You have heard that you should try and rank your website for long tail keywords, but what are long tail keywords exactly?
Keywords can be broad and far-reaching (these are usually called “head keywords”), or they can be a more specific combination of several terms — these are often called “long-tail keywords.”
If you are not sure how to do keyword research, you can read this.
What Are Long Tail Keywords?
A long tail keyword is a phrase that is generally made from three to five words or more.
Since these keywords are more specific than generic terms, they allow you to target niche demographics. These keywords are also less competitive than generic keywords because they are designed to better reflect how people make queries.
With long tail keywords, you are able to attract more high-quality traffic to your website which is more likely to lead to conversions.
During the customer journey, long tail keywords become more important as their journey evolves. Typically, users begin with a simple search and as the search engines guide them to solving their pain point, their searches become more detailed. This is where long tail keywords will become important to separate your brand from that of your competition.
Singular keywords might appear to be your ultimate goal as they often have temptingly high search volume. However, they usually have extremely tough competition.
For instance, you may want your boutique clothing store to rank for “clothes,” but it’s going to be tough to rank above Zappos and Nordstrom.
On top of that strong competition, singular keywords can be infuriatingly vague. If someone is searching for “dog,” you don’t know if they want a list of dog breeds, information about dog food, a place to buy a dog collar, or just a site with cute photos of dogs.
Long-tail keywords usually have more clearly defined intent. For example, “best organic dog food for a puppy,” or “inexpensive dog walkers Seattle.”
You’ll also find that long-tail keywords have less competition, with room for a smaller site to break in and make their mark on the SERPs.
The Strategic Importance of Long Tail Keywords in AI Search
The rise of AI-powered search has fundamentally shifted how users interact with search engines, making long tail keywords more valuable than ever for SEO practitioners.
AI Overviews have become increasingly conversational, growing each month. This shift reflects a growing user comfort with more natural, detailed search patterns that align perfectly with long tail keyword strategies.
For internet marketers, this evolution presents a unique opportunity. Rather than competing directly with major brands for broad keywords, long tail optimization allows websites to earn citations in AI search results by providing complementary, specific information.
Data seems to show that AI Overviews are now pulling from a significantly broader range of sources – up to 151% more unique websites for complex B2B queries and 108% more for detailed product searches. This means that websites optimizing for specific, detailed long tail phrases have an increased chance of being cited in comprehensive AI-generated responses.
This means that digital marketers and SEO’s can focus on developing deep, specific content that answers particular aspects of user queries, rather than trying to compete for broad, highly competitive terms.
By targeting the natural language patterns that users increasingly employ in their searches, websites can position themselves as valuable sources of specific information that AI systems will reference when building comprehensive responses to user queries.
Now that is really good news if you are concentrating on those long tail keywords.
