The reality of effective search engine optimization has created intense competition for high traffic keywords. Responses have begun to select more targeted and specific keyword phrases to avoid those that are more
competitive and searched for other ways to segment the market and access potential customers. Viral marketing on social networks is one answer. But a shrewd search marketing company will tell its clients that going back to the basics of SEO can capture a “gold mine” of natural search traffic – long tail searches.
Be clear about one thing. At almost any online marketing budget level, the best approach bundles search engine marketing, media buying, and social media optimization into one synergistic package that reaches out to potential customers across as many platforms as possible, all while targeting every paid ad as thoroughly as it can towards interested web users. But within the realm of SEO, optimizing a site for long tail searches is one of the most effective strategies to get a better return on investment. Some estimate that long tail searches comprise roughly 75 percent of all searches on the three biggest search engines, Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
A search marketing company can help clients capture a bigger portion of that huge percentage by implementing and improving a fundamental SEO strategy, the creation of good content. Although inbound links from quality content are very important to get a site ranked well for specific keyword phrases, they can’t help as much with long tail searches because there is too much potential variety to accurately predict their most likely form. On the other hand, constantly generating new, relevant, high-quality content to post on the promoted site and to sometimes farm out to relevant blogs for quality link backs is a simple, reliable, and effective way to keep a site optimized for a wide range of potential long tail searches.
When combined with geo-localized keyword phrase targeting and other important site optimizations, this obvious step can drive a significant volume of natural traffic to the site. And as an added bonus, it will also improve the effectiveness and conversion rates of the site itself. Worthwhile content that explains topics customers might be interested in makes visiting the site a valuable activity for them has a dramatic effect on the site’s conversion rate. Not only will this long tail search content generate new traffic, it will encourage repeat traffic and make the site more efficient.
Considering the other important approaches taken by any successful search marketing company and their costs, increasing the production of high-quality content is an effective and synergistic activity for almost any website.
Ryan Michael Farrell is a los angeles based search engine marketing consultant who blogs about technology and marketing
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