Targeting Long Tail Keywords

[lurker123]

Am I right to assume that if I target long tail keywords (with low competition), I'd need to have A LOT of posts/content on my site in order to receive a good amount of organic traffic?

Also, what's your thoughts on targeting long tail keywords in general? Is it worth it?

Thanks.

 

[tazarbm]

depends on the keywords.

Most SEO newbies confuse long tails with low search volume and with low competition. These 3 are different to each other, and should not be confused.

Long tail keywords can be as easy or hard to rank for as normal keywords. For example, in the health & medical niche you will see a lot of long tail keywords (8-9 words long) that are not easy to rank for and which get several 100s of visitors per month. I've seen many such keywords last week when I did some research in a medical sub-niche.

Low volume keywords means keywords that receive little traffic and - again - these keywords can be as easy, or as hard to rank for as non-long tail keywords, or keywords with higher search volume (be it long tails, or not)

And finally, there's the keyword difficulty, which is actually what most newbies mean when they say "long tail keywords". The competition is actually the most important part in keyword research because if you find keywords with low competition (long tails or not, low search volume or not) you can rank for them within a couple of weeks with an expired domain, and within a couple of months with a new domain. Some people on this forum have shown examples of their websites ranking for low competition keywords (not sure whether or not they've been long tail keywords cause they didn't say) with a new domain after just one week, without building a single backlink.

But again, we are talking about low competition keywords, which has nothing to do with low search volume or long tail keywords. And to assess the real competition of a keyword you need to analyze the websites ranking on 1st page of google. Only after taking a close look at those websites (their backlinking profile, their content structure and on-page SEO, how well their content addresses the intent of the keyword, how topically-relevant those websites are, and so on)... only after looking at all these things will you be able to say with certainty "yes, this is a low competition keyword and I'm gonna rank for it within a week if I write slightly better content than these guys and I have a more topically relevant website".... either this, or use an expired domain and stolen content to outrank your less authoritative competitors because google doesn't give a crap about quality anymore. Nowadays it's all about backlinks and money. The more you have of these the more traffic and money you're gonna make. If you're poor and only want $100 a month don't even think about doing SEO or ranking in google. If you're filthy rich just scratch your balls, pick your nose and the bank account will fill itself over night. Sad, but true, this is how google works nowadays....

 

[lurker123]

depends on the keywords.

Most SEO newbies confuse long tails with low search volume and with low competition. These 3 are different to each other, and should not be confused.

Long tail keywords can be as easy or hard to rank for as normal keywords. For example, in the health & medical niche you will see a lot of long tail keywords (8-9 words long) that are not easy to rank for and which get several 100s of visitors per month. I've seen many such keywords last week when I did some research in a medical sub-niche.

Low volume keywords means keywords that receive little traffic and - again - these keywords can be as easy, or as hard to rank for as non-long tail keywords, or keywords with higher search volume (be it long tails, or not)

And finally, there's the keyword difficulty, which is actually what most newbies mean when they say "long tail keywords". The competition is actually the most important part in keyword research because if you find keywords with low competition (long tails or not, low search volume or not) you can rank for them within a couple of weeks with an expired domain, and within a couple of months with a new domain. Some people on this forum have shown examples of their websites ranking for low competition keywords (not sure whether or not they've been long tail keywords cause they didn't say) with a new domain after just one week, without building a single backlink.

But again, we are talking about low competition keywords, which has nothing to do with low search volume or long tail keywords. And to assess the real competition of a keyword you need to analyze the websites ranking on 1st page of google. Only after taking a close look at those websites (their backlinking profile, their content structure and on-page SEO, how well their content addresses the intent of the keyword, how topically-relevant those websites are, and so on)... only after looking at all these things will you be able to say with certainty "yes, this is a low competition keyword and I'm gonna rank for it within a week if I write slightly better content than these guys and I have a more topically relevant website".... either this, or use an expired domain and stolen content to outrank your less authoritative competitors because google doesn't give a crap about quality anymore. Nowadays it's all about backlinks and money. The more you have of these the more traffic and money you're gonna make. If you're poor and only want $100 a month don't even think about doing SEO or ranking in google. If you're filthy rich just scratch your balls, pick your nose and the bank account will fill itself over night. Sad, but true, this is how google works nowadays....

First off, thanks for your reply.

When I mean 'long tail keywords', I'm talking about 5+ word keywords that have 0-10 monthly search volume and 0 competition. I check competition using allintitle: keyword in Google and it returns 0 results.

I write nothing for content. My site is media based, I don't really need to write anything to get indexed.

I currently have about 80 posts and get about 30-35 daily organic clicks from Google (I check using Google Search Console).

My website has low domain authority, and I don't really have money for backlinks.

Am I doing this right? Should I keep grinding 0-10 monthly search volume keywords with 0 competition?

I'm really new to SEO, sorry for the newbie question.

 

[tazarbm]

First off, thanks for your reply.

When I mean 'long tail keywords', I'm talking about 5+ word keywords that have 0-10 monthly search volume and 0 competition. I check competition using allintitle: keyword in Google and it returns 0 results.

I write nothing for content. My site is media based, I don't really need to write anything to get indexed.

I currently have about 80 posts and get about 30-35 daily organic clicks from Google (I check using Google Search Console).

My website has low domain authority, and I don't really have money for backlinks.

Am I doing this right? Should I keep grinding 0-10 monthly search volume keywords with 0 competition?

I'm really new to SEO, sorry for the newbie question.

just because the allintitle returns 0 results doesn't mean that the keyword is easy to rank for. Nowadays google ranks authority sites more than anything

I don't know how media sites rank, so I can't offer any advice, sorry. I usually focus on informational websites (blogs)

 

[Leena]

Focusing on long-tail keywords is a great SEO tactic. Long-tail keywords are keywords or keyphrases that are more specific – and usually longer – than more commonly used keywords. Long-tail keywords get less search traffic, but will usually have a higher conversion value, as they are more specific.

 

[jaerehan]

Target long tail keyword with low competition and also high search volume will help you more.
As your site is media based, Try to get popular your site by sharing in social media. Usually it takes time to gain visitors.
Keep focused and put more posts to improve your clicks.

 

[kumbakonamfilter]

Focusing on long-tail keywords is a great SEO tactic. Long-tail keywords are keywords or keyphrases that are more specific and usually longer than more commonly used keywords.

 

[crnack]

depends on the keywords.

Most SEO newbies confuse long tails with low search volume and with low competition. These 3 are different to each other, and should not be confused.

Long tail keywords can be as easy or hard to rank for as normal keywords. For example, in the health & medical niche you will see a lot of long tail keywords (8-9 words long) that are not easy to rank for and which get several 100s of visitors per month. I've seen many such keywords last week when I did some research in a medical sub-niche.

Low volume keywords means keywords that receive little traffic and - again - these keywords can be as easy, or as hard to rank for as non-long tail keywords, or keywords with higher search volume (be it long tails, or not)

And finally, there's the keyword difficulty, which is actually what most newbies mean when they say "long tail keywords". The competition is actually the most important part in keyword research because if you find keywords with low competition (long tails or not, low search volume or not) you can rank for them within a couple of weeks with an expired domain, and within a couple of months with a new domain. Some people on this forum have shown examples of their websites ranking for low competition keywords (not sure whether or not they've been long tail keywords cause they didn't say) with a new domain after just one week, without building a single backlink.

But again, we are talking about low competition keywords, which has nothing to do with low search volume or long tail keywords. And to assess the real competition of a keyword you need to analyze the websites ranking on 1st page of google. Only after taking a close look at those websites (their backlinking profile, their content structure and on-page SEO, how well their content addresses the intent of the keyword, how topically-relevant those websites are, and so on)... only after looking at all these things will you be able to say with certainty "yes, this is a low competition keyword and I'm gonna rank for it within a week if I write slightly better content than these guys and I have a more topically relevant website".... either this, or use an expired domain and stolen content to outrank your less authoritative competitors because google doesn't give a crap about quality anymore. Nowadays it's all about backlinks and money. The more you have of these the more traffic and money you're gonna make. If you're poor and only want $100 a month don't even think about doing SEO or ranking in google. If you're filthy rich just scratch your balls, pick your nose and the bank account will fill itself over night. Sad, but true, this is how google works nowadays....

Why not just make a page for every single keyword you find?

 

[tazarbm]

Why not just make a page for every single keyword you find?

I'm a single guy, mate! I do everything on my own: keyword research, content writing, web design, link building, graphics design, you name it. I can only do so much, especially in English and especially with the other problems I have in real life (not gonna talk about them, so don't ask). So how can I create a page for every single keyword that I find?

Believe me, had I had the money that other people have I would automate the shit out of everything, and this includes creating pages on every keyword that I find, low volume or not. But.... if I have to manually work on keyword research and content creation (which I do), I'd rather target low competition keywords that have traffic. Otherwise I feel like I'm spreading myself too thin.

I still don't know whether I got your point (and replied to it), but I'm assuming that you meant to ask me why I don't do what I preach. Is that right? If not, clarify it cause I'm honestly missing your points

 

[crnack]

I'm a single guy, mate! I do everything on my own: keyword research, content writing, web design, link building, graphics design, you name it. I can only do so much, especially in English and especially with the other problems I have in real life (not gonna talk about them, so don't ask). So how can I create a page for every single keyword that I find?

Believe me, had I had the money that other people have I would automate the shit out of everything, and this includes creating pages on every keyword that I find, low volume or not. But.... if I have to manually work on keyword research and content creation (which I do), I'd rather target low competition keywords that have traffic. Otherwise I feel like I'm spreading myself too thin.

I still don't know whether I got your point (and replied to it), but I'm assuming that you meant to ask me why I don't do what I preach. Is that right? If not, clarify it cause I'm honestly missing your points

Missing the spam shots today sir.

It's just this. A full content website covering every single keyword. I believe you can get more power this way by interlinking everything. Also time will pass so covering medium comp makes sense in terms of aging.

 

[tazarbm]

Missing the spam shots today sir.

It's just this. A full content website covering every single keyword. I believe you can get more power this way by interlinking everything. Also time will pass so covering medium comp makes sense in terms of aging.

all of them ... Also, thinking is one thing, knowing is a different one

 

[flocksocial]

There are no strict rules for this... depends on the keywords, your website, competitors etc.
It's fine to target a long-tail keyword with low competition.
It's also fine to target a long-tail keyword with high competition (something like a PPC strategy)

 

[HustleTong]

Focus on kws for informational posts
Usually, questions work best.
Search volume is flawed. Just use it to gauge what's not worth your time.

 

[Leena]

Focusing on long-tail keywords is a great SEO tactic. Long-tail keywords are keywords or keyphrases that are more specific – and usually longer – than more commonly used keywords. Long-tail keywords get less search traffic, but will usually have a higher conversion value, as they are more specific