Finding Long Tail Keywords

[danlefree]

I'm working on a site which has a very wide base of long tail search terms and is presently ranked #1 for a few general terms which apply to the industry. There is not much in the way of overlap for the long tail keywords over the general keywords.

My present methodology for identifying new long tail target keywords involves a bit of guesswork and a lot of Google's Adwords Tool, however, I am interested to know what other WebProWorld users would recommend.

[undercoverseo]

For myself longtail keyword research/analysis/targeting is more of an art than anything else. You basically review your set of primary keywords/phrases and come up with as many variations (using synonyms, adding adjectives and the like) to come up with a longer list.

Then eventually whittling it down by determining how much traffic each of the keywords/phrases would produce and whether its worthwhile to pursue (prioritizing).

With longtail keyword analysis you have to look at the whole set really and determine for the 100 longtail phrases how much traffic will I receive? Keeping in mind that for each set of phrases you may need to create specific optimized pages for them...resulting in quite a few extra pages for the site.

Good luck!

[mjtaylor]

I use Word Tracker; and Trellian also makes a good keyword research tool.

[bj]

Your own stats may give you an indication of what to focus on. If I notice in AWStats that a particular longtail phrase shows up three or four times over the same number of months, I'll write a couple blogposts optimized for that phrase. And yes, I see a corresponding bump up for that phrase over the next few months, so it seems to work nicely.

[datetopia]

Use this tool to detect search phrases used to access your website or more importantly big competitor websites:
Online free seo tool detecting search keywords – Seodigger.com
Search for yourdomain.com .

[cw1865]

One tip is that if the website has a search function, it may keep track of the internal searches being done. I like having the search function, because it assists my customers, but I also 'dislike' that my customer HAS to search for something. I keep track of this because it indicates to me that my visitor is popping in under a different search term (probably a more generic search term) and is then conducting a search to find something specific. More than likely, I think that they have probably conducted the search for the specific keyword and did not find me! Not good, so every once in a while I review these logs and I make an effort to try to rank better with some deep linking, perhaps a title tag adjustment, or something like that.

Other than that, long keywords are really low-hanging fruit, at least in my opinion. They're relatively easy to rank well for being highly specific and the conversion on those terms is impressive; the customer is looking for something specific that you have to offer.

The best source to determine which long keywords to go for are the product catalogs of the products that you offer for sale, as well as the product catalogs of competitors.

Can I pry? What industry is this in?

[bj]

I like that SEODigger thing. Thanks!

[sarkipedia]

Then eventually whittling it down by determining how much traffic each of the keywords/phrases would produce and whether its worthwhile to pursue (prioritizing).

Like your iddea is mine so lets see some other solutions.

[ExtravagantMedia]

Generally, I do this a few ways. I keep an eye on Urchin to see how people are finding my sites.
I check Google to see how competitors are ranking and with which keywords and try to "Think" of different long tail approaches. Sometimes I will mix in geographical references or other variables if they are relevant.
I use keyword suggestion tools. If it is a subject that I'm unsteady with I'll read a few articles to see if I can come up with some ideas. I try to be as scientific as possible but sometimes there is guess-work involved.

[jboeckman]

Keyword research is something that is crucial to the success of your campaign. The main thing you have to realize is you can't be afraid to change your strategy after you launch your campaign. SEOBook has a good list of resources Free Keyword Suggestion, Research & Analysis Tools: Seo Book.com Depending on the type of site you are launching you may also want to check out Google Hot Trends to help you find out some of the most popular keywords

I have used both WordTracker (WT) and Keyword Discovery (KD) and I decided to use WT. KD seemed to have some problems with returning results and other minor programming glitches. I did a comparison of the results from both WT and KD and they were fairly similar in amount of traffic but keep in mind the numbers they give are estimates and may not be 100% accurate.

Once you have your campaign launched you may want to look into installing HitTail to help you determine some long tail keyword phrases that might be worth your time. Of course Google Analytics is a good resource for finding out how people are getting to your site. Once you know how people are finding you do more research on words that are related to that topic.

[saxman1973]

That SEO Digger ROCKS! Thanks - Saxman

[erikko]

i use tools but sometimes manual keyword search does the trick for me

[crawford]

Potential visitors are not looking for your name, the URL of your site or any number of words that site owners usually think of. Try to think as would someone sitting at a search engine looking for what is available from your site.

Forget the most popular words. The competition is overwhelming and you'll never make it to the top. Those involved in computers tend to have a mindset that is not universal. We need to think like normal people. I know it's hard to do but just stick to it. It will pay off eventually.

[qh4dotcom]

What I do is make a search on Google for a keyword, then by looking at the search results for the words before and after the keyword I can come up with Long Tail Keywords.

[mjtaylor]

Originally Posted by crawford

Forget the most popular words. The competition is overwhelming and you'll never make it to the top.

I would always take the most positive view. Someone makes it to the top for the most competitive phrase; why *not* me?

I am not saying ignore long tailed phrases - far from it. The more targeted the phrase, the more qualified the search and the more likely the conversion.

[ExtravagantMedia]

Or you could organically go after the long tail and SEM the rest.
MJ I agree with what your saying but sometimes keyword difficulty can be excruciating.
It's a time vs reward thing.

[tony]

I use Themezoom.
For a complete vertical market analysis with results right at your finger tips this program is hands down well ahead of the market.

[ExtravagantMedia]

Thanks for the tip, i'll check that out!

[G.Suvorov]

Seodigger.com is good for long-tail-keywords just perform full-domain search / for your site or for your competitor's site/ wordraker and overture data are available in same report. and there is ability to export in csv/
It looks like a bit self-promotional, but what can I do?

[danlefree]

Thank you for all the feedback on this issue - I like the SeoDigger.com tool, and I'll probably spend some time with it (CSV downloads look really promising).

I've compiled a fairly comprehensive list to base my development and link placement efforts upon, but now I'm running into some interesting Google Analytics behavior... there's always something new cropping up. Any takers on the plus sign delimiter issue?

[davidweb]

Originally Posted by danlefree

I'm working on a site which has a very wide base of long tail search terms and is presently ranked #1 for a few general terms which apply to the industry. There is not much in the way of overlap for the long tail keywords over the general keywords.

My present methodology for identifying new long tail target keywords involves a bit of guesswork and a lot of Google's Adwords Tool, however, I am interested to know what other WebProWorld users would recommend.

You can try combining competitive keywords with less competitive keywords within that same category. This could help.

[moredial]

It the site is written using a rich vocabulary then you should easily meet the goal of ranking well for 1000+ long tail phrases.

I would rather have 800 phrases bringing in one or two visitors a month than fight with the thousands of other sites all fighting for the 1000 visitors who are using the top phrases.

Most conversions come from the long tail queries as those are people who have not found what they wanted on the popular phrases and are now targeting their search. Hopefully they take action when they do find a match.