What is a Long Tail Keyword and how does it multiply your website traffic?

Suppose someone is looking for a lightweight running shoe for wide feet. They don't type shoes into Google. They don't even type sneakers. They type much more precisely: running shoes for men with wide feet. What does this mean? It means that a specific user, with a specific need, is looking for a very specific answer.

Now, if you own a shoe store and you only focus on the words shoes or sneakers, this person will never reach you. Because those words are very competitive and general. But if you have an article or page on your site that is written exactly about this phrase, the chances of Google showing you are much higher. Because you are answering a specific question.

This is where the power of long-tail keywords comes into play.

Why can long-tail keywords bring you much better traffic?

One day, a client came to us. He had a home appliance store. He had written a lot of articles about vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, and televisions. There was traffic, but it was strange... His sales were very low. So-and-so came and said, "I have a lot of views, but why don't I have any sales?"

We sat down and checked, and we saw that yes, there were a lot of views, but most of them were users who hadn't decided what they wanted yet. For example, they were looking for the best vacuum cleaner or just a refrigerator. They were still in the research phase, not buying. That means they had come just to see what was good, what the brands were, what the prices were. Not to buy now.

But one section of his site had a very old article with a title like this: A guide to buying an Iranian vacuum cleaner with high suction power. This one brings him a lot of sales every month. Because someone who searches for a phrase like that knows exactly what they want and is ready to buy. It’s like standing behind a store door, just waiting to be opened and let in.

This is where you realize that a lot of traffic is useless if the user isn’t ready to buy. But a targeted user, even if it’s just one, is worth more than a hundred cold users. And that’s exactly what long-tail keywords do: low traffic, but high quality.

How to use long-tail keywords in your SEO strategy?

Remember those old-school market vendors who could tell what a customer was looking for by looking at their face? Before the customer could speak, they would bring them the right product. Now it’s the same in the online world. If you can guess what the user is looking for and have the right page ready for them, you’ve won the game.

For example, if you’re in the web design business, a user might type “web design.” So what does that mean? Nothing. They’re just browsing. But when it comes to designing a store website with the ability to connect to the Treb and SMS panel, it means that it knows exactly what it wants. This is where you need to create a special page for it, a special content, with the same tone and the same answers it is looking for.

In SEO, you shouldn't leave everything to Google. You should take the user's hand like a professional guide and take them to the right place. If your content is the exact answer to that long phrase, Google will love you and show you.

How do we find these words? Tools? Creativity? Or experience?

We once worked with a small team that was producing content about flowers and plants. They thought they should only write about flower care. But with a little digging into people's questions, we came up with things like

•  Suitable soil for ficus in winter
•  Reasons why aglaonema leaves turn yellow after changing the pot
•  How to save a plant after excessive watering

These are the long words. But you may not find them directly in any tool. These come from life. From the questions people ask, from the problems they experience.

Sometimes tools like AnswerThePublic or Google Suggest give you a good idea. Just go search and see what people are asking. But your own creativity is more important. To go to the comments, forums, Telegram groups and answer real questions.

Content structure centered on long keywords

When you find a long word, you shouldn't just write a paragraph about it and finish it. You have to go completely into its heart. Let's say someone searches: Laptop buying guide for professional film editing with a budget of under 30 million. Now you shouldn't just introduce a laptop. You must first understand why this person wanted something like this, what his concerns are, what specifications are important to him, what mistakes he might make. Then you can introduce the options.

Every long word is an opportunity to build a page. A page that both the user and Google like. Because it covers everything.

The difference between long words and general words and common mistakes

A very common mistake is that they think that long words are useful only because of their number of words. No, brother. A word may have 5 words but be impersonal. The important thing is to specify the user's goal.

For example, the best shopping site in Iran for buying mobile phones is very specific. Because the user is looking for comparison. But an Iranian mobile shopping site may not have any goal.

You should see if the phrase you have chosen really has a specific question and a clear need. Because if you have just made the sentence long, but there is no goal in it, it is useless.

Long keywords may seem to bring less traffic, but in practice, they have the greatest impact on sales, engagement, and trust. Because they answer specific and real questions from users. And when you give the right answer, it means you have become a reference. Now, whether you are a store, a blogger, or a teacher, it does not matter. You just need to know that writing accurately is better than writing too much.

And the last point: When you write content, don't go for virality or clicks. Go for someone with a problem, when they reach out to you, to feel like they finally had someone who understood and answered their question.

This is the power of long words.