Guest Post:  by Neville Silverman

Long Tail Queries and Long Tail Keywords

The number of words used in search queries has increased over the years, whilst the shorter search queries have decreased. This is the result of the ever-growing sophistication of people doing searches. The searchers attempt to minimise the number of Websites visited, before they find what they want.

The competition amongst Websites for visitors who do searches with few words is ferocious, and with the growth of Websites on the Internet, getting fiercer by the day.

Short phrase queries, although high in number, make up only 20% of potential visitors. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) will be most effective when also attempting to attract the remaining 80% where the traffic per query phrase is low – the Long Tail.

Long Tail SEO involves attracting visitors using the less popular Keywords. To attract the Long Tail Queries, the Website must be optimised for Long Tail Keywords – that is Keyword Phrases that are more specific. Long Tail Keyword Phrases can lead to a higher conversion rate, since these visitors are more likely to find exactly what they want. And it is much easier than competing against the top ranking Websites using short Keyword Phrases.

Those Websites that are not optimised with Long Tail Keywords could find the number of visitors and the conversion rate steadily declining.

Long Tail SEO Tips

All the techniques used for the organic Search Engine Optimisation apply. In addition:

> When choosing Long Tail Keyword Phrases, there is no point in doing what everybody else is doing. Try to rank for an ever increasing variety of terms, not just the most competitive ones.

> Research needs to be carried out on Keyword Phrases containing 5 or 6 words, instead of just a few high traffic Keywords.

> The descriptive, keyword rich Long Tail Phrases should be used in Navigation, Titles, Headings, Meta Description and Links.

> In order to cover more Keyword Phrase possibilities, you will need to create enough content to contain most of the less popular search phrases.

> Collect all the articles, advertising blurb, etc related to your Website and see if you can create new topics of interest.

> Combine 3 or 4 Keywords (or adjectives) that have a low search count, and create a long tail Keyword Phrase.

> Creating a page for every long-tail Keyword Phrase is hardly practical, so add one or more words to the usual Keyword Phrases. You may achieve good rankings for both the original Keyword Phrase and the Long Tail Phrase.

> Use Google Sets to find related Keywords.

Long Tail SEO will involve extra effort in researching appropriate phrases and writing additional content, but the results will be rewarding.

Ranking Above The Fold

“Above the Fold” refers to the top portion of a Search Engine Results Page (SERP) that is visible prior to scrolling.

The majority of searchers will click on the first entry “Above the Fold” that they come across in the SERP. That is why Bounce Rates are high, and why getting a high ranking is so important. And if the result is not satisfactory, the searchers will add yet another term and search again, making an even longer Long Tail query.

With Long Tail SEO and less competition, searchers are more likely to find your Website “Above the Fold”, more likely to visit your Website. And more likely to be content with what they find.

Serendipity

Serendipity is the good luck in making an accidental but providential discovery. Scientific serendipity involves the chance discovery, but which is the outcome of systematic research.

The scientific serendipity techniques can be applied to SEO. By creating many pages of different, but related aspects, there is a greater chance of being accidentally found by a Website searcher.

An example will make this clear. I was asked to create and optimise a Website for a mathematics coach – see Smith Mathematics Coaching. I told him that his Website needed many different pages of content, related to mathematics coaching, in order to increase the chances of being found by the Search Engines. One of the documents that he supplied was a list of the schools that his students came from. The name of the school included the suburb. It turned out that many parents, when they searched for a mathematics coach, included their suburb in the search phrase. And serendipitously, many visitors landed on the Webpage page that contained the listing of the schools.

n hindsight, one can see the value of including the suburb, but this fortunate occurrence was unlikely to have been predicted. It also could not have been ascertained from any Keyword research, as volumes were too low.

There are many benefits to creating new pages with chance phrases, whilst sticking to the topic. These pages can increase visitor numbers significantly, reduce the bounce rate, and increase the conversion rate from visitor to customer.

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Neville Silverman is a Microsoft software developer, based in Sydney Australia, and has been involved in Visual Basic programming, Microsoft Access programming and Website design for many years. As an I.T. Manager, his department was regarded as a centre of excellence. He reduced the expenses of his department to .9% of income, where the industry average was 2.5%.  Programming Website: http://nev.romtech.com.au/ SEO Website: http://www.nevsseo.com/ Email: nev@romtech.com.au

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• Advertising, Opt-in Leads, Email Marketing service helps small businesses market their products more effectively. We provide everything you need, http://www.madviral.com Phone: 256-778-8350 (9am-5pm CST M-F) MadViral Enterprises, LLC 171 Early Rd. Hartselle, Al. 35640

Guest Post: by Neville Silverman

The Bounce Rate measures the quality of traffic and how well that traffic is attracted to your Website. A low Bounce Rate, followed by a high rate of conversion from visitor to customer is the ideal.

There are two definitions of the Bounce Rate:

> The percentage of visitors who arrive and leave a Website immediately.

> The percentage of visitors that visit just one page on a website.

The two measurements give slightly different results.

Using StatCounter, the Bounce Rate can be derived from the “Visit Length” for visitors who left after less than 5 seconds. Google analytics provides a Bounce Rate using the second definition.

Interpreting the Bounce Rate

A high Bounce Rate may indicate that the Website needs a new direction. A low Bounce rate does not guarantee success. If the conversion rate is low, then you may need to review the type of visitor that is currently being attracted to your Website.

If the second definition of the “Bounce Rate” is used, the number of returning visitors may be a more meaningful statistic to judge the quality of traffic:

> Websites that comprise just a single page can have a high Bounce Rate.

> Websites that supply information on a single page, like a Wiki, can have a high Bounce Rate.

> Blogging Websites usually have a high Bounce Rate.

There is no average Bounce Rate that can be called good or bad. An acceptable Bounce Rate depends very much upon the type of the Website, the target audience and expectations. The only real criterion is the conversion rate – i.e. the number of new customers derived each month from the Website. If the conversion rate is not acceptable, then the Bounce Rate, whatever it is, needs to be reduced.

Reducing the Bounce Rate

Some of the following points may provide ideas for reducing the Bounce Rate:

> Spurious Visitors – Visitors frequently search and then click on a Website where they find that the content is not what they wanted at all. They will quickly leave, unless they find something to attract and interest them. Serendipitously some could become customers.

> Website Design – Poor site design will repel visitors. A dark background, gaudy colours, flash animation or sound can cause visitors to immediately depart. It may be difficult for the visitor to work out how to proceed with the next step. The visitor may not find immediately what they were looking for and leave in frustration.

> Backlinks – If the link is from a Website where their content has no relationship to your Website, the visitors are unlikely to stay long.

> Page Load Times – A slow server or large page sizes will cause visitors to cancel and try the next Website.

> Browser Compatibility – Your Website pages should appear the same in all the major browsers – Internet Explorer 7 and 8, Firefox and Chrome. I would not worry too much about the users of Internet Explorer 6. They will get the message sooner or later.

> Target Audience – The Target Audience may have been chosen correctly, but the Website may not relate to the Target Audience. The Website should be attractive to, and use the appropriate language for, the Target Audience. Don’t talk down to professionals. Use the idioms suitable for the audience.

> Keywords – Check the Keywords used by the visitors who left immediately, and all the details that can be extracted, to identify this type of visitor. Make sure that you are not attracting too many non-targeted visitors. The Keywords are attracting visitors, but the content may not match visitor expectations.

> Page Content – Find out which pages have the highest Bounce Rate. The content of these pages should provide meaningful information for the visitor. The content should intrigue the viewer sufficiently enough to look further. Insert well researched content or items of interest for the viewer. The content should be fresh, informative, and relevant.

> Website Fundamentals – Poor design or navigation that is not intuitive will lead to a high Bounce Rate. There should be a simple page structure, relevant page titles and headings, etc, etc.

> Page Title and Meta Descriptions – Search Engines show the Page Title and often show the Meta Description in the results. These should accurately summarise the page content, otherwise you will get inappropriate visitors.

Evaluate the Changes

Measure the average Bounce Rate for your Website over a few weeks prior to making any changes. After making the changes, the average Bounce Rate should be checked again.

Hopefully the Bounce Rate will have improved. And so should the conversion rate. Neville Silverman is a Microsoft software developer, based in Sydney Australia, and has been involved in Visual Basic programming, Microsoft Access programming and Website design for many years. As an I.T. Manager, his department was regarded as a centre of excellence. He reduced the expenses of his department to .9% of income, where the industry average was 2.5%.

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Programming Website: http://nev.romtech.com.au/ SEO Website: http://www.nevsseo.com/ Email: nev@romtech.com.au

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Advertising, Opt-in Leads, Email Marketing service helps small businesses market their products more effectively. We provide everything you need, http://www.madviral.com Phone: 256-778-8350 (9am-5pm CST M-F) MadViral Enterprises, LLC 171 Early Rd. Hartselle, Al. 35640