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It’s hard for many sites to rank for keywords that have a ton of search volume, but as they say, the riches are in the niches. And that’s why many industries need to go after long tail keywords that their ideal customers search for.
In this article, I discuss three proven ways to find long tail keywords. Topics covered include:
- The definition of long tail keywords
- What is a common benefit to long tail keywords?
- How to find long tail keywords?
- Timeline for ranking
The definition of long tail keywords
The definition of a long tail keyword is usually a specific phrase of some kind and that goes beyond the general. For example, “house” is a general term, and “how to keep your house warm” is a long tail keyword topic.
Using the topic of this article as an example, the term “long term keywords” is pretty broad and general. In fact, according to Keywords Everywhere, which I use to analyze keyword phrasing, there are over 14,000 monthly searches.
The competition isn’t super high, but it’s still a hard one to go after and isn’t long tail anyway. The phrase “how to find long tail keywords” is an example of a long tail keyword phrase as it’s more specific and dives into a deeper topic than just the general overarching one.
What is a common benefit to long tail keywords?
The benefit of long tail keywords is that your content answers your ideal customer’s very specific questions.
For example, if you know your target buyer needs to know how to install security cameras, your topic shouldn’t just be a general one about security cameras, but it could be something like: “How to safely install security cameras without falling off a ladder.”
That article could then include the placement of the cameras, what equipment – including a ladder – to use, and where you might need help from another person.
The biggest benefit of long tail keywords is that they allow you to create specific answer-type content relevant to your exact audience. On the flip side, it can also be a lot of work as the questions an audience might have can be endless, but that also means that the opportunities to reach them are plentiful.
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How to find long tail keywords?
Let’s discuss my three favorite proven strategies to make long tail keywords work for your marketing strategy:
1. Listen to your industry’s buyers
There’s plenty of conversation between consumers and companies that can be mined for information on what content needs to be created to help them. Listen to their questions and then consider answering frequently asked ones publicly as well.
2. Research current long tail keywords
Use tools like Keywords Everywhere to brainstorm what keywords might be suitable for long tail topics that are worth pursuing. Keywords Eveywhere is added to Chrome as an extension, and the results are shown while using Google.
3. Brainstorm and prioritize
It’s important to brainstorm and prioritize as a team. What topics should come first, which ones are next, and build that list. Even with a team of 20 writers and content strategists (anyone got that luxury?), it’s still worth prioritizing topics and even talking points to make content highly unique and relevant to the company and the buyers you are after.
Read next: Follow this checklist to update content that already exists
4. Google’s Keyword Planner
Use the Google Keyword Planner to get a ton of ideas. Start here.
Discover keyword ideas.
Type in the general topical area you need ideas for.
From there, the Keyword Planner will spit out a variety of keywords, which I find easier to read once downloaded as a Google sheet. To find even more long tail keywords, redo searches with some of the ideas presented.
5. Use AI to get long tail keyword ideas
Consider using the article ideas generator of Copylime, a ChatGPT like software.
Pop in a topic idea, and the article idea generator will give you ideas.
From there, grab one of the topics and copy and paste it into the article generator to create your first draft.
6. Analyze existing content
Another way to use AI is to analyze content you already have and see what keyword potential there is. Here’s how that looks for me:
- Grab the video or audio from my podcast
- Run it through Otter AI to get a transcript
- Upload the txt file of the transcript into Claude AI
- Ask Claude AI: “What keyword phrases could this content rank for?”
- Then: “Please give me 10 at a time in a comma-separated response
- After that copy and paste those into Google Keyword Planner and see what kind of opportunities there are
- Then, based on that analysis, write an article.
It’s a great way to create content optimized for SEO based on other content that already exists. You can also do this with other written content that wasn’t written for SEO initially.
Read next: The three components of a useful marketing workflow
Timeline for ranking
How fast can we expect to rank for a term? Everyone wants to know, and the answer is that it depends on these factors:
- Authority of your website
- Uniqueness and specificity of the content
- User experience on the site
- And more…
So, while some sites rank quickly for new content, if you have a newer site, it might take a moment. But the reality is that a good long tail keyword strategy can help companies stand out … and, more importantly, stand out with the right consumers.
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