The Long Tail – What it is and How to Use It
If you’ve studied statistics, you may recall what “Long-Tailed Distribution” is…where the tail of the curve is extremely long when compared to the head of the curve.
The long tail phenomenon explains that if a consumer was given unlimited choices, everything becomes available, which is exactly what happens with the expansion of the Internet. For article marketers, it refers to the distribution of keywords or keyphrases that are used for Internet searches in a particular niche or market.
That means the head of the curve is one broad keyword. It has high content, demand and competition but a low target audience. The middle of the tail, is about a 2 to 3 word keyphrase and will have moderate content, demand and competition as well as a moderate target audience. The Long tail is a 4 or more word keyphrase that has lower content, demand and competition, yet a much higher targeted audience.
That means if you write articles based on the long tail, those articles have a better chance of appearing at the top of search results! Understanding and writing for the long tail is incredibly beneficial and effective because it puts your articles in front of potential customers, subscribers, or clients that are looking for that specific product or service at the exact moment they’re ready to take action.
Don’t just write for the long tail. Our recommendation is to write between 20-30 percent of articles for the head of the tail and 70-80 percent for the mid to long tail. The reason you do this is because you never know when an article will turn into a golden nugget. You want to have as many articles as possible covering a very wide range of keywords or key phrases to maximize your exposure. Writing for the long tail is a great practice to incorporate into your article writing ritual because it allows for you to get your articles higher on search results and in front of people who are ready to take action.
Search Engine Optimization is a crucial process on-line company technique and it isn’t only for big firms as generally thought. Any enterprise large or little can employ SEO to promote their company site. Learning how to put into action a Search Engine Marketing technique in your own little enterprise is an essential factor to understand.