What Are Long-Tail Keywords & How To Use Them In 2024?

People are using various queries to search on Google. Some of them might be a one-word query or the rest of them might be two or more words.

If you have been living in the SEO space, then you already know the importance of keywords.

But you might be wondering why there is so much hype about long-tail keywords.

Well, there are many reasons why people are trying to target long-tail keywords. That’s why we are here and will discuss the same.

What are Long-Tail Keywords?

Before going any further, let’s discuss long-tail keywords first.

Long-tail keywords are search terms or key phrases with relatively low search volume and competition levels. As the name suggests, long-tail terms are longer (more than 3 words) than most other keyword types.

Single-word search queries and phrases are often named head terms. Although they have more search volume, it also consists of high keyword difficulty.

Although there is no specific definition that tells the exact word count in a long-tail query, you can take 3+ words as long-tail terms.

Why are Long-Tail Keywords Important?

There are some main reasons why you should start focusing on long-tail terms. Let’s discuss them one by one.

1. Long-Tail keywords are Less Competitive

One of the hottest matrices in SEO to check is keyword difficulty. Usually, head terms are more competitive than long-tail keywords.

Authority sites always tend to go with head terms as they have more search volume than long ones. So long-tail keywords are dropped by them.

So long-tail keywords are easier to rank as compared to the head terms.

Let’s understand this with an example.

I entered the head term “pancakes” in a Google search. Google returned four hundred fifty-three million results.

If you want to rank in the first position of Google for this term, then you have to outrank 365,000,000 results.

On the other hand, I used the long-tail keyword “how to make pancakes without baking powder” and search on Google.

This time Google shows 19,100,000 results.

This long-tail version is very less competitive and one can easily rank with minimum effort. Although you have to compromise with the average monthly search volume.

2. Long Tail Keywords have less CPC

If you use Google Ads (previously Google Adwords) then long-tail keywords are for you.

Head terms have more search volume but they also have high CPC. If you want to run ads on those keywords then you need to pay higher.

Long-tail terms have less volume but they have less CPC as well. You will have spent less than head terms.

In addition to that, long-tail keywords have a high conversion rate. So you can spend less money and get more leads.

3. Long Tail Keywords have a High Conversion Rate

Long-tail keywords are no longer in just length. They are more specific and people use them for particular reasons.

Long phrases have more buying intent than shorter ones.

Let’s take an example,

Someone searching for the term “drones” is most likely to learn what it is. Or the searcher might want to know how drones look like or how it works.

But someone searching for “best drones with a camera” have high buying intent. The searcher searching for this term is more likely to buy a drone. Or he/she wants to see some comparison-type posts so that they can make buying decisions.

So if you are selling products or services then long-tail keywords can drive more sales. If you are selling affiliate products, then also you can expect more conversions.

How To Find Long-Tail Keywords?

Now you might be wondering how to find long-tail keywords. There are various ways to find them.

1. Google Autocomplete Suggestions

Have you ever noticed that when you start typing on the Google search bar, it starts suggesting other related queries? These are called Google autocomplete suggestions.

Let’s say I start typing “link building”. Here’s what Google shows me.

As you can see in the image, Google starts showing other queries. Have you noticed that it also suggests long-tail variations?

You can also type a single letter after entering any keyword. It would start suggesting long-tail versions associated with that keyword.

2. Google “Searches Related To” Section

Similar to the Google autocomplete suggestions there is another section named Searches related to. This section is present at the bottom of the SERP.

This is a gold mine of long-tail keywords.

For the same term “link building”, I got the following results at the bottom of the page.

As you can see in the above image, I got a list of keywords. For the entered term, I got long versions like types of link building, link building techniques, link building sites, link building strategies, etc. These keywords can be used to build content or LSI terms.

Quick note: Pick one keyword from the “Searches related to” section and enter them into Google search. After that, scroll down and reach the same section. You would get some more keyword suggestions. Repeat the same process again and again. You will have a long list of long-tail keywords.

3. People Also Ask For Boxes

Google has added a new feature to the SERP results. For most of the queries, you would get a section inside the search results name “People also ask”.

To test this feature I entered the same query and got the following result.

As you can see in the image, there is a list of questions. These are the questions people ask about that topic.

Click on any question and you would get a short answer. Then Google will show more questions as well.

You can use these question keywords in your content and drive more traffic. This also helps to get featured in the same section as well.

4. Make Use of Tools

You can generate hundreds of long-tail keywords using some tools. Ubersuggest and keywordtool.io are some of the best tools you can use for this.

These tools also save a lot of time. If you do this manually then it would take a huge time and you have to search in various places as well.

The working methodology of both tools is the same. Just enter a keyword and it would show you a list of long-tail keywords.

1. Ubersuggest

I entered the keyword “email marketing” on Ubersuggest and here is the list of long-tail keywords I got.

You can click on the View all keyword ideas button to get a long list of keywords. You would get keywords with other stats like search volume, CPC keyword difficulty, etc.

2. Keywordtool.io

I also wanted to try the Keywordtool.io and enter the same keyword. Here’s what I got.

As you can see in the image, I got a long list of keywords. Have you noticed that the remaining columns like Search Volume, Trend, and CPC are blank? This is because the tool has a premium version. You need to buy their plan to view the stats.

You can skip this if you are in search of long-tail keywords only. You can copy or export all the keywords for future uses.

3. Soovle

Soovle is a unique tool that scrapes keywords from many sources. This includes Google, Bing, Yahoo, Wikipedia, YouTube, Answer.com, and Amazon.

This tool has a unique feature that you won’t get anywhere else. You don’t have to go to different sites to get keyword suggestions or long-tail keywords. All the keywords would be visible as soon as you start typing.

Start typing any letter or keyword the tool automatically starts suggesting various keywords under different sections. 

I like the “drag & drop” saved suggestions feature. With this feature, you can drag & drop a keyword to the saved list. Then this can be exported. This is a free keyword research tool you should use.

5. Use Answer The Public

Answer The Public is also a great place to find long-tail question keywords. Millions of people search for solutions to various questions on Google. Answer The Public is an awesome tool to find questions, prepositions, alphabetical, comparisons, and related searches.

1. Enter a seed keyword (head term) in the text box and click on “Get Questions”.

2. Then it will show you hundreds of question-related keywords in different categories. These are the questions searched on Google.

3. All the questions would be shown in two formats like Visualization and Data. After searching for any keywords, it shows the question in the Visualization format.

But it is quite difficult to read. So switch to Data format to have better clarity.

Quick Tips: You can use the Keyword Everywhere browser extension to get various metrics along with the questions. This includes Average monthly search volume, CPC, competition, etc.

7. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is also a great place to find untapped keywords. You would also get the keyword that you already rank for.

You must have pages and posts ranking on the 2^nd or later pages. So these pages need to be optimized. Sometimes you also noticed that you are ranking for some keywords that you have not optimized for.

You would be ranking on the later pages of Google search for those keywords. Finding those keywords and adding them to the existing posts would give them a top ranking.

You can easily find these keywords in Google Search Console.

1. First, log in to your GSC account and go to the performance report.
2. Scroll down and reach the “Queries” section.
   
   
   
3. Find the keywords ranking on the 1^st & 2^nd page using the “Position” column.
4. Find some keywords having impressive search volume.
5. Then find the pages that are ranking for those keywords by clicking on the “Pages” section.

Then add those keywords in the posts and optimize accordingly. 

8. Quora

Quora is the biggest question-answer site in the world. People ask questions about various topics.

Create an account on Quora and you are ready to use it. After login, enter any keyword in the search bar. It would show you hundreds of questions on the same.

Check the number of views on each question. You can also pick long-tail keywords from it and paste them into any keyword research tool.

This way you would get more keyword suggestions from the tool.

9. Forums & Boards

You would find forums and boards in almost every niche in the world. Hundreds of people ask a question on these sites regularly.

They also search for them on Google too. The first thing you need to do is find a forum. As you are in this space for a while, then you already know some of them.

Then you would get a list of sites. Head to each site and try to figure out what people are searching for. Also, find long-tail keywords in them.

10. Keyword Surfer (Keywords Everywhere Replacement)

Have you been using Keyword Everywhere, a popular Chrome extension for keyword research? Then you may be worried because the extension is no longer free.

Don’t worry, there is an alternative to this. You can use Keyword Surfer instead of Keyword Everywhere.

Keyword Surfer is a free Chrome extension that works in the same way. It shows estimated global monthly search volumes, and CPC of any query searched on Google. It also shows the estimated monthly search volume for 19 countries.

Beyond this, the extension also shows monthly search volume in the autocomplete results. Also, It shows 10 similar keywords on the right side of the search result.

How To Use Long-Tail Keywords?

Now you have a list of long-tail keywords. Now it’s time to use them. There are two options for this. Create new content for this or use them in existing ones.

1. Create a New Piece of Content:

The first way is to create a new piece of content and optimize the long-tail keyword that you just discovered.

But the drawback of this type of approach is you need to create a lot of content.

For example, I got a keyword that has 4K monthly searches. I create content on this keyword separately and my post rank on the first page.

As you know already it is impossible to get a 100% click from SERP. So the post got 600 – 700 clicks per month only. To get this amount of clicks, it is not worth creating new content.

In this approach, I will have to create many contents for the long-tail keywords I just listed.

2. Use Long-Tail Keywords in the Existing Post

The second option is to use the long-tail keywords in the existing posts.

Let’s say you have created content on “Keyword research”. You got a list of long-tail keywords around this topic. One of them might be “keyword research free tools”. You can use them in your existing content.

This helps you to get rank for that long-tail one and drive additional traffic.

Conclusion

So these are some of the things you need to know about long-tail keywords. Use the above methods to find these types of keywords from various places. Then create a new piece of content or use them in your existing posts.

This helps you to get a higher ranking for more keywords and drive more traffic to your site.