Long tail keywords: Why you should use long tail keywords for SEO

As a company, you might be new to SEO or just launched a brand new website with a  low Domain Authority (DA) score with little to no backlinks. While this is all critical for ranking in search engines, keyword research and optimization is just as important, if not more important. 

The keyword phrases that are implemented on a website are the search phrases that will drive traffic to your website. When someone types into Google or other search engines, “best restaurant in X” will your restaurant’s website appear in the top 10? 

Not without technical on-page SEO factors such as keyword research and optimization. One foundation of a strong SEO strategy is long tail keywords. It is estimated that these keywords make up about 70 percent of searches and are critical to outranking the competition. 

What are long tail keywords? 

Why are long tail keywords even called long tail? In the SEO industry there are two different types of keywords out there- short tail and long tail. Long tails are called this because if you put these keywords on a graph they represent the lowest searched phrases. These search phrases are not as popular as other keywords but do not discredit them. 

Long tail keywords are search phrases that are four words or longer; on the other hand, this is not only the determining factor that makes them long tail keywords.  These keywords often have a low volume, but bring in even more qualified website traffic and leads due to their low volume.

In essence, a long tail keyword is often longer than three words in a search phrase or has a lower volume. In most cases, these keywords have both factors at play which gives them their name. 

There are common myths out there that suggest not use long tail keywords, but as a leading Omaha SEO agency, our Omaha SEO experts tell all companies that there is a demand for these long tail keywords. 

This is because the audience who is searching for these keywords are a small number of people, in return, this means that anyone who searches for these phrases are looking for specific products, answers and other information. 

Why should you use long tail keywords for SEO? 

As a company that is searching for a website redesign, you might search into Google “website design companies.” A plethora of search results populate in our keyword tools because that is a common phrase that everyone is trying to grab as a company in our industry.

These results show a couple of different things- a high volume and high density. This would make these keywords short tail which are great for national ranking, but not always best for local searches. 

Let’s tailor this down a bit more. 

If you are in Omaha searching for a website design company, this search might show irrelevant information which means you add “near me” or “Omaha.”

“Website design Omaha” is a smaller volume which considers this keyword as a long tail keyword. While this search provides a small volume, a company who is ranking for this search phrase can hope to garner better, local results. The average conversion rate for long tail keywords is 36 percent compared to  14 percent with short tail keywords.

This is why long tail keywords should always be used in conjunction with short tail keywords in any on-page or off-page SEO strategy set in place by an Omaha SEO agency!