How to Target the Long-Tail (it's 70% of my traffic)

rimam1 · 10-01-2011, 08:22 PM

I started a new site in the fitness niche and have been killing myself chasing highly searched, short-tail terms. Now that I'm ranking in the top 5 for my main keywords, I'm disappointed by the traffic... only like 200 visitors per day.

I went back and looked at one of my older sites and made a shocking realization. Out of the 10,000 monthly visits it gets, only 30% of my traffic comes from my targeted short-tail keywords. Most of my traffic, that's 70%, comes from keywords that I "accidentally" rank for.

In the spirit of being open, the site is www.IsometricExerciseSite.com

Based on this realization, my process for the new site is the following:

1). go to the Google keyword tool and search for my short-tail terms individually (rather than putting all of my keywords in the search box

2). search for broad match (instead of exact match)

3). make a list of 10-20 closely related keywords that I can sprinkle into an existing article on my site

4). repeat this process across all of the articles on my site (assuming you're trying to rank for a specific term with each article)

I'm not going to do any special link building. I'm pretty sure that just adding my long-tail keywords will help me capture many, many more visitors searching for specific keywords in Google. It's going to take a little time, but it won't be too hard to go back and modify each article a bit...

Raza

scruffy77 · 10-01-2011, 11:04 PM

how long did it take you to get to the first page of google? awesome post btw

outwest · 10-02-2011, 01:16 AM

Its not uncommon to receive 50 percent from the longtails And I have been studying this extensively for the last several months, HOW to optimize the longtails

definitely if you notice a pattern in your logs, go back and optimize for this (these) by optimizing pages for these kws but for all the words that get only 1 visit per month (which there are 100s of these) I dont know how to encourage more of these clicks

I will try to go back and try to find the articles I found about how to structure the modifiers etc on certain pages in order to grab more long tails, but I dont know if there is a way to do this effectively without a calculated system

I have wanted to make a similar post to this one for a long time

rimam1 · 10-03-2011, 07:56 AM

I'm doing some major work to target the long-tail on my new site. It'll require me to shift my focus from link-building to creating content, but I think it'll be worth it in the long-term.

Raza

nicktyler · 10-03-2011, 08:10 AM

A good way to target the long tails is to consistently create and post good content around your niche on your site. Rather than article marketing with anchor just write naturally and if you are knoweledgeable about the subject you will naturally include the long tails that you are looking for. Or if there are any particular high value phrases be sure to focus on them.

10-01-2011, 08:22 PM	#1
rimam1 HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 315 Thanks: 54 Thanked 107 Times in 22 Posts	How to Target the Long-Tail (it's 70% of my traffic) I started a new site in the fitness niche and have been killing myself chasing highly searched, short-tail terms. Now that I'm ranking in the top 5 for my main keywords, I'm disappointed by the traffic... only like 200 visitors per day. I went back and looked at one of my older sites and made a shocking realization. Out of the 10,000 monthly visits it gets, only 30% of my traffic comes from my targeted short-tail keywords. Most of my traffic, that's 70%, comes from keywords that I "accidentally" rank for. In the spirit of being open, the site is www.IsometricExerciseSite.com Based on this realization, my process for the new site is the following: 1). go to the Google keyword tool and search for my short-tail terms individually (rather than putting all of my keywords in the search box 2). search for broad match (instead of exact match) 3). make a list of 10-20 closely related keywords that I can sprinkle into an existing article on my site 4). repeat this process across all of the articles on my site (assuming you're trying to rank for a specific term with each article) I'm not going to do any special link building. I'm pretty sure that just adding my long-tail keywords will help me capture many, many more visitors searching for specific keywords in Google. It's going to take a little time, but it won't be too hard to go back and modify each article a bit... Raza
	Why getting Pandalyzed was the best thing to ever happen to my sites - PM me to find out...

10-01-2011, 11:04 PM	#2
scruffy77 Active Warrior Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 60 Thanks: 8 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: How to Target the Long-Tail (it's 70% of my traffic) how long did it take you to get to the first page of google? awesome post btw

10-02-2011, 01:16 AM	#3
outwest Lovin Life War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: USA and Asia Posts: 2,690 Thanks: 118 Thanked 180 Times in 161 Posts	Re: How to Target the Long-Tail (it's 70% of my traffic) Its not uncommon to receive 50 percent from the longtails And I have been studying this extensively for the last several months, HOW to optimize the longtails definitely if you notice a pattern in your logs, go back and optimize for this (these) by optimizing pages for these kws but for all the words that get only 1 visit per month (which there are 100s of these) I dont know how to encourage more of these clicks I will try to go back and try to find the articles I found about how to structure the modifiers etc on certain pages in order to grab more long tails, but I dont know if there is a way to do this effectively without a calculated system I have wanted to make a similar post to this one for a long time

10-03-2011, 07:56 AM	#4
rimam1 HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 315 Thanks: 54 Thanked 107 Times in 22 Posts	Re: How to Target the Long-Tail (it's 70% of my traffic) I'm doing some major work to target the long-tail on my new site. It'll require me to shift my focus from link-building to creating content, but I think it'll be worth it in the long-term. Raza
	Why getting Pandalyzed was the best thing to ever happen to my sites - PM me to find out...

10-03-2011, 08:10 AM	#5
nicktyler Advanced Warrior Join Date: May 2011 Location: London Posts: 708 Thanks: 8 Thanked 56 Times in 55 Posts	Re: How to Target the Long-Tail (it's 70% of my traffic) A good way to target the long tails is to consistently create and post good content around your niche on your site. Rather than article marketing with anchor just write naturally and if you are knoweledgeable about the subject you will naturally include the long tails that you are looking for. Or if there are any particular high value phrases be sure to focus on them.
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