Build Topic Authority With Long-Tail Keywords

Before writing this article I did a Google search on: “Is organic search still important?” On mobile, Googled spewed eight paragraphs of why it was, meaning the first clickable search result was way down the page. When I asked the question on desktop, there was a featured snippet, then I had to make my way past some snippets, “people also ask,” Google ads, sponsored links, before getting to the search results.

The AI-generated answers assure us that organic search is still important. Yet, it is harder than ever to get people to click through even top ranking results – because they are so far down the page. (And even when you do get your search term to rank, it might be a casualty of the algorithms during the next update.) 

Does that mean organic traffic is dead? Nope. It means you need to rethink your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. Specifically, you need to focus on improving your topic authority. My suggestion is you adopt a long-tail keyword strategy for topic authority.

First, what is the importance of topical authority?

Topic Authority as It Relates to E-A-T

At SMX Next 22, Google’s Vice President of Search, Hyung-Jin Kim, referring to its Search Guidelines, said “E-A-T is a template for how we rate an individual site. We do it to every single query and every single result. It’s pervasive throughout every single thing we do.”  E-A-T is an acronym for Expertise, Authority, Trust. To show authority you want to construct a knowledge graph around various topics or domains. 

Topic authority is predicated on having a depth of information about a given subject. It’s not about jamming an article with the same keyword a zillion times. Rather it means including the semantically-related vocabulary an authority would use about a given topic. This article is about building a topic authority on your website, so related terms would be “content marketing,” “digital marketing,” “keyword research tool,” content strategy,” and keyword suggestions. 

It also can mean having backlinks to that site – to indicate that others find your page to be au

That’s all fine and good – but as we indicate at the top of this article, there is heavy competition on the Search Engine Results Page (SERPS). If you did keyword research using MarketMuse are a keyword research tool, you are likely to find that the difficulty for keyword ranking for many words you are targeting are quite high. 

Part of the problem lies in what we think are “good” or relevant keywords. Often, we think the relevant keyword is – a single word (maybe two). 

And that’s where long tail keywords come in. 

Short-Tail Keywords vs Long-Tail Keywords 

When I began working in the nascent years of content marketing, an SEO strategy required using that keyword in your URL, the first 40 characters of your title, in the first 25 words of your post, and then about every 100 words after that. Soon, the internet was flooded with vast swathes of content targeting the same overused search queries. The solution? Long-tail keywords.

When we brainstorm keyword ideas we might want to target, we typically think of one- or two-word phrases. There are a variety of terms for these phrases ranging from: Head term, generic keyword, or short-tail keyword.  If we have an AI solution – we want to win AI solutions. We call these head terms. 

They will have the highest search volume- and your highest keyword difficulty when it comes to trying to rank organically. Head terms are also the ones that digital marketers are buying (pushing organic results far down the page). Because of their high search volume, digital marketers can’t help but be attracted to them. 

On the other hand, long-tail keywords are keyword phrases that are more specific to what a person really wants and generally, three words long or more. Characteristically, they also have a lower search volume – which is why they are likely ignored. 

I’m going to show you why optimizing for only short tail keywords vs long-tail ones, is a mistake.

Longtail distribution looks like the graph below.

Keywords Reveal Intention

When a person forms a search query they are indicating what we call search intent. Search intent indicates what a person really wants when they explore a topic, Are they looking to buy? Are they looking to navigate to a specific website? Educate themselves on a topic? Investigate solutions as they narrow their options? And finally, are they ready to buy? 

Before a person has  the intention to buy — they have the intention to learn. And those questions might be: 

• “What Is Content Optimization” 
• “Boost SEO With a Content Optimization Strategy”
• “Types of Content optimization tools”Ultimately, when a person has an intent to buy, they might ask the long-tail question “What is the best content optimization tool”

Whereas, when a person has an intent to buy, they might ask the long-tail question: “What is the best content optimization tool?”

Now winning the term Content Optimization in and of itself is a head query – but very ambiguous. Google doesn’t yet know the users’ intent. When a domain difficulty is high, the search is ambiguous, and your domain authority is modest – you will have a difficult time winning that phrase. 

So instead of only optimizing for head queries, what if you optimized for long-tail ones?

How Small Companies Can Gain Topic Authority 

When I sat down to do this article on Topical Authority I knew that the monthly traffic was ~400 people. But of those 400, who are the people that MarketMuse is most interested in – what are the questions our target reader (You!!!) might be asking. If I use tools like MarketMuse or AnswerthePublic, I can find those questions and gear my story appropriately. 

Two things of note: Look at the length of each question that people are typing in! The volume is likely low. But if I look carefully at the questions, I realize that people searching on this term would have a high search intent to buy. And that’s a great thing!

Remember, our ultimate goal with any content is to eventually get a reader to convert – by reading more pages, remembering our brand, watching a demo, or asking questions.

Cumulatively, when I write about these more specific topics, I am showing my authority about the subject matter. And likely, Ii am going to attract highly-qualified buyers with the intention to buy.

Further, when you focus on a specific long tail keyword – there is a good chance there are no other distractions – like snippets and Google ads on the page!

Mix Head Content and Long-Tail Content for Topical Authority

Based on this article, you might figure that since it is hard to win the head keyword, why bother creating it. And that’s not correct. 

In creating your Topical Authority you are also conveying your expertise by building a cluster of content around a given topic. Think of it as building a library of reference materials. You will want content optimized for the head to be part of the collection. Then cross link between all the assets to show Google your depth of knowledge.

There is another reason to do this too. In B2B there are often multiple people involved in the buying group. If they see a term on your site that they don’t know they may want to look it up. A handy link to that head page will give them the information they need (and keep them from going to your competitor!)> Here are more ideas on how to create a topic map to develop your cluster.

Creating Expert Content for Long-Tail Keywords

It’s easy to see why the long-tail keyword strategy has gained in popularity. Too many people have been chasing after a limited number of broad search queries. Marketing teams know that the keyword difficulty for generic keywords make it impossible to compete. 

The long-tail keyword strategy is pretty simple. You do audience and competitor research to determine the types of content you’re going to create. Then, do topic research to hone in on some competitive areas. 

But then you have to write expert content that goes in depth on this long tail. If you are selling B2B products or services, you will need content that goes beyond what a freelancer or marketer can do. 

What is becoming popular right now is Employee-Generated Content (EGC).

EGC is any content created and distributed by your company. Often we think of social media as an example. But I’m going to share a huge secret with you: Sales engineers or professional services consultants are ideal for mining long-tail ideas. 

These folks are fielding in-depth questions that are prompting buying teams to look for solutions. They may be problems that are specific to a competing product – that you want to steal business from. Listen for these opportunities and guide your experts to write a detailed article on it. 

It isn’t always easy to cultivate these non-traditional content creators. However, it is so worth the effort. I encourage creators by showing them how they can now display their expertise – by pointing prospects to their published article.

Dos and Don’ts

Do

• Look at the intention of each of your personas! Keyword research tools like SEMRush and Marketmuse will indicate query intent. Long-tail topics for software will likely include some very technical phrases. 
• Cultivate EGC by looking for Sales Engineers or professional service consultants to help you identify the technical questions they hear most often, and encouraging them to write it up as an article
• Include content optimized for a head query 
• Look at Google analytics to see what queries people are asking on your site. 
• Link heavily between all your semantically related articles
• Do look at the Google autocomplete for long-tail ideas
• Look for related keywords – look for words being used by competitors and media outlets.

Don’t

• Worry about the low volume of long-tail queries if they tie closely to intent to purchase search queries
• Eliminate head queries – you still want to show Google you have depth in expertise.
• Skimp on details. People querying long-tail keywords are looking for specifics – how hard or easy it is to implement, why, comparisons, etc. 

Without a doubt, getting pages to rank (and getting visitors to click through to your site) is harder than ever. But creating topic authority around short-tail and long-tail keywords will pay off.