What is a long tail keyword?

Long tail keywords are specific and often a lot longer than the short search terms with high monthly search volumes. Long tail is a term often used in SEO, but also in Google Ads, because this advertising platform advertises on keywords.

Therefore, the first place in the ranking of a long tail keyword will bring you proportionally less traffic. But the traffic you generate often has more value, because the search term is specific. This increases the chance that your visitor will find on your page exactly what he or she was looking for. And this is good for your conversions.

Why should you use long tail keywords?

Short keywords with higher search volume initially look a lot more attractive. After all, if you rank high for these keywords it will bring you a lot of traffic. But often the competition on these kinds of words is high, making it harder to reach the first page of Google.

By using long tail keywords, you are more likely to succeed in the search engines. Unlike fat head keywords, you can often generate traffic a lot faster with these.

In addition, the quality of the traffic will be a lot higher. We explain this using the image above.

Suppose you have a page about tax advice for independent entrepreneurs and your company is located in Utrecht.

• If someone finds your page with the keyword 'tax advice', there is a good chance that this person is not a self-employed entrepreneur. In that case, this visitor will probably click away right away.
• Someone who searched for 'tax advice for self-employed entrepreneurs' will find exactly what they were looking for. This increases the likelihood that this visitor will stay on your page for a long time and make a conversion.
• 'Tax advice for self-employed entrepreneurs in Utrecht' is even more specific. Even fewer people will use this search term. But the people who do, are actually looking for advice near Utrecht. That makes them even more interesting to your business.

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