Longtail keywords are definitely the way to go when you’re looking to rank your new articles quickly. However, there is a limit in length that you should look out for when you’re choosing your focus keyword/phrase. Many people make the mistake of using their entire longtail title as their focus keyword, which can really hurt them in the long run.
Primarily, your text becomes cluttered and hard for the user to read. So what should you do?
Keyword Length: Focus Keywords / Keyphrases
Many people will take the approach of choosing the same keyword as their title so they can use their keyword one extra time and that counted towards density in a way that doesn’t obstruct the flow of the actual reading material. We don’t recommend this approach. You should definitely choose what we call the “Root Keyword.”
For example, one of our previous articles is titled, “How to Show Up in Local Search Results.” This article goes over the finer points of local SEO. However, the keyword we designated for this article wasn’t the title, it was simply “Local Search Results” and “Local SEO.” If we used the title, it would have cluttered the article and felt cumbersome to the reader. Trying to repeat that title would have been quite the task for both us and the reader.
Keyword Length: What’s the Point of Long Keyphrases?
In general, the point of longtail keywords and phrases is to compete with people that have long-standing and authoritative articles.
It’s easier to rank for a longtail article because there’s less competition. However, your longtail articles can also show up for those “Root Keywords” that you really want.
Keyword Length: Search Engines and Long Keywords / Keyphrases
Search engines may not be as smart as people just yet, but that doesn’t mean they can’t piece together the keyword your page is going for when you have a longtail phrase or your main keywords are split among that phrase.
You need to trust that if your keyword/phrase makes sense to the reader, it’ll ultimately make sense to search engines as well.
Keyword Length: Multiple Focus Keywords
Have you been too afraid to try multiple focus keywords on a single page? There’s a good reason for that, but as long as the phrases are similar or within the same niche, you don’t really need to worry. There are strategies for using more than one topic of focus on a single page, but with synonyms, you shouldn’t be afraid, in fact, search engines find it easier to understand what your article is about if you come at it from different angles.
Using a variety of strategies like this will help you beat the competition that uses one keyword and relies solely on the age of their website to maintain authority.
If you’re looking for more help with your SEO needs, then contact the experts at WebCroppers to get started today.
