Remember when short keywords reigned on Google? For instance, you wanted to learn how to profit online, so you went to Google and typed in, {make money}, without the brackets of course. If you have been in Internet marketing for any amount of time, you have probably learned that short tail keywords are no longer relevant.
These days, things are changing a bit with keywords. If you were to type that make money phrase in today, you would see About 52,700,000 results. That is the exact number right now as I write. Imagine how difficult it would be to rank in the top position for that keyword? Next to impossible. It’s not that people don’t want to know how to make money anymore, it’s the competition factor. There are established sites and blogs that have been around a very long time that basically OWN those keywords. These bloggers reign supreme in the top spot of Google and PPC. So why make things harder for yourself? You need to work smart not hard. Isn’t that what our parents taught us? 🙂
When PPC (pay per click) first became a viable money making option for internet marketers, your ad could simply state: “Make money. Cash today. Blog money.” With those short tail keywords, you could bet on gaining 1000’s of impressions and easily creating a 2% CTR or click through rate. From there, people would visit your landing page and you would have conversions. Your landing page would get sales and you had money in the bank. Why? Because those keywords placed you on Google’s front page, the top spot. It is no secret most people searching for something, rarely go beyond the first page of Google results. With this in mind, you were there. The palace was yours.
As time went by and more online business people became aware of the importance Google placed on keywords, competition got tough. Now, that “make money” keyword that used to cost .02 a click, now costs $5.00 a click. That’s an increase that would bankrupt many marketers. At that cost increase, overhead became too much to handle and only the big dogs of marketing could afford these keywords. PPC became science. You had to know what words were available and how much you could get away with paying per click. To make serious money, you want to keep your CPC, cost per click, under $1.00. Enter the long tail keywords. These days, whether you use PPC or free methods of driving traffic to your site, you need creativity. Let’s take a closer look.
Long-tail keywords
The basic definition of a long-tail keyword is as follows: targeting less-competitive niche markets rather than the hugely competitive broad keywords. So what does this mean for you? Well, let’s stay with the make money example. You want to rank first in Google for your chosen keyword, or at least land on the first page of Google. That is the goal here.
The first thing you need to do is a basic search on Google for your chosen words. As the title implies, your keywords will now be long tail, 3-5 words long. One tip real quick, when you search Google, put your keywords in the ” ” marks. This will give you the EXACT competition for your chosen words. Now, we used our brains and creatively came up with this phrase:
“make money with minimal effort” The results?
As you can see, barely any competition. Instead of 52,700,000 results, you are now looking at 25,800 results. A far cry from the millions other people are trying to compete with. 25,000 results implies that enough people are interested in the topic, but you have an opportunity to dominate these keywords. Your PPC ad should focus on making money with minimal effort and steer people to your landing page which is optimized for this key phrase. The easiest way to explain this concept is that you are now thinking up a “key phrase” instead of a word. Think about how you search Google. If you want a cheap fishing pole, you don’t type in cheap fishing pole anymore. You want specifics of where and how much, right? So you most likely type in the search box, “where can I get a cheap fishing pole?” Another option is to say, “fishing rod.” The key here is to be different. Everyone will say fishing pole, but you will say rod. This gives you a leg up on the competition because it is a niche word and you will take the top spot the next time someone wants a fishing rod. It is a science basically, but not so difficult that you need a doctorate! Now that you have your long tail keywords, you can write an article or blog post about your niche. Incorporate your long-tail keyword in the title and first paragraph. Send traffic to it the way you normally do and watch yourself take over the top spots on hundreds of keywords! You will most likely see an increase in your conversions as well because these are people searching for EXACTLY what they want. And guess what? You have what they want and you are the top spot in their search. Your PPC costs will decrease and your traffic will be more laser targeted in your chosen niche. All it takes is a little research and some out of the box thinking and you can do this. Below is a GREAT place to get some PPC ads already written for you!
PPC Ads Ready For You
The first thing you need to do is a basic search on Google for your chosen words. As the title implies, your keywords will now be long tail, 3-5 words long. One tip real quick, when you search Google, put your keywords in the ” ” marks. This will give you the EXACT competition for your chosen words. Now, we used our brains and creatively came up with this phrase:
“make money with minimal effort” The results?
As you can see, barely any competition. Instead of 52,700,000 results, you are now looking at 25,800 results. A far cry from the millions other people are trying to compete with. 25,000 results implies that enough people are interested in the topic, but you have an opportunity to dominate these keywords. Your PPC ad should focus on making money with minimal effort and steer people to your landing page which is optimized for this key phrase. The easiest way to explain this concept is that you are now thinking up a “key phrase” instead of a word. Think about how you search Google. If you want a cheap fishing pole, you don’t type in cheap fishing pole anymore. You want specifics of where and how much, right? So you most likely type in the search box, “where can I get a cheap fishing pole?” Another option is to say, “fishing rod.” The key here is to be different. Everyone will say fishing pole, but you will say rod. This gives you a leg up on the competition because it is a niche word and you will take the top spot the next time someone wants a fishing rod. It is a science basically, but not so difficult that you need a doctorate! Now that you have your long tail keywords, you can write an article or blog post about your niche. Incorporate your long-tail keyword in the title and first paragraph. Send traffic to it the way you normally do and watch yourself take over the top spots on hundreds of keywords! You will most likely see an increase in your conversions as well because these are people searching for EXACTLY what they want. And guess what? You have what they want and you are the top spot in their search. Your PPC costs will decrease and your traffic will be more laser targeted in your chosen niche. All it takes is a little research and some out of the box thinking and you can do this. Below is a GREAT place to get some PPC ads already written for you!
PPC Ads Ready For You
Good luck and twist and turn those keywords into profits!
