Long tail marketing

19 April 2024

Reading time: 9 minutes

Senior SEO-specialist

Mapping keywords entered by your (potential) customers is important. This will tell you which search terms cause (potential) customers to come to your website. This allows you to do targeted marketing by focusing on these search terms. With long tail marketing, you put the focus on long tail keywords. In this article, I talk about what “long tail marketing” means and what opportunities it offers for a website’s SEO.

Table of contents show

What is long tail marketing?

Long tail marketing puts the focus on products for which there is less demand and, as a result, realize fewer sales. The theory behind a long tail marketing strategy says that these products combined can take a larger market share than other products. Within SEO, it is not about products, but keywords. The searcher enters multiple words during the search. In other words, the searcher performs a specific search. (1)

Pros and cons

When using long tail marketing, the focus is on as many keywords with low search volume as possible. These are specific keywords that fewer visitors search for, but are more relevant to the visitor. This is because the search is more comprehensive. The search results then more closely match the searcher’s information needs.

Adopting a long tail strategy has its advantages and disadvantages. The benefits are:

More relevant traffic: long tail keywords are specific in nature. The searcher is already well aware of what information they need. Therefore, the traffic generated with it is more relevant to your website.
Less competition: most companies focus on high-demand keywords. When you bet on the long tail market, you respond optimally to the needs of a small group of visitors. This leads to less competition.

The two disadvantages are:

Takes time: finding specific keywords to capitalize on takes time.
More complex content: creating the right content that capitalizes on long tail keywords requires more time and energy. More and longer keywords are used than usual, for this reason more and better content must be created.

How do you make the best use of the long tail strategy?

It is important to optimize for relevant keywords that are longer than 4 words. The advantage of specific keywords is that there is often less competition. Because there is often less competition on these keywords, a website ranks higher in Google’s search results faster. (2)

Conclusion: outsource the long tail strategy

By targeting specific keywords, you generate more relevant traffic on your website. In addition, there is often little competition on keywords with low search volumes.

All of this shows that adopting a long tail strategy can be very valuable. On the other hand, it takes a lot of time and requires knowledge and experience. Therefore, the most efficient solution is to get an SEO specialist to help. SEO specialists deal with content on a daily basis. They are well aware of what content is relevant. In doing so, SEO specialists know which search terms are long tail. From this knowledge and experience, SEO specialists give appropriate advice to companies on where best to respond.

Resources

Riserbato, R. (2023, Dec. 22). Long Tail in Marketing: Apply That Ish to Content Strategy. HubSpot. https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4723/6-ways-to-leverage-the-long-tail-in-your-marketing.aspx
Howarth, J. (2024, Jan. 24). How to Find Low Competition Keywords for SEO. Exploding Topics. https://explodingtopics.com/blog/low-competition-keywords

Frequently Asked Questions

What is long tail marketing?

If you have products that are less in demand, then long tail marketing puts the focus there. You will realize fewer sales if few products are sold. SEO is not about products but more about keywords. A long tail marketing strategy increases market share.

What is the impact of Long Tail Marketing on SEO?

It’s best to capitalize on specific keywords. You will get more relevant traffic on your website as a result. A long tail strategy can be valuable for your website. You need long tail marketing knowledge and experience. It takes a lot of time. An SEO specialist can help with this.

How do I discover long tail marketing keywords?

There are several ways to discover long tail marketing keywords, below are some suggestions:

Use Google Suggest: start by entering a broad keyword into Google and see what suggestions are displayed as you type. These suggestions can provide valuable ideas for long tail keywords.
Use the Google Keyword Planner: Google’s Keyword Planner is a free utility that provides keyword ideas and their search volume. You can use it to research broad keywords and find ideas for related long tail keywords.
Analyze your website statistics: see what keywords visitors are already using to find your website. This gives you insight into the searches people are using and can help you find related long tail keywords.
Use Google Trends: with Google Trends, you can track and compare the popularity of specific search terms over time. This can help identify emerging keywords and long tail keywords that are gaining popularity.
Analyze competitors: look at the keywords your competitors are using in their ads or on their websites. This can help you find related long tail keywords that you could use.

It is important to find long tail keywords that are relevant to your business and target audience. By using long tail keywords, you can target specific user searches and increase the chances that your website will be found by people interested in your products or services.

How do I know which long tail marketing keywords are relevant to my business?

Finding relevant long tail marketing keywords for your business can be a challenge, but there are several steps you can take to find the right keywords. Below are some suggestions:

Understand your target audience: identify the characteristics of your audience, such as demographics, interests and behaviors, and research what keywords they are likely to use to search for your products or services. This can help you find relevant long tail keywords.
Analyze your current keyword data: analyze the keywords that visitors are already using to find your website and research if there are long tail keywords that you can add to your strategy.
Take advantage of tools: use tools such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush or Ahrefs to find related keywords and view their search volume. These tools can also help you find keywords that your competitors are using.
Analyze your content: look at your website content and analyze what keywords are already being used. Use these keywords to find related long tail keywords relevant to your business.
Look for trends and seasonal keywords: monitor trends and seasonal keywords and adjust your long tail keywords based on these trends and seasons.
Test and measure: experiment with different long tail keywords and measure their performance to see which keywords work best for your business.

It is important to remember that the relevance of long tail keywords can change as your business grows and your target audience evolves. So keep monitoring the performance of your keywords regularly and adjust your strategy if necessary.

Can I do long tail marketing myself?

You can do long tail marketing yourself if you have the time and resources to do so. Long tail marketing can be very effective in reaching specific audiences and generating targeted traffic to your website.

To do your own long tail marketing, you must first research relevant long tail keywords that fit your business and target audience. Next, you need to make sure these keywords are included in your content, including your website, blog posts, social media content and other marketing channels.

In addition, you need to make sure that your content is of high quality and that it matches the interests and needs of your target audience. By offering valuable information and solutions to their problems, you can build the loyalty of your target audience and gain their trust.

It is important to regularly monitor and measure how your long tail marketing is performing. Use tools such as Google Analytics to measure and analyze the performance of your content and keywords. Adjust your strategy based on these insights to ensure that your long tail marketing remains effective.

If you don’t have the time or resources to do long tail marketing yourself, consider hiring a professional to help you. This can range from a freelancer to a specialized agency. Hiring a professional can help you optimize your long tail marketing and get better results.

When is it wise to hire an expert for long tail marketing?

Engaging an expert for long tail marketing can be helpful in several situations. If you have no experience with long tail marketing, have limited time or resources, want to use advanced strategies, operate in a competitive market, or want to improve performance, hiring an expert for long tail marketing can be helpful. An expert has the knowledge and expertise to help you find relevant long tail keywords, develop effective content and optimize your strategy.

An expert can also help identify weaknesses in your current strategy and provide you with advanced techniques such as A/B testing, keyword research and optimization. In short, if you want to take your long tail marketing to the next level, engaging an expert may be a good choice.

What is the benefit of long tail marketing?

Long tail marketing offers several advantages over traditional marketing strategies that focus on broad keywords and general audiences. Below are some of the benefits of long tail marketing:

Targeted traffic: by targeting specific long tail keywords, you can generate targeted traffic to your website from people looking for specific products or services. This increases the likelihood of conversions and increases ROI.
Less competition: long tail keywords generally have less competition than broad keywords, making it easier to rank and generate traffic for these keywords.
Lower costs: long tail keywords usually have a lower cost per click than broad keywords, which can lower the cost of advertising and PPC campaigns.
Improved SEO: By using long tail keywords, you can improve your SEO and achieve higher rankings in search engine search results.
Better conversion rate: long tail marketing attracts visitors who are looking for specific solutions or products, which increases the likelihood of conversions.
Improved customer engagement: long tail marketing can help build better customer engagement by allowing you to better meet the specific needs of your target audience and provide targeted solutions and information.

In short, long tail marketing offers several advantages over broad keywords and general targeting. By targeting specific long tail keywords, you can generate targeted traffic to your website, reduce competition, lower costs, improve SEO, increase conversion rates and improve customer engagement.