Long-tail Keywords: A Central Part of eCommerce SEO Success

Ecommerce is an intense marketing battlefield, with businesses new and established all struggling to be seen. An ecommerce SEO agency helps the business thrive with tactical organic search strategies such as using long-tail keywords. This blog post discusses these points:

• Definition of long-tail keywords
• Their main features and ecommerce benefits
• Limitations and challenges of these keywords
• Tips to find long-tail keywords

Exercise defense when doing ecommerce marketing. Read below to learn how to use long-tail keywords to your advantage. Let’s go!

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Overview: What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

Most marketers describe long-tail keywords as phrases with three or more terms. Here are a few examples:

• Size 10 Prada black shoes
• cheap boutique hotels in London
• Where is the nearest Starbucks?
• flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco

Digging deeper, these are words with a low search volume and specific or high user intent. Even a two-word phrase can count as a long tail. Why? Because the term has more to do with search frequency than word count. When you plot them on a search-volume graph, they are at the lowest end, hence being called “the tail.” What is considered low search volume? Search engines have not given any specific number, meaning long-tail keywords can also have zero volume. The best way to gauge is to use reliable keyword-research platforms or compare the targeted phrases against one another. You can also work with an expert ecommerce SEO agency. It audits content and analyzes competition, markets, and trends to identify the best long-tail keywords for your campaigns.

Why Do These Keywords Matter in Ecommerce?

Targeting long-tail keywords for SEO sounds counterintuitive. Don’t you want to use the most popular phrases?  However, popularity does not imply visibility or conversion. This is why these types of phrases are valuable for ecommerce.

• Long-tail keywords have high intent. People using these terms are often in the middle or bottom of the sales funnel. They know what they want and are ripe for conversion. Someone searching for “Nike Jordan 1 blue and black” is closer to purchasing shoes than someone typing “Nike shoes.”
• They are less competitive. They are easier to rank for in the search results. In PPC advertising, these keywords are often more affordable.
• These phrases effectively match content to the right audience. Because the search intent is clear, content marketing and optimization become more precise. Long-tail keywords drive high-value traffic to ecommerce websites when used with related keywords.

Long-tail words usually offer excellent conversion rates, which translates to increased revenues and returns. The leads are easier to nurture for upselling, cross-selling, and remarketing. However, using long-tail keywords takes finesse just like anything else.

• The search data might be missing because of misspellings.
• The terms can be too vague or specific; they do not provide enough search volume to justify using them for online marketing.

In PPC, Google ads with low-search-volume keywords are inactive until they reach a certain threshold. Only then can the copies appear for your intended audience.  Address these problems by hiring an ecommerce SEO agency that evaluates a keyword’s value based on search volume and ranking difficulty, business objectives, target audience, and user intent.

Five Strategies to Find the Best Long-Tail Keywords

Now that you understand the benefits of long-tail keywords, you might wonder how to find them. Here are five options:

   1. Keyword Research Tools

The easiest and most common method is using keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner. These platforms gather many types of information about a particular keyword, including:

• Search volume
• Keyword difficulty (how challenging it is to rank with the keyword)
• User intent (commercial, informational, or transactional)
• Trends (keyword’s performance over time)
• Cost per click (CPC)

The more advanced options also let users sort the words based on whether they are broad or exact matches. Those with artificial intelligence (AI) dive deep into keyword research. They can study multiple reports simultaneously and generate a list of targeted long-tail terms in real time.

   2. Search Results

Google Search also contains a wealth of long-tail keywords, including the following:

• Autocomplete suggestions
• Trends
• Discover
• People Also Ask
• Related searches at the bottom of the search results

   3. Keyword Matrix

This method combines keyword research tools with market understanding and expertise. The most important data types are as follows: 

• Monthly search volume
• Intent (buy, research, compare)
• SEO relevance (how difficult it is to rank for the specific term);
• Brand recognition (keywords associated with the brand or products)
• Competition level (how much competition there is for the keyword)

Suppose your store sells wine. The keyword matrix could look like this:

Category	Keywords
Brand	Toast and Cheers
Types or varieties	red, white, rosé, sparkling, dessert, fortified
Grape varieties	cabernet, merlot, chardonnay, pinot noir, syrah, and Zinfandel
Regions and countries	Bordeaux, Napa, Tuscany, Barossa, Champagne, and Rioja
Price points	Budget wines, premium wines, discounted, sale, exclusive
Ecommerce features	Online cart, wishlist, checkout, secure payment, discounts
Shipping and delivery	Fast delivery, free shipping, international shipping, tracking
Customer service	24/7 support, return policy, FAQs, and live chat
User experience	User reviews, ratings, recommendations, and top sellers
Promotions and other services	Flash sales, bundle deals, seasonal offers, and wine club membership

An ecommerce SEO agency mixes various keywords to create a long tail depending on the target audience, objective, and intent.  For example, an avid wine collector might search for “premium Bordeaux wine vintages for collection.” A previous customer who wants to know your holiday offers might type “Toast and Cheers Christmas deals” or “Toast and Cheers red wine holiday sale bundles.”

  4. Competition

Look into your competition if you need a good head start for your keyword research. Keyword research tools and SEO firms help you analyze rival websites to know their ranking terms. Use the information to do the following: 

• Create content that outranks theirs.
• Identify any keyword opportunities or gaps they missed.
• Overhaul your keyword-research strategy.
• Modify existing content with newer, better-performing terms.

  5. Website Content

Ecommerce stores can also use their pages to guide them in looking for optimized long-tail keywords.

• The homepage usually benefits from an H1 tag with a long tail and a brand name (Toast and Cheers wine shop). For local campaigns, the term best includes the location (Toast and Cheers: Wine Shop in Los Angeles).  
• Product categories need somewhere-in-the-middle key terms: not too vague but not very specific; they have an extremely low search volume. A good example is “budget wines for sale” or “Napa Valley wines at a discount.”
• Product pages often require highly specific long-tail keywords, such as “budget wines for sale 750 ml.” Keep in mind that these can be zero-volume words. They are often not the best for PPC. 

Summing Up

Long-tail keywords make ecommerce marketing strategies more efficient. They deliver more qualified traffic and speed up visibility by ranking less competitively. They also maximize your budget and inform you about the audience’s behavior and interests.  Are you ready to boost your marketing results? Digital Authority Partners (DAP) is a data-driven, results-oriented ecommerce SEO agency specializing in custom solutions. Our clients see a 30% increase in sales year over year.  Contact us today if you want to be one of them.