10 steps to finding rich long tail keywords

It used to be that everyone fought over short phrase keywords such as ‘women’s fashion’ or ‘plasma television’ and while of course these type of keywords are still popular today, interest amongst businesses and SEO specialists has been growing for some time over long tail keywords.

Part of the reason is that it is very difficult for new websites to rank for competitive keywords, and also because long tail keywords are more likely to generate quality clicks at a lower CPC rate than more general and extremely competitive keywords. A better CPC rate is always going to be more attractive to a new business perhaps without a large PPC budget.

If you’re not already using long tail keywords to drive extra traffic to your website then maybe it is something you should consider including with your next Adwords campaign review. If you’re a business that is already using long tail key words, are they as effective as they could be? What tools and techniques are you using to identify opportunities? Are the better options out there for you?

Use the 10 steps to finding rich long tail keywords as an introduction, a source for new ideas and as a way to improve long tail keyword search results for your business.

1 – Research Competitors

If you’re new too keywords and PPC, make a start by getting familiar with the use of keywords in online marketing. A good place to begin is by searching for your product or service online. If you have not optimized you web content yet then your website may not come up in the search results.

You can also use your main competitors to find good search terms. Type in the name of a competitor’s business on Google and see how highly they rank for certain search terms. Carry out lots of different keyword searches to find out what is working for the competition, as these could work for you too. Also try to identify what important keywords they are not currently using that could give you an advantage.

2 – Use Google Suggestions

Google suggestions work every time you start typing a phrase into your Google search bar. Google will start suggesting search terms in a drop down list below the search bar.

If a phrase comes up in a Google suggestion, then you can be sure it’s a phrase that people are searching for.

Generally long tail keyword phrases will come towards the bottom of the drop down list so use these as a good starting point.

These keywords do not necessarily have large search volumes, but their quality can be higher than general keywords and could lead to more conversions.

3 – Use information sites like WikiHow and eHow

The content on help sites like WikiHow is almost 100 percent generated by long tail keyword research. The companies behind these types of sites use clever algorithms to find the long tail keywords that people are looking for.

Therefore it makes sense to use their sites to look for content and keyword ideas. If they’re targeting a long tail keyword phrase you can be pretty sure it has a large search volume and is worth considering. As a lot of the content on sites like WikiHow and eHow are produced by content farms, it means you have a good chance of creating better more valuable content than them, something that Google will value and this could help you to out rank them on the long tail keywords you choose.

Related searches uses the same idea as Google Suggestions, but these suggested ideas relate to other searches that are made not by using the same keyword, but in the same category. These suggestions will appear at the bottom of the SERP below the first page of search results.

5 – Use More Research Tools

There are lots of free and open source keyword tools out there for you to use so if you only use the Google Keyword tool, you are missing out. By only using the Google tool you are almost certainly missing out on a huge list of long-tail keyword variations that you could use to your advantage.

Next time you are working on your campaign, try these other tools:

WordStream’s Keyword Tool
Social Media Tools – YouTube Keyword tool and Twitter search
Google Trends – This is similar to the whats trending feature on Twitter – you can find out live results on what people are searching for on Goolgle right now
Using more tools gives you a better chance of finding more long tail keywords. Give it a try.

6 – Try Geo specific

Keywords When you add a region, town, city or even shop or office location to your keyword phrase you are making it highly targeted and specialized. This may cut down the volume of traffic your keyword will provide but it can produce much more specific and high quality clicks that have a greater chance of conversion.

You can use WordStream’s keyword tool to test your localized long tail keyword and see the results.

7. Review Your Analytics

If you don’t already have an analytics program on your website, start one. If there is not a built in analytics program available on your site, try using Google Analytics instead it is free and easy to install.

Analytics tools will tell you about the long tail keywords that lead people to your website. These keywords may be relevant to your business and if so you can create more content and specific webpages that target these keyword titles. By using this approach you will strengthen your ranking and drive more relevant traffic to your site.

8. Check Search Query Reports

When you run a PPC campaign in AdWords you have access to a search query report, which is another tool to use in the search for long tail keywords. Your Search Query Report details the search queries that people have used before they were shown your ad and clicked on it.

A bonus of this approach is that you are likely to see which keywords are most responsible for creating conversions and not just site visitors. It goes without saying that if you identify a long tail keyword that is delivering high conversions on your site, it is well worth putting in extra focus and work on that phrase.

9. Get Wikipedia optimized

Wikipedia is one of the most optimized sites on the Internet and you can learn a lot by looking at the on page optimization of their content.

When doing research on a term you are interested in look at the relevant wikipedia pages and see what ideas you can use yourself. For instance most Wikipedia pages break content down into sections with good subheadings that turn into great long tail keywords.

10. Browse Question & Answer Sites

Like eHow, Q&A sites such as Yahoo Answers, and Quora can be a great source of long tail keywords that people are searching for. How often have you typed a question into a search engine? The answer is quite likely to be quite often.

For this reason questions make good long-tail keywords and can often be overlooked by your competitors.