If you’re trying to sell your services or products online,
it makes sense to target people who are ready to buy. So, you need to target
keywords in that same funnel. It will help grab the people who are ready to make
a purchase for your goods or help them move along the buying cycle faster.
These are long-tail keywords.
A study
showed conversion rates for three major retailers who had more than 7 million
visits converted two and half times more with long-tail keywords –three or more
word terms, than short-tail keywords –one or two word keywords.
In comparison, short-tail keywords are usually the general
word for something. While short-tail keywords look attractive with their
massive search volume, you’re not going to be capturing your target audience
with these short-tail keywords. You’re also going to be in competition with
hundreds of other businesses trying to rank for that term. Rather than spend
years trying to rank for the short-tail, your time is better spent focusing on
long-tail keywords that are more akin to what people are searching for when
they want to buy.
It comes down to AIDA:
- Attention (Awareness) - attract the attention of the customer
- Interest - raise customer interest by focusing on demonstrating advantages and benefits
- Desire - convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs
- Action - lead customers toward taking action and/or purchasing
Most people are in the attention phase when they start
searching online for a product. This is where they will type out short-tail
keywords to get a sense of what might be out there and see if something grabs
their attention. Eventually, they will be funneled down as they gather more
information on the different kinds of products available for them. This leads them
down toward long-tail keywords, and you want to initiate action on their part
when they get to those search queries.
Let’s put this into perspective and run through the whole
AIDA process.
Purpose: I want to find something that will let me communicate
with my family and coworkers with the added benefit of helping me organize my
life.
Attention – Search query “Phone”
Interest – Search query “Cellphone” then “Smartphone”
Desire – Search query “Best Android Smartphone”
Action – Search query “Buy Samsung Galaxy S3”
The short-tail keyword builds attention to your product, but
as you move through the AIDA cycle. The search terms become more focused and
specific to the individual(s). Ultimately, the short-tail gets you noticed, but
the long-tail will usually get the conversion. So hug that long-tail people!