Keyword search strategy, phrase research, selection and competitor analysis: How to find long tail, profitable keywords

Keyword search strategy, phrase research, selection and competitor analysis: How to find long tail, profitable keywords

Finding the right keywords is the foundation of SEO. Here is an outline of the steps you should follow for keyword research:

1. Start with a brainstorming session to list all possible words and phrases that people would use to find what you have to offer. Remember to put yourself in the mindset of the consumer.

2. Do the necessary research in order to build your keyword list.

Research your competitors and see what keywords they are using.

Look at your web server stats/logs. Make sure you include keywords and phrases from there, since you can discover the keywords that users are searching gor to find you. You can fine tune these keywords in order to capitalize on more traffic. If you already have a search box on your site, then use it to compile additonal keywords.

3. Take all the keyword phrases list you have come up with and use a keyword tool such as the Google Suggestion Tool to determine how much traffic there is and how competitive all your keyword phrases are.

4. Take your list and divide it into segments because diversification and long tail keyword targeting in SEO is critical. Include some long tail keywords that may be longer phrases with less traffic. These keywords will be easier and faster to rank for, so you can use those as your starting point to drive some quick traffic to the site.

The second part of your list should be words that are more competitive and have more traffic and will take longer to get search engine rankings for.

Not that if your keywords are too generic and not targeted it will take a longer time to get rankings (if at all) and the traffic likely won’t convert as well because it is not highly specific. On the other hand, if you use keywords that are way too specific your traffic would not be large. However this depends on the products and services you are selling and how many possibly combinations of targeted keyword phrases and synonyms you can attain. The long tail usually offers thousands of possible keyword combinations, which can lead to considerable traffic. The challenge is digging up these keyword combinations. Make sure you also search what keywords your competition is using on their site and tags. They can give you the best ideas for keyword combinations as well.

Keyword phrases are broken in up in 3 parts:

Broad:
• Shorter phrases and single words
• Generic to your industry
• Lots of traffic
• Lower conversions

Narrow:
• Slightly shorter phrases
• Higher traffic numbers
• Phrases are still focused on what you offer

The Long Tail Focus:
• Longer and more targeted phrases
• Traffic numbers are smaller
• People are further along in the buying process so conversion rates are higher

The thought process behind “long tail keywords” is that the more detailed the keyword phrase, the better the chances become that the user knows what they are looking for and thus are closer to the “buying” process. For example if someone searches for “guitar”, you would have minimal information about the intent of the search. Is the user looking to find out what a guitar is or how to play the guitar? There are so many possibilities which make conversions on general one-word keywords very low.

However if the user searched for the phrase "Buy Black Gibson Les Paul Guitar" you would know the intent (i.e to buy) and the guitar brand and color that the user is looking to buy. While this is long tail search, it holds the best conversion rate of all.

A strong SEO strategy should implement long tail keyword phrases because not only does it allow you to get rankings quicker, it also enjoys high conversion rates. The biggest mistake most webmasters and site owners make is targeted highly competitive search terms that are too generic. Diversifying broad, narrow and long tail keyword phrases is integral to SEO strategy.

The goal of SEO is to capture leads. Note that better conversions result when users are further along the buying process.