Everyone Singapore business is competing for a space at the top of Google. However, very few of these competitors are making use of long tail keywords. And this is surprising, considering the fact that these types of keywords can actually lead to hyper targeted traffic whereas others mainly result in random page views. In fact, long tail keywords make up almost 75% of all online searches.
This SEO guide will go into detail about long tail keywords. What are they? Why should Singapore businesses target them? How can you automatically find a ton of them? How can you optimise your content with them? Is targeting head keywords a better option?
What are long tail keywords?
If you want to get a better understanding of what long tail keywords are, you must first understand what head keywords are. Head keywords are those that are high in traffic as well as difficulty because they cover an entire topic. These words are searched for frequently, but the problem is they are not very specific to the content that you’re trying to promote. An example of a head keyword is ‘content marketing.’
Long tail keywords have a more narrow focus. They bring about search results that are very specific. Unlike head keywords, they’re low in difficulty and volume. An example of a long tail keyword is ‘content marketing agency.’ When you target a head keyword, it can result in your ranking for a bunch of long tail keywords as well.
Why target long tail keywords?
If you want to understand the true benefit of targeting long tail keywords, you must first understand the concept of user intent. And this requires placing yourself in the shoes of the people who are searching online. What does their customer journey feel like? In some cases, the user may become aware of a certain need, and then search for head keywords in order to find more information about it. In other cases, the person becomes aware of a possible solution, and then search for a long tail keyword with the intent to make a purchase. Of course, these two examples are simple, but they sum up this situation pretty accurately.
A user who is searching for ‘adsense’ is very likely searching for a definition while a user who is searching for ‘how to improve adsense ROI is likely searching for an article and perhaps adsense services. They’re using specific words, so it reflects an intent to buy.
As you can see, the benefit of targeting long tail keywords is that the traffic is more likely to convert. These types of searches have left the research and discovery phase and are ready to find answers to their problems. The volume may be much lower, but it’s much more beneficial. And the best part about long tail keywords is that they are usually very cheap when it comes to PPC campaigns.
How to find long tail keywords
Finding long tail keywords can be done both manually and with the help of automation. Conduct your manual search on sites like Reddit, Quora, and forums. Reddit is a platform that encourages discussion and the sharing of quality content. Quora is a question and answer site, which is also a great place for choosing topics for your blog posts. Forums can provide feedback from very specific target audiences. Use these sites to create a list of head keywords as well as phrases that are mentioned commonly. One of the best manual methods is using Google to search for your topic and find terms that are related.
Conduct automated search by using tools like Long Tail Pro and SEMRush in order to generate lists of relevant terms and various permutations from your head research. You can then place all of your head keywords and topic ideas in a spreadsheet and use one of the following tools:
SEMRush
SEMRush is great for managing your paid and organic SEO campaigns. It’s also an excellent tool for finding quality keywords. Use the Phrase Match report to find long tail versions of your head keyword. Use its Related Keywords feature to find terms that are semantically similar. SEMRush can help you to discover a well of untapped long tail keywords because all of your customers don’t use the exact same language.
Long tail Pro
Long Tail Pro is a tool that has been specifically designed to find long tail keywords. You simply add head (referred to as “seed”) keywords, and it uses a special algorithm to generate a list of long tail semantically relevant terms that can be filtered. For example, the head keyword ‘acne treatment’ would generate a list that included the terms, scars, cream, vitamins, severe acne, and spots.
Ahrefs
Just as is the case with SEMrush, Ahrefs offers a complete SEO platform. Its Keywords Explorer feature instantly filters out all of the keyword results to only include the long tail terms. And you are able to set a minimum number of words that you want the terms to consist of.
How to optimise content with long tail keywords
Perhaps you have found long tail keywords and would like to create content to rank for them. In this case, you would choose one big target. As discussed earlier, when you rank for one keyword, you can rank for a lot of long tail variants as well.
So place the keyword at the beginning of your headline. Use your keyword as your URL slug. Ensure that the title is included in your H1 tag. Use your keyword in your H2 subheadings. Use your keyword within the first 100 words of your content. Use some variations of the word throughout your article. You should also make sure that your entire site is SEO friendly.
Takeaway
There are many Singapore businesses that only target head keyword. The problem is that they don’t take user intent into consideration. Business owners will often put a lot of work into driving the wrong type of traffic to their site. And this can have a negative effect on your ranking because this traffic doesn’t spend much time on your website.
The benefit of using keywords is that they help you to narrow down searcher’s intent. Not only that, but there are more long tail keywords than there are head keywords. And this improves your chances at a higher ranking and more qualified traffic. Sure, the search volume may be lower, but in the end, it’s more than worth it.
What Singapore marketers should do is focus on using the proper tools and methods that can help them find the long tail keywords that need. Start searching for a head keyword that caters specifically to your target audience. And then work from there.
