Leveraging

The Long Tail

Keywords of

The Search

(SEO) & PPC

Importance of

Long Tail

Keywords in

SEO & PPC

WordStream, Inc.

Agenda

• The Long Tail of Search – History and Definition

– What is it, why should you care?

• How to Leverage the Long Tail for SEO & PPC – Practical tips and strategies

– Common Long Tail Pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Q&A

The History of the Long Tail

• Popularized by Chris Anderson in a 2004 “Wired” magazine article that has led to a series of books

• Long Tail Theory: “Long tail products that are in low demand (low sales volume) collectively make up a market share that exceeds the bestsellers.”

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The Long Tail and Search

• Real phenomenon that permeates many aspects of search marketing

• Popular Examples of the Long Tail: – Keyword (Search Query) Reports

– Popular Content Reports

• Why should you care about the long tail? – “20-25% of all Google search queries are unique” (Google)

– “56% of buyers who search use queries of three or more words, while only 7 percent use one word or an acronym” (Google)

– “Searchers are using longer queries” (Hitwise)

• Has many implications for managing both SEO and PPC

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The Long Tail & PPC in Theory

• Broader (more general) search queries are indicative of early in the buying cycle

• They’re also relatively more expensive due to increased advertiser competition

• More specific the query, the closer the searcher is to a decision (conversion)

• Also relatively cheaper due to decreased advertiser competition

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Consider these Google queries: 1. “Running Shoes”

• +10 pages of sponsored results

2. “Nike Air Terra”

• ~2 sponsored listings

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Searcher Intent = vs. vs. vs. vs.

Searcher Intent =

So in Theory, Long Tail for PPC:

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Less Competition

(Lower CPC)

Better Ad Positioning

More Searcher Intent

(Higher Conversion

Rates)

Better ROI!

Dude, Where’s My Long Tail! • In Google AdWords, the long tail often doesn’t exist!

– “300 keywords generate +90% of my clicks”

– Therefore “the long tail is dead!”

• Yet Web analytics keyword reports show 10’s of thousands of unique search queries!

• What’s happening here?!

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Search Queries vs. Keywords • Search Queries: What the user actually typed into the search

box that triggered your ads.

• Keywords: The words in your Google AdWords account that Google attributes an impression/click/conversion to.

• Use of aggressive keyword match types kills your long tail in Google AdWords – Can fundamentally distort cause and effect

– Operating PPC in “Low Resolution”

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Keyword Match Types & Search Queries

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Keyword Match Type Keyword Possible Valid Search Query

Broad Match Adidas Shoes Nike Slippers

Phrase Match “Adidas Shoes” Adidas Shoes for basketball

Exact Match [Adidas Shoes] Adidas Shoes

PPC Strategy for Long Tail • Need greater visibility into the search queries that are actually driving

traffic & conversions and leverage that information to correct for Google’s built-in tendency to distort reality

– Continuous Long Tail Keyword Discovery & Expansion: Self Explanatory

– Bidding: By bidding lower on “Head” terms versus mid and long-tail terms.

– Negative Keywords: Restrict ads from showing if you have more specific ads that you’d rather show.

– Match Types: Application of more or less restrictive match types

• No prescriptive way to manage the long tail, rather, you need : – Better resolution into the actual search query data and outcomes in order to understand

and react to it

– Effective keyword organization strategy

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PPC Long Tail Implementation Strategies

Wow. This is a lot of theory and sounds pretty hard. How do you actually implement this??

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Long Tail in PPC: What’s the Point?

• Long Tail awareness for PPC & strong campaign organization to better understand and react to how people are really interacting with your PPC campaigns

• To make your Long Tail of Keywords (in AdWords) look more like your Long Tail of Search Queries in Web Analytics

• Why? – It means your more precisely matching keyword searches with their intended ads

and landing pages

– Will (on average) yield Quality Scores, better exposure, lower CPC’s, higher conversion rates.

• More work, but … – Meaningful advantage in paid search if executed well

– Excellent foundation for Search Engine Optimization work

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Long Tail Theory in SEO

• Most of the traffic and conversions on your site come from long tail search queries • “56% of buyers who search use queries of three or more words,

while only 7 percent use one word or an acronym” (Google)

• “Head” Terms (Less Specific) are – Incredibly difficult to rank on due to extreme competition

– Are less intentional and more informational in nature

• True “Long Tail” Terms are difficult to identify – “20-25% of all Google search queries are unique” (Google)

• So the strategy is to target Mid-Tail Terms! – Less competitive, easier to target

– Higher intent, Conversion friendly = Money!

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Consider these Google queries: 1. “Running Shoes”

• 18,000,000 organic results

2. “Nike Air Terra”

• 131,000 organic results

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Searcher Intent = vs. vs. vs. vs.

Searcher Intent =

So in Theory, Long Tail for SEO:

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Less Competition

Better SERP Positioning

More Searcher Intent

(Higher Conversion

Rates)

Better ROI!

Long Tail Strategy for On-Page SEO

• Publish unique, relevant, and specific content:

– Themed Content: Target content around specific mid-tail keywords.

– Relevant Linking: Aggressive, relevant, in-paragraph linking like wikipedia.

• Prioritize work – Start with the traffic and

action producing mid-tail keyword segmentations first

• Repeat!

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SEO Long Tail Implementation Strategies

How do you actually implement this?? (Easy if you’re already targeting the Long Tail in PPC!)

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Long Tail in SEO: What’s the Point?

• To develop a portfolio of content that will rank on a portfolio of mid and long tail keywords because that’s where the majority of clicks and conversions are

• By leveraging valuable search query data from PPC you can very effectively target mid and long tail terms!

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Common Long Tail Keyword Mistakes:

– Ignoring/Denying the Long Tail of Search

– Mistaking Quantity and Quality

• Fake keyword generators (permutations or combinations of lists of keywords)

• Over-trusting keyword suggestion tools

• Negative Keywords

– Avoid Keyword Injection: Need {Keyword}?

• Shortcuts hurt performance

• Write targeted ads and landing pages

– Simplistic bidding rules can torpedo the Long Tail in PPC

– Trying to do everything at once

• Take an iterative approach

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Ways to Effectively Manage Long Tail Keywords

1. Tight Keyword Grouping & Organization

• Properly organize your long tail keywords for the best results

2. Use negatives

• Negative keywords improve your relevance without requiring you to comb through the list individually

3. Prioritize tasks

• Once you have gathered long tail keywords, continue to optimize the campaigns as you do with other keyword groups

4. Act on insights

• Turn insight into action! Dedicate time and effort towards crafting relevant ad groups and content pages

5. Distribute the work

• Break up work into smaller tasks, enlist the support of a team

6. Use Software

• Leverage keyword management software

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WordStream in a Nutshell

• Your own private keyword database

• Real keywords from real data

• Easy keyword organization and management

• Continuous long tail growth

• Powerful keyword research and analytics

• Negative Keyword Tools

• Workflow prioritization

• Act on Long Tail for PPC and SEO!

WordStream, Inc.

Thanks

WordStream, Inc.