What are long-tail keywords, and why are they used?
Long tail keywords and voice searches: why do they work?
Research has shown that voice searches are becoming more popular as AI-powered digital assistants like Alexa, Google, and Apple are increasingly being sold all over the world. In 2023, the number of voice search users was reported to be around 125.2 million. This trend is moving dramatically, as they are using the voice search feature more than 1 billion times every month. When users are searching for information with these digital assistants and voice search features on their phones, they frame a specific question that is more than 5 words long, and this is where long-tail keywords come into play.
Example
Long-tail keywords vs short-tail : which one should you use?
The latest research has shown that 70% of the searches use long-tail keywords, and search engines are also becoming better at understanding human voice searches with the help of machine learning and AI. Users will more likely search in complete sentences, so using short and generic keywords will not help your SEO efforts if your goal is to rank higher in the SERP. Here’s why you should target Long-Tail Keywords :
1. Reduced competition
2. Higher conversions
Benefits of Long-Tail Keywords in SEO
- Natural language : Long-tail keywords are often used by voice search users, and the queries are more conversational and in full sentences, exactly like keywords that are long and specific.
- Higher accuracy and relevancy : When people are searching their queries, they are likely to be more detailed, which means users are looking for relevant information about a product or a service.
- Improved user experience : Providing exact answers to specific questions can improve user satisfaction. This means Google will love your content and reward your website with higher rankings.
- Less competition in the niche market : Ranking higher in the search engines is quite important for SEO. By using relevant long-tail keywords, you can dominate your niche market and establish yourself as an authority.
- Increased conversions from users : When users search for a particular topic, they have already decided to buy the product/service, and if your content has relevant long-tail keywords, they are more likely to make the purchase.
Strategies to hunt down long tail keywords for SEO success
Before you can start using long-tail keywords in your content, you need to know where and how to find them. The following strategies will help you hunt down long-tail keywords to improve your SEO strategy :
1. Building buyer personas
2. Analyze competitor keywords
3. Use Google’s autocomplete
4. Look at the Q&A sites
5. Use SEO tools
There are some SEO tools out there to help you discover long-tail keywords. Apart from Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, Ahrefs, and UberSuggest, you can also use a unique long-tail keyword research tool like :
- People Also Ask section of Google: This feature can show the questions that are asked frequently, and you can find questions that have long keywords.