Are you looking for long-tail keyword research tools for competition keyword analysis?
Focusing on long-tail keywords is the easiest way to improve your business website’s search engine rankings. But how do long-tail keyword research tools apply to competition keyword analysis?
By doing competition keyword analysis – that is, researching what keywords your competitors are targeting – your business can beat them and become the market leader.
In this article, we will take a look at the following topics:
But first: why are keywords so important?
Keywords are the basis of a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. These are combinations of words, such as phrases or expressions, that users will most likely search on Google, YouTube or other search engines.
By creating web pages, blogs, podcasts, videos, and other types of content around keywords, your website can climb up the search engine rankings.
Eventually, good SEO strategies will result in your website getting to the first page of Google. Great SEO strategies will put you in the very first place.
The question is: how do you know which keywords your business needs to focus on?
Action: Read our article on the best SEO tools for keyword research. We created a list of the 10 best SEO tools, including both free and paid tools.
There are several methods your business can use for keyword research. You can come up with terms related to your business by yourself. You can ask your customers what terms they would search on Google. Or you can simply copy your competitors.
In its essence, competition keyword analysis is exactly that: copying the keywords your competitors are targeting.
But there’s much more to it. Competition keyword analysis is a refined technique that gives your business the strategic advantage for creating new content.
Action: Try Seed Keywords, a keyword research tool where real people suggest results for searches in your niche. Don’t know where to start looking for new keywords? Seed Keywords is a great place to begin.
Imagine you were a car manufacturer with the ability to peak at other car manufacturers to see what they are working on. You would then have the possibility to add those same features to your cars, as well as improve on them. Or you could create completely different features. Because you have the information, it’s up to you to choose.
That’s what competition keyword analysis is about. It is legally spying on your competitors to know what keywords they are focusing on.
With that information you can decide what content you want to focus on. Do you want to target those same keywords and beat them? Or do you want to target different keywords that your competitors forgot about?
Action: Try BuzzSumo, a tool that allows you to know the keywords your competitors and their followers are using on social media. BuzzSumo is a great tool if you have the ability to create content quickly, in order to be the first one in your niche to talk about a trending topic.
You want to do competition keyword analysis. Great! Where do you begin?
Keywords can be separated into two categories: short-tail keywords and long-tail keywords. What’s the difference between the two? And why should you focus mainly on long-tail keywords?
Short-tail keywords are limited to one or two words, while long-tail keywords have at least 3 words, and can go up to 6 or 7 words. The difference between the two is remarkable.
Short-tail keywords, usually referred to as the fat head of searches, represent the vast majority of monthly searches. This implies that shorter keywords are much more popular than longer ones.
But it also implies that there is much more content for those short-tail keywords.
One- and two-word searches, such as ‘graphic design’ and ‘restaurant’, are so popular and flooded with content that it is virtually impossible for a small or medium business to be the top result.
However, long-tail versions of those keywords, such as ‘minimalist logo graphic design’ or ‘Italian restaurant in New Orleans’, don’t have nearly as many searches or competition.
Because long-tail keywords are more specific, they can allow your business to attract better quality traffic. If someone googles something so specific that it requires 5 words, then they are more likely to become a customer.
Long-tail keywords are better for small and medium businesses who target a specific audience in a specific niche. With less competition, long-tail keywords have higher conversion rates.
Action: Read our article on the most complete long-tail keyword research tool out there: SEMrush. SEMrush provides all the information you need about your competitors and the keywords they target, plus related keywords they disregard.
How can your business use long-tail keyword research tools for competition keyword analysis?
To understand what a competition keyword analysis process looks like, have a look at the following infographic from Moz.
Competition Keyword Analysis Workflow Chart, from Moz.
As you can see from the infographic, the long-tail keyword research tools would be used in the second step, when studying your competition.
Then, once you have compared your SEO strategies with those of your competitors, you should look into new and innovative long-tail keywords to target.
Action: Use SECockpit to find the best long-tail keywords in your niche. SECockpit is one of the few long-tail keyword research tools that really shows the keywords with little traffic where you’re guaranteed to be the top result.
If you want to target the same keywords as your competitors, make sure your content is better. If you want to target new keywords, make sure your content is useful and helps the user solve their problems and challenges.
Our recommendation is to always focus on the user — your potential client.
We’ve explained the basics of competition keyword analysis and long-tail keyword research tools. Now it’s up to you to combine them. If all this seems overwhelming and you’re more of a “done-for-you” type of entrepreneur (trust us, we get it), keep in mind that we, at Kaizen Sigma, do this for a living and would love to help you in any way we can on your keyword research campaign. Contact us today and let’s map out a strategy session for you, for free!
To your continued success!
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