Long tailed keywords are a way to separate yourself from the pack in your SEO campaign. They are three or four word keyword phrases designed to reach consumers who know exactly what they are seeking and are not afraid to go into more detail in either conventional for voice search queries.

I would further define long tailed keywords as being the “easy button” for consumers to narrow down the search responses to exactly what might fulfill their needs. The volume of search for long tailed keyword phrases will almost always be lower than primary keyword targets, but the conversion rates are almost always much higher, and the competition less fierce.

Successful long tailed keyword phrases often contain the following requests or modifiers to primary keyword terms:

1. Geo or “Near Me”-This primarily applies to local search, but can be a factor in national or regional search as well.
2. Fast or Quick-This is asking for fast service.
3. Less Complicated-Easy access, or an appointment made, product ordered or inquiry done online in minutes can be important factors for successful long tailed keyword phrases.
4. Specialty or Unique Selling Proposition (USP)-Many will search for a specialty or specific service within a vertical.

Long Tailed keywords are also excellent for paid campaigns, and inserting them in paid campaigns can ensure that you will be able to adequately track search engagement with the KW search through CTR and conversion tracking. Paid search is also a great forum for testing variations of the long tail keyword phrases.

Searching for long tailed keywords is a process that requires knowledge of the brand message of the company that you are researching for. For example, if a local eatery’s brand is built around a leisurely dining experience, using the fast or quick statement as a basis for long tailed keyword research (or any keyword research) would be misleading and potentially damaging to the brand of the local eatery. It would be more effective to highlight the leisurely dining process as a USP and capture those who are seeking that dining experience.

When doing long tailed keyword research, I typically start with the top 4-6 keyword targets for that campaign and research variations on those searches using the four suggestions for modifiers listed above. Because of the low search volume of some of the phrases, they may not, on first glance, be attractive targets, but if they are “spot on” in describing the goods and services that are being provided, they are likely to have high conversion and be worth the effort of creating the correct content (in brand voice, of course) and adding the content to your website.