your search traffic to grow. If you don’t know what longtail keywords are, they’re simply the more specific and in-depth keyword phrases that will help people find your site.
For example, if you wanted to create a website about “dogs,” it would be a good idea to include longtail keywords and answer questions like “best small dogs” or even just “do golden retrievers shed.”
People who search for these terms on Google might end up at your small dog niche blog website!
In order to rank well within Google, make sure not only do you have the basic keywords in your site’s content, but also include longtail keywords that are specific to what you are talking about!
How to get Tons of Search Traffic from Longtail Keywords
Using longtail keywords that have decent traffic and producing content which helps the user find what they are looking for will help drive traffic.
For example, the term “best restaurants to visit in Salt Lake City” generates around 540 searches monthly on Google while its more specific counterpart of “restaurants with gluten-free menus in Salt Lake City” gets only one or two per month.
Researching and using the right longtail keywords can get you some easy traffic. Use a longtail keyword that does not have any volume will get you no traffic.
Understand Your Unique Selling Proposition
First, you need to understand how your business is different from all the others. What do you offer that they don’t? Why should customers choose what you have over everything else out there?
The keywords in your content will help define these differences and provide a better understanding of why people should be spending their money with you instead of bothering with someone who just does “good enough.”
Know What Your Target Audience Wants and Needs
To get anyone interested in what you are selling, it is important to know their concerns and pain points. Asking these questions is the first step before deciding on any solutions or strategy for your business’ marketing plan.
Knowing this information will also allow you to strategize well with longtail keywords that are going to be most effective when writing articles and blog posts.
Do Research on Longtail Keywords
Searching for the perfect words to capture potential customers can be tedious and time-consuming. Fortunately, you do not have to search too far when doing keyword research.
Just think of what kind of keywords would attract your target customer base and plug those into one of the keyword tools in this article. You can also research the phrases your competitors use so that you’re able get an edge on their marketing strategies as well.
Keep User Intent in Mind
Once you have come up with a list of longtail keywords that you want to use, think about why people would like to use them in their search. What needs they hope to satisfy, at what stage of buying are they.
Once you use a keyword, ensure that the answers to those keywords are provided in your article. You are likely to lose potential clients if they visit your site and find that your content does not meet their need.
