SEO in 30 Days, Day 5: Keyword Research, Step 3

In the first two steps on Keyword Research covered Why It’s Necessary (Day 3) and Common Mistakes (Day 4). Now we’ll move on to the benefits of targeting longer keyword phrases (often called “long-tail keywords”) on your website.

The Benefits of Long-Tail Keyword Phrases

When compiling a list of target keywords for your online marketing campaigns, be sure to expand your list beyond one word search queries. The inclusion of long-tail keywords, those query strings include 2 -4 words, are important to ensure your campaign is well-rounded and profitable for your company.

While one word searches often carry large monthly search volumes, they often do not offer the best opportunities for optimization. This is due to the fact that these terms are often very competitive and lack clear focus from a searcher. This point is emphasized by recent research, which found that long-tail searches exhibit a higher conversion rate by up to 200% compared to short-tail (generic) keywords.

Long-tail terms often carry less overall search volume but, as the above statistic indicates, these searches are much more valuable because they are more targeted to your specific business. Also, as the query lengthens, gaining ranking for these terms becomes easier due to the specific instances of these strings around the web become less and less frequent.

As an attorney you can expand your list of long-tail keywords by including practice areas and the types of services that you offer, coupled with the city, county or state where your ideal client-base or business resides. Long-tail terms provide a greater chance to optimize pages around these topics and expand your business through online marketing. A law firm based in San Francisco, CA, wanting to attract more business for mediation services, for example, would be better served by the long-tail keyword phrase “San Francisco divorce mediation” than simply “mediation.”

Up next in the SEO in 30 Days series: we conclude our keyword research steps on Day 6 with competitor analysis.

Related posts:

1. SEO in 30 Days, Day 4: Keyword Research, Step 2
2. SEO in 30 Days, Day 6: Keyword Research, Step 4
3. SEO in 30 Days, Day 7: Keyword Research, Step 5
4. SEO in 30 Days, Day 3: Keyword Research, Step 1
5. SEO in 30 Days, Day 9: Keyword Research, Step 7