How to Find Long-Tail Keywords

How to find the right ideas to create content that is easy to position high in the SERP? Long-tail keywords are keywords with low competition and low search volume that can help you in your mission. Let’s see what they are, how to find them, and how to use them.

What is a long-tail keyword?

A long-tail keyword is a search term consisting of 3-5 words on average. They are very specific and therefore express precise research intent. Thus, they have a lower search volume, as well as the number of results for that keyword.

How a long tail keyword looks

To understand what are the main features of a long-tail keyword, let’s start from its opposite.

A so-called “broad keyword” (i.e., a short, one-two word and very generic search term) is something like “pizza.”

This keyword can be the outcome of many types of search: someone can use it as a query to find out when pizza was born, or how to prepare it. Another user could be hungry and looking for pizzerias in the area.

Then there are the “middle-tail keywords” or “keyphrases.” These are sentences consisting of 2-3 words. A phrase like “pizza Margherita” is more specific than the mere “pizza,” but still too generic. It means that the competition is lower, but so is the possibility of obtaining conversions.

On the other hand, a long tail keyword can be something like “eating pizza Margherita in Milan.” Whoever types it is looking for a specific thing. Such a keyword does not have a large number of searches, but it’s specific. What does that mean?

The advantages of the long tail keyword

Long-tail keywords make up the bulk of Google searches

Long-tail keywords often (not always!) have a meager number of searches. Nonetheless, keywords with little search volume are 92% of the total searches. Also, 29.13% of searches with a volume higher than 10,000 consists of long-tail keywords.

Long-tail keywords have less competition

The main advantage of long-tail keywords is their specificity. If you want to position yourself to “eat pizza Margherita in Milan,” you will have to compete with seven million results, which is not a high competition when you compare it to the five billion you get by typing “pizza.”

Long-tail keywords are conversion-oriented.

Their specificity allows long-tail keywords to intercept a search intent much closer to conversion. Your keyword will be searched for by fewer people, but they’re looking for a thing that you can give them.

How to find the right long-tail keywords for you

First of all, keep in mind that finding the right long-tail keywords is to find a niche of topics. They have little competition, and it’s easy to position yourself on the SERP with them. With this premise, let’s get started!

Make a list of general topics that affect your activities

The first thing to do is brainstorm the general topics you cover and create a list. “Pizza,” Calzoni,” “Italian Cuisine.” These are the “broad keywords” we mentioned at the beginning.

Now, open a new spreadsheet and create five columns: keyword, volume, competition, difficulty, search intent.

Use Google!

Now, enter these topics on the Google search bar, you will get lots of ideas.

Google autocomplete

Another method may be to use autocompletion. On the search bar, next to the starting keyword, add a letter: “pizza a,” “pizza b,” and so on.

If you are looking for “pizza a,” and you find the suggestion “pizza and wings near me.” You can repeat the procedure and type in the search bar “pizza and wings near me a.” You will find “all you can eat pizza and wings near me,” which, with only 496,000 results, is an excellent low-competition long-tail keyword with which to position yourself.

Repeat the process as many times as you want and also put these ideas into your spreadsheet.

People asked…

Sometimes the section “people asked …” may appear in the SERP. It is another excellent source of ideas as questions are long-tail keywords, so enter them in your Excel.

What if the section doesn’t appear? In this case, you can use Wondersearch, an excellent alternative service.

Answer the Public

Answer the Public is another excellent source of ideas. Just select the country and language, type the starting topic, and click on “Search.” Answer the Public will provide you with hundreds of ideas, sorted by keywords starting from prepositions (“pizza without tomato sauce,” “pizza for delivery near me,” “pizza near me open now”), comparisons (“pizza vs. marinara sauce,” “pizza like pizza hut”) and much more.

Forums

Forums and discussion platforms such as Quora or Reddit are excellent resources for understanding people’s search intents. Search on Google “(your topic) + forum” to discover the most popular questions and answers.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is an underrated tool when it comes to finding ideas. Take a look at the queries that lead to your site going to “Performance” and searching for “Query.”

You can discover that many people find your site when looking for “light pizza Margherita.” You can create a blog post about it to attract visitors.

Google Trends

Google Trends can tell you how popular a search term is over time. Search for Trends topics and find what’s trending. Below, among the “related topics,” you will find a lot of suggestions for long-tail keywords.

Google Keyword Planner

The Keyword Planner is a tool Google Ads designed for paid ads, but it can turn handy for SEO. It can give you many ideas, like synonyms you should use and many other related keywords.

Use the Keyword Explorer Tool

With the new Keyword Explorer, you can do much more! You can find new ideas already equipped with metrics. You can also add them to a list and check the trends and competitors for that keyword. Once you have added all your keywords, you can export it to a CSV file with all the metrics you need.

For example, you can search for “pizza” on the keyword explorer.

How to find long tail keyword

So, select a long tail keyword that interests you, in this case, “pizza nearest me”. Click on the “+” to create your list and add the keyword.

Keyword Short Tail

You can now search for ideas starting from that long-tail keyword you have found and maybe use a filter to search for those with low difficulty.

Keyword Explorer Tool

You found a lot of ideas for your SEO and for your business, too. For example, you can position yourself for pizza delivery in Lambrate. Or for gluten-free pizzas. You can also immediately see trends, competition, volume, and the difficulty of positioning.

Keyword Research Finally, download the list of your long-tail keywords.

Go to “my keywords” at the top, near the star. Select your list and then click on the search button (the magnifying glass). Select the keywords you are interested in and download the CSV, and you will have all your keywords sorted.

Finally, download the list of your long-tail keywords.

What to do next?

OK, now you have your list of long-tail keywords and, if you have used Keyword Explorer, you’ll also have the metrics you need.

If you haven’t used it yet, now is the right time. Type the long-tail keyword in the search bar. You’ll get all the metrics you need. Now, add them to a personalized list and repeat the operation for all the keywords you have found.

Now, you just have to export the list and check the data. If a long-tail keyword has a fair number of searches, low competition, and the difficulty is little, it is the right one.

Create new content or modify existing ones

Now, you have many ideas to create content with which you can position your website within the SERP.

Do you have other ideas on how to find long-tail keywords? Or do you have experiences you want to share with us? Let us know in the comments!