• 3-minute read
• 26th February 2021

How to Boost SEO with Long-Tail Keywords in Blog Posts

Using long-tail keywords in your business’s blog posts is an effective way of boosting search engine optimization (SEO). But what are long-tail keywords? And how can you use them to boost SEO? This post will explain the basics.

How Do Keywords Work?

SEO is all about using keywords – i.e., the terms people search for online – to boost traffic to your website. Typically, the main keywords for your site will be shorter one or two-word phrases that focus on the key aspects of your business.

An online clothes store, for example, might have a section for knitwear. And the main keyword for this part of the website might then be “knitwear.”

Unfortunately, there are a lot of sites on the internet that sell or discuss knitwear. And the amount of competition makes it very difficult to rank highly for common keywords like this. If you want your site to stand out, then, you need to get creative.

And this is where long-tail keywords come in.

What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

Long-tail keywords are more specific phrases, often several words long. And this offers two distinct advantages from a business perspective:

1. There is likely to be less competition for “handmade Fair Isle knitwear” as it is much more specific, making it easier to rank highly on search engines.
2. People using more specific search terms are often closer to buying a product since they already know what they want, so long-tail keywords often have better conversion rates than short-tail ones.

For example, while “knitwear” is a very broad term, “handmade Fair Isle knitwear” is more specific. If our imaginary online clothes shop were to target this long-tail keyword, then, it would stand a better chance of reaching potential customers.

Why Use Long-Tail Keywords in Blog Posts?

The problem with very specific keywords is that you won’t want to create a website with a page for every long-tail keyword you want to target. Such a site would become difficult to navigate, as it would need separate pages for every minor variation of product or service. But blog posts offer a perfect solution.

Having a blog allows you to create an archive of posts about specific topics, each of which targets a specific long-tail keyword. And by linking to relevant products or services in these posts, you can channel traffic from blog posts to your main site.

If we return to our knitwear example, we can imagine that the “knitwear” landing page features a few handmade Fair Isle products. We could therefore write a blog post about handmade Fair Isle knitwear, linking to these products.

Anyone searching for “handmade Fair Isle knitwear” would then find the blog post, leading them to the relevant part of the main site.

To make effective use of long-tail keywords in blog posts, then, you should:

1. Brainstorm long-tail keywords based on your existing SEO strategy, looking for variations of the main keywords on your site you want to target.
2. Use a keyword research tool to find the terms you can best compete for and with the highest conversation rates.
3. Plan a series of blog posts based on the long-tail keywords, making sure to include backlinks to the relevant part of your website.

This can greatly extend your SEO reach, thereby increasing traffic to your site.

Business Proofreading

Keywords are important, but having high-quality blog content is also essential to boost SEO. This includes making sure your writing is always proofread.

We have expert proofreaders who can help make sure your blog posts are error free. Why not upload a 500-word free trial document to find out more?