The Long Tail is a theory made famous by Chris Anderson that talks about the power of the niche. In a nutshell, the Long Tail says that there’s more money to be made in selling a lot of different things to a lot of different people than in selling a few things to a lot of people.
Or, to put it another way, the Long Tail is all about catering to the niche. It’s about finding those little nooks and crannies where there’s an audience for something different, something specific, something no one else is offering.
And that’s where the Short Tail comes in.
The Short Tail is all about selling what everyone else is selling. It’s about going after the big fish, catering to the masses, and trying to appeal to as many people as possible.
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Let’s make this in a real world example.
Let’s say you’re selling shoes. Which would be more profitable?
Selling 10 pairs of shoes to 10 different people.
Or selling 100 pairs of shoes to 1 person.
The answer, of course, is the latter. It’s much more profitable to sell 100 pairs of shoes to one person than it is to sell 10 pairs of shoes to 10 different people.
But what if you could do both?
What if you could appeal to the niche with your Long Tail products and still sell to the masses with your Short Tail products?
Well, that’s exactly what the best businesses do. And that’s why they’re so successful.
They cater to the Long Tail with their niche products and they cater to the Short Tail with their mainstream products.
It’s a win-win situation. And it’s the best of both worlds.
So, which is better? Long Tail or Short Tail?
“The answer, of course, is both. The best businesses cater to both the Long Tail and the Short Tail. They find that sweet spot where they can appeal to the niche and still sell to the masses. And that’s exactly what you should be striving for in your business”, points out SEO experts from Search It Local.
This sounds like gravy in theory. However, as always how do you get this to work out there in the real world? How do you get started? What is the first step?
Burning questions never cease to be caged down. Which is a completely understandable concern if you are a business owner. You want to be able to generate traffic that converts into paying customers.
There are a few things you should take into your consideration. The first being what keywords your website is currently ranking for. You can find this out by using Google’s Search Console. This will give you an idea of how visible your website is in search results. If you’re not ranking for any keywords, then you’re going to have a hard time getting any organic traffic.
The next thing you need to do is take a look at your website and see if it’s optimized for the Short Tail or the Long Tail. If not, you need to make some changes.
Here are a few things you can do to optimize your website for the Long Tail:
1. Write long-form content
If you want to write long-form content that will rank in Google, you need to do more than just slap a few thousand words on a page and call it a day. You need to do something that stands out from the rest of the pack. You need to give your readers something unique and valuable that they can’t find anywhere else.
You also need to make sure your content is well-written and well-researched. Don’t just slap together a bunch of garbage and call it a day. That’s not going to help you rank in Google or convert traffic into paying customers.
2. Use keyword-rich titles and descriptions
3. Optimize your images and videos for search
When you save your images and videos, make sure you use keywords in the file names. This will help Google understand what the content is about.
Also make sure you use keywords in your titles and descriptions so Google knows what the content is about.
Lastly, Include keywords in your tags and captions to help Google understand the content of your images and videos
4. Promote your content on social media
5. Build backlinks to your content
There are a few things you can do to increase your chances of success.
- Publish great content
If you want people to link to your content, you need to publish great content that’s worth linking to. Make sure your content is well-written, well-researched, and provides value to your readers.
- Reach out to bloggers and website owners
If you want people to link to your content, you need to reach out to them and ask them nicely. You can find email addresses on the website’s contact page or by using a tool like Hunter.io .
- Submit your content to directories and article submission sites
There are a number of websites where you can submit your content for free. Some of these sites include Dmoz, EzineArticles, and Squidoo .
- Promote your content on social media
Make sure you share your content on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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Get involved in online discussions and forums
Participate in online discussions and forums related to your niche. Make sure you include a link to your content in your signature.
Doing these things will help you rank higher in search results for Long Tail keywords, which will in turn help you get more organic traffic. And that’s the goal here.
The bottom line is this: If you want to be successful online, you need to cater to both the Long Tail and the Short Tail. Find that sweet spot where you can appeal to the niche and still sell to the masses. It’s the best of both worlds and it’s what the best businesses do.
So there you have it. Long Tail vs Short Tail keywords. Which is best? The answer, of course, is both. The best businesses cater to both the Long Tail and the Short Tail. They find that sweet spot where they can appeal to the niche and still sell to the masses. And that’s exactly what you should be striving for in your business.
