Nearly every website owner wants to reach the first page of Google’s search results. Problem is, there are A LOT of website owners out there, which translates into heavy competition for frequently searched keywords. Unless you have sufficient resources (i.e. money, staff and time), gaining traction for these keywords is probably going to be a losing battle.
Enter Long Tail Keyphrases
A better solution may be to focus on long tail keyphrases. Long tail keyphrases consist of three or more terms that are comprised of valuable component keywords within them. For example, the keyphrase, "Fendi hobo designer handbags" is a long tail keyphrase that contains the more popular keyword "handbags," along with the keyphrases "designer handbags," "Fendi handbags," and "Fendi designer handbags". By optimizing your web page for the long tail keyphrase, you simultaneously optimize for its component keywords and keyphrases as well.
Getting top placement in Google, Yahoo or Bing for the term "handbags" would be a difficult endeavor. According to Google, there are over 26 million web pages with "handbags" in their title. By contrast, only 2,600 websites have "Fendi hobo designer handbags" in their title. It would be a lot easier to get top rankings for the latter term, and because it is highly specific, it is likely that a higher percentage of the traffic it generates will convert to sales.
Long Tails Are Your Best Short Term Stratgey
Long tail keyphrases, generally speaking, will be less frequently searched than their component keywords. For this reason, they are often overlooked by website owners looking to cast a wider net. Instead of including long tail key phrases in their page titles, header tags, hyperlinks and above-the-fold copy, site owners often stick with shorter – and far more competitive – terms. Big mistake! Better to make long tail keyphrases the center of your short-term SEO strategy, gain some traction for those, and then pay closer attention to their more competitive component keywords once your website is well-established.
If you’d like to learn more about developing a long tail SEO strategy for your website, contact Brainstorm Studio today!