Finding Long Tail Keywords
Video Transcript
In this lesson we’ll be exploring the concept of long tail derivative keywords and how to use them to attract organic traffic to your website.
Specifically we’ll looking at:
(1) Expanding your keyword framework
(2) Understanding what long tail keywords are
(3) The difference between long tail derivative keywords and semantic long tail keywords
(4) How to find long tail keywords using Market Samurai
The Keyword Tree
To begin with, I’d like to introduce you to a concept we call the ‘Keyword Tree’ which is a good way to visualize the framework necessary for building a keyword optimized website that attracts organic traffic.
Trunk = Theme Keyword
Previously we discussed the process of identifying a theme keyword which becomes the main focus of your website. This theme keyword is equivalent to the trunk of your keyword tree.
Branches = Category Keywords
We also discussed how to identify several category keywords which were related to your theme keyword and also had a reasonable amount of traffic and an acceptable level of competition. These category keywords make up the branches of your keyword tree.
Long Tail Derivative Keywords
Today, I’d like to introduce you to two additional types of keywords.
The first type are called Long Tail Derivative keywords
Semantic Long Tail Keywords
...and the second type are called - Semantic Long Tail keywords.
These keywords give your website greater breadth and relevancy and are equivalent to the leaves on your keyword tree.
So let’s take a look at each of these new keyword types in more detail.
What Does Long Tail Mean?
In case you’re wondering what the term long tail actually means, a ‘long tail’ keyword is simply a phrase that contains several words. The more words in the phrase, the longer the tail.
Long Tail Derivative Keywords
Long tail derivative keywords are those that actually include the root keyword phrase. The easiest way to understand this is to look at an example.
Let’s say that your theme keyword was ‘sleeping bag’
A long tail derivative of this keyword might be ‘british army sleeping bag’.
As you can see in this example, the root keyword phrase ‘sleeping bag’ is contained within the long tail phrase which is why it is called a derivative.
Semantic Long Tail Keywords
Now semantic long tail keywords are phrases that do not contain the root keyword phrase exactly but are still semantically related.
So with the sleeping bag example, a semantic long tail keyword might be ‘mountain slumber bag’.
In this example, the initial keyword phrase ‘sleeping bag’ is not actually part of the long tail keyword phrase, but Google still sees them as being related.
Positive and Negative Attributes
The best thing about long tail keyword phrases is that the competition for these phrases is often lower. So if you write an article that specifically targets a long tail derivative phrase, you may have a good chance of ranking for that keyword.
The flip side of the equation of course is that long tail keyword phrases do not usually generate a great deal of traffic which is why you need to find as many of them as possible.
Overall Objective
So coming back to the keyword tree, what you really want to create is a website that contains good quality articles that target your theme keyword, your category keywords and also a wide range of long tail derivative keywords and semantic long tail keywords that are relevant to your business.
Over time, as you continue to grow your content base and your link network, you’ll develop more authority in your chosen niche and subsequently attract more traffic.
So now that you understand what long tail derivative keywords and semantic long tail keywords are, lets take a look at how to use Market Samurai to find these important keyword phrases.
Create New Project
What we need to do is to conduct another round of keyword research for our theme keyword and each of our category keywords.
This time however, we’ll be using different search settings and different filters in order to find the long tail keyword phrases that we’re looking for.
So lets take a look at the sleeping bag example from start to finish.
I’ll begin by creating a new project
Enter Seed Keyword
Next I'll enter sleeping bag as my initial seed keyword and then I can come over here and click the create button.
Access Keyword Research Module
Now I can click the Keyword Research icon to begin my search.
Select Google Keywords as Keyword Source
The first thing I want to do is to generate a large list of keywords so that I can find as many long tail phrases as possible.
So in the Keyword Sources area, I’m going to make sure that the Google Synonym tool is checked and that I’m including the additional keywords.
Now, this time, because I’m looking for long tail keywords, I’ll come down here and include 'Google Search Keywords' as well.
Generate Keywords
To generate my keyword list, I’ll just come across here and click the ‘Generate Keywords’ button.
Analyze Keywords
Market Samurai then brings back a large list of keywords. You’ll notice that by checking the Google Search Keywords checkbox, I’ve managed to bring back 615 related keywords.
To explore these keywords in more detail, I’ll just come down here and click the Analyze Keywords button.
Set Phrase to Broad Match Filter = 15
Now my next step is to filter these keywords to find the long tail derivative and semantic long tail phrases that I’m looking for.
The first filter I’ll set is a Phrase to Broad Match filter to ensure that I eliminate any potentially misleading results. I’ll use a filter value of 15 which should limit my results to terms that people are actually searching for.
Set SEO Traffic Filter = 10
Next, I’m going to add an SEO traffic filter. You may recall that when we were looking for our theme and category keywords, we set this to 80 to make sure that our main keywords had a reasonable amount of daily traffic.
This time however, we’re interested in finding a large number of keyword phrases that have a small amount of traffic and low competition. So, I’m going to set my SEOT filter to 10. This will allow me to see keyword phrases that generate at least a small amount of traffic each day.
Retrieve SEO Competition Data
And now having set these filters, I’ll come across here and click the Analyze Keywords button to bring back my SEO competition data.
Set SEO Competition Filter = 30000
Now I’m going to set my SEO competition filter to 30000 because I am still looking to identify keywords that have a low level of competition.
You’ll now see that Market Samurai has isolated 107 keyword phrases that I can use as the basis for additional content, and having a quick look down this list, many of these terms appear to be long tail derivatives of my initial keyword ‘sleeping bag’.
So just to clarify, the main differences between this search and the search we conducted previously are first, that we included the Google Search keywords and second, that we reduced our SEO traffic filter from 80 to 10 which allows us to see the long tail keywords we’re looking for.
Sort Data by SEO Competition
Now you may be wondering which of these long tail keywords you should target first.
The answer is - the ones with the least amount of competition which are still relevant to your website. A great way to find the best long tail derivatives to start with is to click the SEOC column heading which sorts your results from low to high competition.
Example
So looking at this example, the term ‘coleman colossal sleeping bag’ has an SEOC value of just 101.
If I was to write a good quality article that specifically targeted this term, I’d stand a pretty good chance of ranking well in Google and may be able to achieve a number one ranking in which case I’d probably receive around 20 extra visitors per day.
Now this may not seem like much, but if I continued down this list and created content to target each of these long tail derivative and semantic phrases, you should be able to see that these small amounts of traffic would quickly add up.
And because these long tail phrases are all related to my niche, as I gain traffic for these phrases, I’ll gradually develop more authority for my theme and category keywords.
I hope you can now see the true power of using Market Samurai to find long tail derivative and semantic long tail phrases related to each of your category keywords and your theme keyword. By creating content that targets these keywords, you will gradually build an effective keyword tree that attracts more and more organic traffic to your website.
Summary
So just to recap, in this video we looked at the Keyword Tree which is a great way to visualize the structure of an effective website.
We explored long tail keywords and found that there are two main types.
(1) Long tail derivative keywords which contain our root phrase
(2) Semantic long tail keywords which do not contain our root phrase
And finally we saw how to find long tail keywords using Market Samurai by including Google Search Keywords as a keyword source and lowering our SEO Traffic filter to 10.
Search
More Keyword Research Lessons
- Introduction to Keyword Research
- Golden Rule #1: How to Find Relevant Keywords
- Golden Rule #2: How to Find High Traffic Keywords
- Golden Rule #3: How to Assess Market Competition
- Golden Rule #4: How to Assess Commerciality
- Golden Rules Case Study
- Finding Long Tail Keywords
- Understanding Match Type Data
- How to Avoid Targeting the Wrong Keywords
That's another topic that's become much clearer, thanks to your way of teaching. Thank you so much.
My eyes just exploded from how awesome that video was!
Can we get a schedule of when these videos will be released? I never know if I should go to the next video or if a new one will be released soon.
yet again you explain everything in great detail, but you make it so clear, even me a dizzie blonde understands.
Thanks Sandra
Hi,
Thank you for this interesting video. On the bit about what long tail keywords to go for first, don't you also have to look at commercial value? A particular phrase could have a low SEOC and be easy to rank for, but if the person is simply looking for information it's unlikely to lead to any sales. Just wondering.
Thanks again,
Martin
Anthony, these training videos are excellent. I can't find how to use 10 minutes better than watching your videos.
This is valuable information and very well presented. I'm also glad you supplemented the video with text and images for quick reference because I'm going to want to look over it again as I use the trial software. I'm so impressed by everything from you guys so far, thanks for sharing your techniques.
Very clear. Very simple. Easy to understand. Great job Doctor. I have a question though. What is the optimum number of semantic/and or derivative KWs should you include in making targeted content? Thanks.
Thank you for another great video...MS is a perfect tool for Search engine optimizer like myself!
Looking forward to more information video!
In the States, a guy named Chris Anderson (editor of Wired Magazine) wrote a book a few years ago entitled "The Long Tail". It is not aimed at SEO, but the principles apply. So, I was surprised to learn that your definition is a "long keyphrase" versus a collection of keywords that are appropriate to a small niche of your potential customer base. Because I think a segment of your audience will be confused - I would recommend renaming your "Longtail Keywords" to "Keyphrase". Then, you'll be able to harness both concepts for the success of your subscribers!
Great content btw!
gr8 job again, Doc and am looking forward to your local market education SPECIAL
Excellent as usual Anthony.
The hierarchy of keywords is something I'd never quite appreciated but by using it you can develop a whole blogging routine which is keyword rich. Adding the longtail keywords to relevant newsworthy interest should produce a winning formula in most markets.
I know that at times I've had writers block so now another source of inspiration can become the list of longtail key words!
http://www.onesherpa.com
Hi Anthony,
I am a Market Samurai user and love it. Problem was up until now, I haven't been using MS to anywhere near it's ability. It's been like having a Ferrari parked in the garage because it's out of fuel. I just didn't know how powerful Market Samurai was.
After watching your videos covering just the first couple of modules, you have opened up a whole new world of opportunity for me and I'd say many other MS users too.
I can't thank you enough!
Warm regards
Rocky
Well that's cleared a few things up for me in regards to article writing. Great job.
Anthony thanks for this post. I just realized why most of my keyword research would only turn up about 5 to 6 high traffic low competition keyword. I was used a 80 for SEOT on a long tail keyword. Duh! Thanks, I would always say, wow things would be nice if I used a 20 or 30 SEOT for my keywords. Well, it is nice to know I was on the right track.
Thank you,Thank you,Thank you. Another excellent lesson. Your efforts are much appreciated.
Would you do a tutorial on finding keywords for mini site as well? I'm doing one right now and it confuses me if I would choose the 80 a day filter or should I lower it to find keywords just like what Google shows in their wonder wheel. thx.
Thanks Anthony on another well thought out and easily understandable lesson. Very much appreciated.
Great article Anthony. That has answered a number of questions I had in one go! This format is excellent.
Thank you for the great tree metaphor. This helps to explain the 'keyword maze' to clients as well!
Anthony - you're doing an excellent job with these tutorials, appreciate it very much..
Thanks Anthony. These tutorials are great reminders of how to do the research properly. It is so easy to get into bad habits and get no where. You can be sure I'll be re-visiting the lessons regularly.
How bizarre - my comment was deleted. Why is that? I was merely commenting that it would probably be a good idea to look at commercial value as well as SEOC when selecting what long tail phrases to target first.
Thanks,
Martin
Another great tutorial Anthony. I am finding them so useful, particularly because each one deals with one concept and method which build upon one another. Great job!
Very clear and concise information on long tail keywords
Will go to market samurai to search for my long tail keywords.
Thanks Dr Anthony
These days I visit your training site very often. Everytime I re-review your training video I pick up a little more. Now I realize just how powerful this piece of software really is and how relevant it is to my online business. You have won me over as a customer for life!
Hi Anthony thanks very much for all your efforts. Concepts are slowly becoming clearer. I have a question though. There is no mention in your video of money value of the long tail keywords. Is this deliberate? Does it mean that long tail keywords are not used to attract buyers? What is the status of these long tail keywords are they there to provide traffic but no buyers? I am confused about this concept as a lot of people state that it is better to have quality traffic than just quantity traffic. By quality traffic I mean buyer traffic. Are you supposing that the traffic that comes from longtail keywords of unknown monetary value can be presold. My experience is in general that you can\'t. Obviously not all audiences are the same so I am generalising a bit.Look forward to your response. Ken.
Brilliantly clear Anthony. Market Samurai is hands down the best research tool on the market. I bought it last year and use it daily. It just keeps getting better.
Thanks for all this additional training.
Excellent tutorial video. Not only is Market Samurai a superb product, but you support it extremely well.
How many times can one say 'thank you'?
I guess as many times as MS and Dr. A. keep extending their helping hands......
THANK YOU!
Great tutorial with very helpful information. This will help me move to the next level. Thanks.
Hi there! There seems to be a problem with the video.
Hi Anthony,
Great remonder thanks..>Sam
Hi, thanks for the great video.
One question, at what SEOC value do you feel it's NOT worth it to target a long tail keyword?
In the video, 101 looks good and you say a few more that are around 1,000 - 2,000 range, but wondering where you'd ideally like to stop optimizing.
Thanks!
Any option of the Market Samurai can filter down result by country and area. It\'s pretty useful conduct localize internet marketing.
An excellent lesson.Very useful pieces of information
AMAZING Value, I am just setting up my Blog Now. I have a good SEO URL,low competition keywords in my title H!,H2,H3 permalinks in line -- but you are still adding to my knowledge. Slap me -- It's FREE?
What is the difference between these two option "Google Synonym Tool" and "Google Search Tool" in Market Samurai keyword research?
What's their individual impact on the keyword result and why is "Google Search Tool" often left out unused in the training video so far?
i love these videos! Now, i would like to suggest that you create a video that targets a 'how to write copy' using those long tail keywords, so as to be both relevant, written for an attentive human reader, as well as for a bot.
With the idea that you are creating a fisherman, and not gifting us with just the fishing pole, i think this would be a good video for all! all the best, eddie
Hello. I realized after watching this video that I am not sure which box to check in MS to enact long tail derivative versus semantic long tail.
Does Google Synonym Tool (source) relate to semantic LT and does Google Search Keywords (source) relate directly to long tail derivative keywords?
Thanks in advance for the answer.
Frank
Hi -- nice video -- I was curious why you did not also add the SEOV to this long tail case study -- is that just something you don't take into consideration for long tail research?
Thanks,
Fred
In learning the fundamentals of long tail keywords and the "keyword tree" my eyes were opened as to how to arrange my marketing efforts for success. The simplicity made it easy to grasp and I look forward to application of the principles in this new year. I know I don't know it all, and studying this for application against my knowledge of marketing and business is providing me with an astounding understanding regarding using the internet as a publisher or producer or service provider.
Your videos are very resourceful and easy to follow.
Just curious what programs do you recommend for creating videos? What I mean is: a program that I can add those types of transitions, zoom in & out, blur people's personal information, as was seen when you were going over Alexa.
Warmest regards,
Gary
Gary ...-camstudio download-this is free
then go to youtube lots of training.
i use it for my blogs and works really well.