This was the third presentation I conducted at FlyingTeachers, in which I revealed how they can out-rank their competition using cunning and witty online marketing methods like keyword phrases

1. By Sufi Mohamed The Glaring Facts Search Engine OptimizationLesson 3: The Theory of Long Tail Search

2. Agenda What is Long Tail Search? The Long Tail in Action Characteristics of Long Tail Keywords Long Tail vs. Broad Head Working from the Bottom Up Tying it all together

3. What is Long Tail Search? What is the benefit of using these types of keywords? What are they? What are their function and why do I need them?

4. Principles effecting how people use SEs Zipf’s Law (George Kingsley Zipf 1902-1950) A word used often is likely to be a broad, common word, whereas a word used less often is likely to be a narrower, more specific word. Pareto’s Principal Also known as the 80/20 Rule, this principle holds that for any given event, 80 percent of the results come from 20 percent of the activity. The Long Tail A large portion of semipopular products generate small amounts of income that when added together can be equal to or larger than the income generated by the very popular products.

5. What is Long Tail Search? Barnes and Noble (Store) vs. Amazon.com (eCommerce) There are an average of 300,000 books in the store and they sell a certain number every month and so they only put items that are in high demand (i.e. Harry Potter books) There are millions of books stocked by Amazon warehouses and they don’t sell more than twice each month  it costs Amazon much less to make these available to customers (Amazon stocks popular items for fast shipping from their warehouses), other niche books are housed in user’s warehouses 20% of sell the most, 80% sell to less popular niches

6. The Long Tail in Action Long Tail Theory holds that a large number of niche products can, and do, generate huge volume of sales. Vertical axis represents the value and competitiveness of keywords Horizontal axis represents the number of keywords alike The internet is a giant conglomeration of both popular and obscure information Niche information can consist of several keywords similar to the overtly competitive one When choosing keywords, you have to look at all the words that are indicative of your chosen topic

7. The more precise the keyword, the more competitive, the more specific and detailed the search, the less competitive, the fewer the audience

8. An Example of Long Tail KeywordsThey Add Up

9. Characteristics of Long Tail Keywords They are not actually keywords, they are key phrases that are very specific People are in saerch for the specific, they want precise information a great deal of the time Long Tail key phrases have the following in common: Average 3-5 words in length Usually not competitive phrases Often related to a product/specific bit of information Each phrase generates only a few clicks each month

10. Characteristics of LT Keywords Cont… These keywords are not random, they have a specific purpose and specific designation People do not input random information, people are always looking for something specific You need to know how to target these specific searches using both: Broad terms Narrower Long Tail phrases

11. Some Useful Information People Search For Product Names Product functionality Product appeal Product quality Product usefulness Specific terms and geographical locations Uses of products Solutions to problems General industry terms Specific industry terms General and geographical locations Long Tail Keywords can add a sizable chunk of the clicks that are generated each day. LT methods are very important to your SEO Strategy

12. From the Bottom Up

13. Working from the Bottom Up At the beginning, one-word keyword phrases are not where you want to try your luck Have a few broad popular terms that everyone is fighting for on the SERPs Have narrow keywords people will likely search for, encourage sales and go for high ROI, request newsletter signups braod-term keywords will not achieve your needs right now, but they might in the future.

14. From the Bottom Up Cont… You need people who will convert quickly, so you look for people who search for something specific These people have a goal in mind, they might be interested in purchasing or signing up to your newsletter Don’t optimize one over the other, they work together and are required for full on-page and off-page SEO strategy You need to put pages together with specific target keywords immediately before publishing. A progression from broad keywords to narrow keywords is recommended per page

15. The Bigger Picture

16. Tying it All Together Long Tail Keywords will likely generate the most traffic for you in the beginning If you optimize your site for those LT words, you should very quickly begin to see results from those efforts Competition for LT keywords isn’t as competitive as broader terms, so begin your traffic with the specific and work towards broader terms Broad keywords tend to be more expensive when you’re using PPC campaigns.

17. Tying it All Together Cont… It’s possible to rank on the first page for some LT words/phrases within a few days/hours Narrow terms, less competition LT Keywords target visitors that are in the buying process, meaning that they are ready for a commitment (doesn’t matter if they sign up for your newsletter or they purchase something from you) LT keywords are a part of a strategy, not the pinnacle solution to your keyword problems.

18. Conclusion Thank you for reading these slides, I hope you learned something!

19. Brought to you by Sufi M @ The Glaring Factshttp://www.theglaringfacts.com